Purpose: The paper aims to study how the present distance learning libraries can improve upon their existing services and introduce new ones to enhance quality of services to distance learners. Design/methodology/approach: The paper includes a review of literature on quality assurance in open and distance education in general and student support…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to question the appropriateness of a proposal for a new European Qualifications Framework. The framework has three perspectives: historical; analytical; and national. Design/methodology/approach: The approaches are diverse since the first insists on the institutional and decision-making processes at European…

This report is a product of an European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) Workshop "Assessing educational quality: Knowledge production and the role of experts" hosted by the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT) in Oslo in February, 2008. The workshop gathered representatives from higher…

This paper considers the role of the British Educational Research Association (BERA) in promoting the improvement of UK research over the past 27 years. The views of some BERA representatives, as expressed at Conferences, in occasional publications and particularly in the pages of Research Intelligence, suggest a certain complacency. These…

This protocol explains the new system for assessing research quality at research universities located in the Netherlands. It discusses the legal and historical background for establishing a new system of quality determination in research, describes the essential aspects of the research assessment process and the particular tasks of…

Discussed is the Taguchi method for reducing variance by experimental design. Some examples in quality control in Japan and America are presented. Some criticisms of the method are summarized. (YP)

This article introduces the issue of articles on research assessments and rankings. It focuses on the British Research Assessment Exercises (RAEs) and New Zealand's Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF). It contrasts these with systems that are not tied to funding formulas and emphasise quality enhancement rather than quality assurance. It…

The Dutch quality improvement model in higher education has successfully maintained the delicate balance between internal improvement and external accountability, but the faculty's clear ownership of the system (as contrasted with government ownership in some nations) has made continuous quality improvement a dominant feature of the current Dutch…

Although higher education in Scotland is part of the United Kingdom system, it has operated separately, with a distinctive focus on the assessment of quality in each academic subject. Internal and external quality assessment and assurance processes are described, and the lessons learned are explored briefly. (MSE)

Purpose: To deepen the understanding and to encourage further research on leadership best practices for sustaining quality improvement in UK higher education institutions (HEIs). Design/methodology/approach: The literature on leadership provides the theoretical context for the survey of quality managers from 42 UK HEIs. A mix of questionnaires,…

An annotated bibliography on quality assurance in higher education around the world includes 35 books and World Wide Web sites, noting content, extent of information available, and in some cases background information. (MSE)

Discussion of the introduction of quality assurance into Spanish universities gives a brief recent history of the university system, describes first experiences in quality assessment during the 1990s and their results, and explains the structure and outcomes of the 1995 institutionalization of a national program for institutional evaluation.…

Discusses the complexity facing South African researchers in higher education as they try to overcome the heritage of the old, fragmented higher education system. Necessary paradigm shifts are identified, as are focus areas for improving the quality of South African higher education research at both national and institutional levels. (DB)

Higher education systems in a number of countries are experimenting with programs that measure and enhance educational quality. Experiences suggest that the most successful quality assurance programs are initiated, maintained, and enhanced through the professional commitment of the faculty, not through quality assurance systems, administrative…

Examination of the history of use of performance indicators in three European national higher education systems (Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom) suggests that their role at the national level is declining at the same time that institutions are moving toward more broad-based quality assessment strategies. (Author/MSE)