World university rankings have had an impact on academic competition worldwide. The comparability of ranking results depends on how data is collected within each university. When data concepts are interpreted differently, data variety is introduced and ranking results cannot be used in a meaningful manner. In this case study, the effect of…

This study examines the roles and challenges of external quality assurance in reviewing learning outcome assessments of Japanese universities. Following criticism that Japan has overly relied on the difficulty of entrance examination as a quality metric for a given institution, rather than graduates' competencies, there is more pressure for…

In 2017, the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research implemented a project to develop curriculum guidelines for all health and social care programmes. The modified RAND/UCLA appropriateness method used by the group developing guidelines for programmes in prosthetics and orthotics is described. The method resulted in 126 learning outcomes that…

This paper examines the factors that may have impact on the extent to which the knowledge and skills of master's degree graduates in Norway are utilised at work, three years after graduation. The focus is on the impact of the quality of the study programme as well as the graduates' fields of study, when also taking into account other factors…

Learning outcomes of higher education are a quality tool in a changing higher education landscape but cannot be seen as neutral measures across professions and disciplines. Survey results from graduates and recent graduates indicate that prevailing measures of learning outcomes yield the same result within and across disciplinary and professional…

This paper provides a unique perspective on the student learning outcome assessment process as adopted and implemented at Qatar University from 2006 to 2012. The progress of the student learning outcome assessment and continuous improvement efforts at the university and the initiatives taken to establish a culture of assessment and evidence-based…

Since 1970, quality assurance, or outcomes assessment, has provided guidance for improving pedagogy, curricula and student support programmes in the US. But evidence that student learning has improved remains elusive. Large-scale long-term studies are needed to demonstrate the effects of outcomes assessment on learning.

The paper is a reflection on the pasts and futures of quality assurance in higher education. It poses questions about the correlation between the geographical and political spread of quality assurance on the one hand and the resulting educational benefits on the other; about the divergences between critics and practitioners on the likely impacts…

This paper speculates on the possible contribution of the quality movement to higher education and the perceived dividends received from this, in general, over the past two decades but also, more specifically, with reference to the author's institution in South Africa. The first major quality contribution is a gradual broadening of higher…

Twenty years ago, the federal government in the US first required institutional accrediting organisations, America's principal mechanism for quality assurance in higher education, to review institutional practices with respect to the assessment of student learning outcomes. Much that affects quality assurance has changed in the ensuing two decades…

In this article, 93 Greek university departments were evaluated according to their academics' h-index. A representative sample from the fields of social sciences and humanities, sciences, engineering, pharmacy and economics was adopted. In the reported study, 3354 (approximately 1 out of 3) academics serving in Greek universities were evaluated.…

This paper assesses the impact on the curricula of undergraduate programmes in Argentina of the quality assurance mechanism implemented by the National Commission for University Evaluation and Accreditation (CONEAU). The paper examines curricula changes in pharmacy, biochemistry and agriculture undergraduate programmes to show the major…

Examination of how (and whether) particular types of institutional performance measures can be beneficially used in making resource allocation decisions finds that only easily verifiable "hard" statistics should be used in classic performance funding approaches, although surveys and the use of good practices by institutions may…

Drawing on experience in the United States and United Kingdom, two educators discuss the practice of quality assessment in higher education. Distinguishing between formative and summative assessment, they identify characteristics that support quality learning, observing that practice falls short of these ideals and noting that it is risky for…

Universities in Australia have been using the course experience questionnaire (CEQ) for a number of years to measure the quality of teaching. Recently, there have been increasing calls for a broader perspective that takes into account the potential of non-classroom context influences on the student learning experience. This project undertook to…