Accreditation as a form of quality assurance has spread worldwide. As a result, the public and research interests have targeted the policies that developed agencies and procedures and the responses and effects of accreditation on higher education organizations and programs. However, studies on accreditation have not analyzed two core aspects: the…

Quality assurance in higher education has become a global activity. In the European Higher Education Area, cross-border quality assurance has been heavily encouraged by the European Commission. Behind this, lies the belief that encouraging competition among quality assurance bodies and introducing a liberal 'market' logic into the sector would…

Graduate wind conducting programs prepare students to teach collegiate band and conducting techniques through musical curricular content and apprenticeship in administrative tasks. Despite their important role, there is little research examining the structure of these programs beyond a few studies of their course requirements. The purpose of this…

This chapter provides a framework for grounding social justice principles at the center of learning in higher education program assessment and evaluation courses. Pedagogical reflections are drawn from the classroom experiences of three faculty of color who represent diverse institutional, programmatic, and geographic contexts. Their advanced…

Interdisciplinarity is heralded as a relatively new educational and research paradigm that can effectively address complex problems at disciplinary boundaries. Yet little is known about the extent to which interdisciplinarity has penetrated higher education, nor about how students and program administrators view its usefulness. Through a case…

In today's interconnected world, many career fields--such as diplomacy, national security, and business--need individuals with knowledge about world languages and cultures. To address these areas of needed expertise--both at the federal level as well as in the education, business, and nonprofit sectors--the Higher Education Act of 1965, as…

This article seeks to spark a dialectic discussion on the establishment of a set of professional competencies for quality assurance practitioners who serve in external quality assurance agencies in higher education. Such a need is identified due to the shortage of relevant and sufficient coverage in the quality assurance literature. To…

The development of critical thinking skills among learners is a common educational goal across graduate theological schools. The purpose of this article is to provide a survey of some of the primary historical influences of the critical thinking movement in higher education in the United States and the movement's impact on graduate…

Web-based video is one of the technologies which can support meaningful learning from practice--in addition to practical benefits such as accessibility of practices, flexibility in updating information, and incorporating video into multimedia resources. A multiple case study was set up on the use of a web-based video learning environment in two…

School program evaluation researchers face a set of overlapping questions concerning our roles in the field: For the sake of "the data" and in quest of "the truth," am I a shrewd researcher before all else? For the sake of community-building and establishing respectful, reciprocal relationships with my school partners, am I first a gracious school…

This paper reports on a pilot interdisciplinary graduate Summer School in Theory and Philosophy for the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, which aimed to combine research with graduate teaching and learning. The paper will develop reflections on the ways in which interdisciplinary residential learning spaces can promote successful skills…

Drawing on an exploratory qualitative study, this article considers the link between business school teaching at graduate level and subsequent work behaviour and experiences of former students. It evaluates the student experience some time "after" graduation. The findings of the retrospective evaluation point to the value of classroom…

The Counselor Education Program at the University of Texas at Austin was designed to provide, through didactic learning, individuation, and various experiental activities, the opportunity for each student to achieve the greatest possible development of the knowledge, attitudes, and skills that characterize a Master's degree level professional…

In January of 1967 the Appraisals Committee of the Ontario Council of Graduate Schools was created to evaluate suggested programs for graduate degrees that would provide students with an educational opportunity fully consistent with the acceptable standards generally established for the relevant discipline in universities inside and outside…

Describes methods for assessing graduate students: precourse, incourse, postcourse, and long-term assessment as well as the educational process that students experience. Addresses comprehensive program evaluation via peer review. Lists eight suggested readings and 12 related Web sites. (SK)