In introductory physics courses at the Pennsylvania State University, student preparation outside class was inadequate to meet course needs. The plan-do-check-act cycle of the Total Quality Management approach was successfully used in this situation to evaluate instructional changes and help balance increased student assignments with increased…

Experience with implementation of Total Quality Management at the University of Minnesota-Duluth office of institutional research illustrates how tools alone will not produce desired changes if variation in team members' management styles are not taken into account. The team's capacity to accommodate individual differences is critical to success.…

Recommends improving preservice teacher assessment by providing multiple forms of on-campus laboratory experiences (e.g., microteaching, reflective teaching, simulations) that offer job-related tasks. Performance on the tasks could be assessed at multiple points and for various purposes (selecting preservice teachers and student teachers and…

The Total Quality Management Theory of W. E. Deming can be adapted within an educational organization to build structures that support educators' beliefs. A case study of the implementation of Deming principles at the LeRoy Martin Middle School in Raleigh (North Carolina) illustrates the effectiveness of this management approach. (SLD)

In college administration, a climate for adaptive change should be created using the philosophy, processes, and tools of Total Quality Management in combination with other management innovations. An enterprise-wide infrastructure for distributing information on demand for decision makers to monitor institutional performance should be built.…

The process of academic program evaluation in pharmacy in the United Kingdom is described, focusing on the accrediting role of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, other existing peer review mechanisms, national developments in program evaluation, and school-level components of program quality assessment. (MSE)

Use of the bootstrap resampling technique (BRT) is assessed in its application to resampling analysis associated with measurement of payment allocation errors by federally funded Family Assistance Programs. The BRT is applied to a food stamp quality control database in Oregon. This analysis highlights the outlier-sensitivity of the…

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of organizational changes in the general medicine clinic on residents' and patients' satisfaction, including their perceptions of the quality of care. Questionnaires to assess satisfaction were administered to the residents (N=80) and patients (N=577) using a pre- and posttesting design. (MLW)

Addresses the following obstacles faced by faculty and students in the use of World Wide Web-based support and instruction: multiple skill levels of students performing Web research; credibility of Web information; reliability of campus computer-network systems; inequality of access to student computing resources; and lack of understanding of…

Two major universities illustrate very different experiences with curriculum reform. At Duke University (North Carolina), a new core curriculum was adopted smoothly. At Rice University (Texas), a new undergraduate curriculum that took long to develop was defeated easily by disgruntled faculty. Some feel public relations and institutional politics…

A training need analysis of the position of university lecturer, undertaken at Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand), identified 10 key roles encompassing the range of expected teaching activities and a faculty development program to address them. Findings have also been integrated into the university's quality management system. Uses of…

The trend toward outside contracting of college and university services is examined, and issues involved in the decision to do so are discussed. The experience of one university in outsourcing its printing services shop is offered as illustration of how this approach can resolve several administrative issues: cost, quality and extent of services,…

The philosophies of adult education and Total Quality Management (TQM) are compared, and it is proposed that their combination can result in a powerful educational tool. A case study illustrating the merging of TQM and adult education principles in a community college business curriculum is presented. Strategies for making adult learning a more…

Principles of quality management, focusing on defect prevention rather than correction, were applied to the design of a graduate biomedicine course in immunology. The principles require clearly stated course mission and objectives, numerous intermediate steps to achieving objectives, immediate feedback on student performance, and immediate…

Discussion of quality assurance in colleges and universities looks at theories and definitions of quality; four approaches to quality (traditional peer review, the assessment-and-outcomes movement, the Total Quality Management movement, and accountability and performance indicator reporting); the moral and ethical dimensions of quality; and ideals…