Local relevancy evaluation in the accreditation bodies for engineering master's programs

Accreditation models in the international context mainly consider the evaluation of learning outcomes and the ability of programs (or higher education institutions) to achieve the educational objectives stated in their mission. However, it is not clear if these objectives and therefore their outcomes satisfy real national and regional needs, a critical point in engineering master's programs, especially in developing countries. The aim of this paper is to study the importance of the local relevancy evaluation of these programs and to analyze the main models of quality assurance and accreditation bodies of USA, Europe and Latin America, in order to ascertain whether the relevancy is evaluated or not. After a literature review, we found that in a free-market economic context and international education, the accreditation of master’s programs follows an international accreditation model, and doesn´t take in account in most cases criteria and indicators for local relevancy. It concludes that it is necessary both, international accreditation to ensure the effectiveness of the program (achievement of learning outcomes) and the national accreditation through which it could ensure local relevancy of programs, for which we are giving some indicators.

The influence of transparency on self-evaluation as part of the university accreditation process in Peru.

In order to show the choice of transparency as the guiding principle of the accreditation process, the article evaluates its influence on the fundamental subprocess of self-evaluation, thereby confirming that transparency is an essential tool for continuous improvement of academic processes and those of educational quality management. It fosters educational innovation and permits the sustainability of the continuous accreditation process over time, resulting in greater probabilities of university self-regulation through systemization of the process, with the objective of continuous improvement of university degree programs. The article analyzes the influence of transparency on each activity of the self-evaluation process according to the Peruvian accreditation model prepared under the total quality approach, as a reference for other accreditation models, proposing concrete transparency actions and evaluating its influence on the stakeholder groups in the self-evaluation process, as well as on the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. It is concluded that transparency has a positive influence on the training of human capital and the formation of the university?s organizational culture, facilitating dissemination, understanding and involvement of the stakeholder groups in the continuous improvement of accreditation activities and increasing their acceptance of change and commitment to the process. It is confirmed that transparency contributes toward increasing the efficiency index of the self-evaluation process by reducing operating costs through adequate, accessible, timely contribution of information by the stakeholders and through the optimization of the time spent gathering relevant information. In addition, it is concluded that transparency contributes toward increasing the effectiveness index of self-evaluation by facilitating the achievement of its objectives through synthetic, useful, reliable interpretation of the education situation and the formulation of feasible improvement plans based on the adequacy, relevance, visibility, pertinence and truthfulness of the information analyzed.

The impact of institutional environment and cultural context in the four different approaches to social enterprise

This article analyzes the characteristics of four different social enterprise schools of though (social economy, earned-income school in developed countries, earned-income in emerging countries, and social innovation) and the influence of the contextual elements (cultural, political, economic and social) on their configuration. This article draws on the qualitative discussions of social enterprise in different regions of the world. This paper is intended to contribute to the field of social enterprise by broadening the understanding of the influence of environment and institutions on the emergence of social enterprise.

Local relevance evaluation in the accreditation bodies for engineering masters programs

Accreditation models in the international context mainly consider the evaluation of learning outcomes and the ability of programs (or higher education institutions) to achieve the educational objectives stated in their mission. However, it is not clear if these objectives and therefore their outcomes satisfy real national and regional needs, a critical point in engineering master's programs, especially in developing countries. The aim of this paper is to study the importance of the local relevancy evaluation of these programs and to analyze the main models of quality assurance and accreditation bodies of USA, Europe and Latin America, in order to ascertain whether the relevancy is evaluated or not. After a literature review, we found that in a free-market economic context and international education, the accreditation of master's programs follows an international accreditation model, and doesńt take in account in most cases criteria and indicators for local relevancy. It concludes that it is necessary both, international accreditation to ensure the effectiveness of the program (achievement of learning outcomes) and the national accreditation through which it could ensure local relevancy of programs, for which we are giving some indicators.

Evaluación de la pertinencia de maestrías en ingeniería : aplicación en la Universidad de Piura, Perú

