There is a trend toward international collaboration among quality assurance agencies (QAAs) and the internationalisation of higher education in Japan. This paper is examines how Japan University Accreditation Association (JUAA) can establish a network in the region as it promised to do in the Tokyo Declaration. However, it is very hard for JUAA, a…

Accreditation has become something of a hot topic in higher education. In Europe it has been described as a 'Licence to Kill'. The James Bond metaphor is particularly illustrative when reflecting on quality assurance challenges in higher education. Publications on this subject in recent years reveal that the array of issues associated with…

The paper attempts to develop an approach to implementation for a holistic model of quality in higher education. The methodology follows Senges model for implementing learning in organisations. According to Senge the real work of learning takes place within a "deep learning cycle". The generic nature of actions to set in motion the learning cycle…

The ascendancy of neoliberalism and the associated discourses of '[new public management', during the 1980s and 1990s has produced a fundamental shift in the way universities and other institutions of higher education have defined and justified their institutional existence. The traditional professional culture of open intellectual enquiry and…

The past few years have seen efforts in several countries and a wide range of disciplines to adopt and apply existing professional standards for guiding and judging evaluation services and/or develop new standards. Some of the efforts have drawn from the work and products of the North American Joint Committee on Standards for Educational…

In multinational corporations, new models of learning are developing. A particular model with direct applications for challenges facing distributed workforces is one that combines the strengths of formal and informal learning while focusing on participants' work-based tasks. An operationalisation of this model in the context of the ongoing…

This study was carried out at the request of the Ministry of Education, Zambia. The Commonwealth of Learning contracted Turning Points Consultancy CC, a Namibian company, who provided the services of the author, to "carry out an evaluation of the Zambia College of Distance Education (ZACODE) and submit recommendations to the Ministry of…

The title of this document is a deliberate play on the title of the biennial reports on the progress of Bologna produced by the European Students' Union, "Bologna With Student Eyes." It is a way of paying tribute to student involvement in the Bologna reforms, and marking a parallel student working participation in the state system…

This is the third in a series of policy reports on the results of a four-year study of America's education schools. This report focuses on the need for quality education research and on the preparation of scholars and researchers who conduct such research. Approximately two decades into a school improvement movement, education research is assuming…

This booklet aims to provide policy advice and support to decision-makers and managers in the area of quality assurance in higher education. In order to do so, the authors describe and discuss major issues that decision-makers in charge of quality assurance need to consider for the creation or development of an external quality assurance (EQA)…

This article reports on a case study of the e-learning production unit at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Phase 1 of the study, completed in 2003, was the design and development of a process-based quality management system for web-supported learning (WSL) using a basic ISO 9000 approach (University of Pretoria, 2003). The second phase,…

Over the last decade the proportion of students in higher education obtaining aggregate marks over 60 per cent has steadily increased. Whilst standards of learning and teaching may have improved due to the existence of quality assurance agencies and the efforts of individual higher education institutions a significant factor remains that could…

This paper is a case study of the emergence of an evaluation culture in the public sector and particularly in education in Ireland over the past three decades. It suggests that the emergence of this culture was strongly influenced by external factors, particularly the European Union (EU), and to a lesser but significant degree, the Organisation…

Purpose: This paper sets out to examine methods that can be used to enhance the quality and consistency of dissertation assessment. Design/methodology/approach: The paper includes a review of literature on quality, consistency and criteria of dissertation assessment to highlight the current practices in higher education. A case study approach was…

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to report on an in-depth exploration of service quality in an Information Technology service department in a Higher Education Institute (HEI) and to evaluate the instrument used. Design/methodology/approach: The study surveys customers using the SERVQUAL instrument, which is one of the most widely used and…