This paper reports on the development of a scale for determining the quality of the student e-learning experience at the degree level when the student learning context is predominately a campus-based experience. Rapid developments in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in higher education require methods for evaluating the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of literature on the role of Web 2.0 or social software tools in education. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is a critical and comprehensive review of a range of literature sources (until January 2009) addressing the various issues related to the educator's perspective of pedagogical…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that drive a firm's decision to invest in training in India's IT-enabled services/business process outsourcing (ITeS/BPO) sector. It aims to consider a much-neglected area and an often-cited need to consider external factors, especially the needs of an organisation's clients in a firm's…

While Australian teacher education programs have long had rigorous accreditation pathways at the University level they have not been subject to the same formal public or professional scrutiny typical of professions such as medicine, nursing or engineering. Professional accreditation for teacher preparation programs is relatively new and is linked…

The SCQF is one of the longest-established comprehensive qualifications frameworks and is often perceived as one of the most successful. This article describes the main features of the SCQF and outlines its progress, drawing on recent studies and evaluations by the authors. It draws lessons for the EQF and for further development of national…

In the past 10 years the prevalence of childhood obesity has increased considerably and there is growing recognition of the need to establish positive attitudes to healthy lifestyle practices from an early age if this trend is to be reversed. Childcare centres provide ideal environments from which to develop these positive attitudes. A literature…

This article describes the use of a set of evidence-based quality indicators to assess performance by 15 NHS Boards across Scotland in a national review, with a particular focus on the quality of services for people with complex health needs. Evidence based best practice and evaluative data from previous inspections were used to develop Quality…

The author recently served on a five-member international review panel for Saudi Arabia's National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment. The panel's mission was to evaluate the Arab Open University against the commission's accreditation criteria to determine if the university should be eligible for King Abdullah's national…

This article deals with the Bologna Process (BP), which since its creation in 1999 has deeply influenced European higher education: What is it? How did it come into being? How far has it come? The BP is both a political phenomenon and a reform taking place in European higher education. As a political phenomenon it consists of a series of…

Purpose: This paper aims to compare the ways in which a range of quality frameworks have been validated and to identify a number of factors that have an impact on validation processes. Design/methodology/approach: Seven examples of published quality frameworks applicable to the field of e-learning are described and the methods used to validate…

Quality improvement centers were created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Children's Bureau beginning in 2001 to promote knowledge development through an innovative approach to applied collaborative research in child welfare. The National Quality Improvement Center on the Privatization of Child Welfare Services was funded to…

Teacher evaluation has emerged as a major focus for reform at the highest levels of education policymaking, and for good reason. Most evaluations are based on scant evidence of actual effectiveness, produce inflated ratings, and provide teachers with little useful feedback. This paper offers policymakers and practitioners important "lessons…

The marching trend of the new economic order has generated a new capsule of SIX SIGMA as a unified approach to process excellence. The tests reveal that it has transformed some of the most successful companies in the world like Motorola, GE etc. It is activated as an approach to aiming at the target by changing the culture of a company, involving…

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a poor fit with higher education and can only be made to fit by major reshaping either of TQM to a more appropriate methodology (and hence not TQM), or of higher education to an image of organisation that fits TQM. The paper revisits longstanding concerns about multiple aspects of TQM from a critical systems…

An examination of the reports of quality audits of Australian universities is used to identify quality assurance issues which emerge as more or less important for governing bodies and academic boards respectively. For governing bodies, many issues identified in audit reports reflect established good practice, such as a need to evaluate the…