La formación de postgrado en ingeniería es muy importante para mejorar la competitividad y lograr el desarrollo en los países. Para ello es necesaria una fuerte vinculación de la universidad con su entorno socio económico de modo que los objetivos que se plantea en sus programas formativos sean coherentes con las necesidades reales de los beneficiarios: los estudiantes, la universidad y la comunidad. Es decir, los programas deben ser pertinentes. Y en los países en vías de desarrollo este tema es aún más importante. Se necesita modelos de evaluación que midan este grado de adecuación entre los objetivos de los programas con las necesidades de los estudiantes y las partes interesadas. Sin embargo, los modelos de evaluación existentes tienen principalmente fines de acreditación y están diseñados para evaluar la eficacia, es decir si los resultados obtenidos están de acuerdo con la misión y los objetivos planteados. Su objetivo no es medir la pertinencia. Esta investigación tiene como objetivo diseñar un modelo de evaluación de la pertinencia de maestrías en ingeniería y aplicarlo a un caso concreto. Se trata de maestrías que ya están en funcionamiento y son dictadas en una universidad en un país en desarrollo. Para diseñar el modelo se define primero el concepto de pertinencia de una maestría en ingeniería haciendo una revisión bibliográfica y consultando a expertos en los temas de pertinencia de la educación superior y formación en postgrado en ingeniería. Se utiliza una definición operativa que facilita luego la identificación de factores e indicadores de evaluación. Se identifica dos tipos de pertinencia: local y global. La pertinencia global está relacionada con la inserción de la maestría en el sistema global de producción de conocimiento. La pertinencia local tiene tres dimensiones: la personal, relacionada con la satisfacción de necesidades de los estudiantes, la institucional, relacionada con las necesidades e intereses de la universidad que acoge a la maestría y la pertinencia social, ligada a la satisfacción de necesidades y demandas de la comunidad local y nacional. El modelo diseñado es aplicado en la maestría en Ingeniería Civil con mención en Ingeniería Vial de la Universidad de Piura, Perú lo que permite obtener conclusiones para su aplicación en otras maestrías. ABSTRACT Graduate engineering education is very important to improve competitiveness and achieve development in countries. It is necessary a strong linkage between university and its socio economic environment, so that programs objectives are consistent with the real needs of the students, university and community. That is to say programs must be relevant. And in developing countries this issue is very important. Evaluation models to measure the degree of adequacy between the programs objectives with the needs of students and stakeholders is needed. However, existing evaluation models have mainly the purpose of accreditation and are designed to evaluate the efficacy. They evaluate if the results are consistent with the mission and objectives. Their goal is not to measure the relevance. This work aimed to design a model for evaluating the relevance of master's degrees in engineering and applied to a specific case. They must be masters already in operation and are taught at a university in a developing country. In order to build the model, first concept of relevance of a master's degree in engineering was defined. Literature was reviewed and we consulted experts on issues of relevance of higher education and graduate engineering education. An operational definition is used to facilitate the identification of factors and evaluation indicators. Local and global: two types of relevance were identified. The global relevance is related to the inclusion of Master in the global system of knowledge production. The local relevance has three dimensions: personal, related to meeting students' needs, institutional, related to the needs and interests of university that houses the Master and social relevance, linked to the satisfaction of needs and demands of local and national community. The designed model is applied to the Master degree in Civil Engineering with a major in Traffic Engineering of Universidad de Piura, Peru which allowed to obtain conclusions for application in other masters.

A governação de territórios metropolitanos. Contexto institucional e de planeamento nas regiões de Madrid, Barcelona, Paris e Lisboa / The regional metropolitan governance. Institutional mark and planning in Madrid, Barcelona, Paris and Lisbon

Resumo Em resposta aos desafios atuais de muitas grandes cidades, o contexto institucional e o planeamento territorial formam dimensões para melhorar a governação metropolitana. No quadro das regiões capitais do sudoeste europeu, quais poderão ser as inovações e diferenças nos seus modelos e processos em curso? Este artigo propõe uma investigação aplicada para apresentar a análise da governação metropolitana. Através do método de estudos de caso em perspectiva comparada, vários elementos e entrevistas são ponderados qualitativamente nas regiões de Madrid, Barcelona, Paris e Lisboa. As conclusões encontram uma tendência para o equilíbrio entre os esforços dessas duas dimensões da governação territorial metropolitana, não impedindo registrar os seus diferentes percursos: por exemplo Ile-de-France desenvolveu boas iniciativas em matéria de planeamento, que então pedem alguns ajustamentos no quadro político, enquanto Madrid teve “menos actividade” nos últimos anos, em resultado da sua grande estabilidade institucional. A região de Lisboa permanece talvez numa “posição intermédia”, com uma dinâmica de evolução pouco previsível. Mas de acordo com este argumento, admite-se que os seus processos podem levar a melhorias graduais no sistema de governação, com o seu próprio percurso, implementando acções que devem respeitar, em particular, a geografia do território. Abstract Addressing the running challenges of several greater cities, the institutional mark and regional planning are dimensions for improving metropolitan governance. Regarding the southwest European capital regions, what can be the innovations and differences in their currently processes and models? This paper proposes an applied framework to present the metropolitan governance analysis. Through a comparative case study methodology, various elements and interviews are qualitatively measured in the regions of Madrid, Barcelona, Paris and Lisbon. The conclusions find a tendency to balance between the efforts on those two regional metropolitan governance dimensions, which does not prevent to register their different paths: for example Ile-de-France has developed good initiatives in terms of planning, which then require some adjustments in the political mark, while Madrid had in recent years “less activity”, in result of his institutional stability. The Lisbon region maybe stays in an “intermediate position” with a dynamic evolution that is difficult to predict. But according to that argument, it’s possible to admit that his processes can gradually lead to small improvements in his governance system, with his own path, implementing actions that must respect, in particularly, the geography of the territory.