Flexible learning for quality in higher education

This keynote presentation is in two related parts. The first deals deal with the issue of the background, context and issues concerned with the emergence of flexible learning and flexible delivery in education, especially in higher education and its interrelationships with the background, context and issues concerned with the emergence of' quality' in higher education. The second explores the issues concerned with the use of online media to facilitate quality flexible learning in higher education.

These presentations draw on authors teaching and research in these fields. In particular they draw on their work on the interrelationships between educational technology, interaction and dialogue in the development of 'quality' education. It is shown that, at institutional and individual levels, decisions are made to implement flexible and online forms of education that have significant curricula and pedagogical implications, not only for those institutions and individuals (teachers), but most importantly for the learners and their contexts. The rhetoric that advocates the implementation of flexible learning and online education may well be grounded in positive ideas for change, but the institutional and individual consequences the costs and benefits- are not always clearly understood from the outset.

The recent developments in information and communication technologies have enabled many institutions to provide courses flexibly using online learning. Maintaining quality in course provision, online teaching and support infrastructure has proved an important issue in higher education, as provision of technology alone is only a small part of ensuring quality in flexible learning. The possibilities of higher education without borders means that such issues of online quality be addressed and these presentations wiII draw on experiences from both international and Deakin University perspective.

E-learning development in higher education : maximising efficiency : maintaining quality

Many tertiary institutions in Australia provide support to develop online teaching and learning resources, an environment characterised by demands from students for quality face-to-face and distance education, staff concern over workloads, institutional budgeting constraints and an imperative to use management systems. There also remains a legitimate focus on using online learning to facilitate new learning strategies within a complex social setting. This paper presents an extended instructional design model in which the development cycle for online teaching and learning materials uses a scaffolding strategy in order to cater for learner-centred activities and to maximise scarce developer and academic resources. The model also integrates accepted phases of the instructional development process to provide guidelines for the disposition of staff and to more accurately reflect the creation of resources as learning design rather than instructional design.

Undertaking research into higher education : maximising quality

Research into higher education is increasingly gaining momentum. It is vitally important that the highest standards of scholarship possible are applied to each and every investigation that scholars in the field of higher education undertake. As well as being an important aim in itself, the pursuit of high quality research into higher education meets requirements for greater accountability and efficiency in the context of increased student diversity and reduced funding worldwide. The quality of higher education research is dependent on a number of factors and dimensions. These include appropriate preparatory groundwork; the formulation and use of clear research questions; the appropriate use of conceptual and theoretical framework(s); ethical research conduct; the use of relevant and appropriate methods and methodology and choosing the highest quality dissemination outlets. This seminar will discuss each of the components of high quality research.

Toward new models of flexible education to enhance quality in Australian higher education

In this chapter we focus on models of flexible education as related to Australian higher education (with an argument that this is typical of developments worldwide). Moreover, Deakin University’s longstanding experience in flexible, online and distance education, as a case study of changes in Australian higher education, will be highlighted, with a particular emphasis on developments in teaching engineering and technology flexibly. To begin, we provide coverage of contemporary developments in quality enhancements in teaching and learning in Australian higher education arguing that flexible education is a key institutional response to external demands. The meanings of flexible education and blended learning are then considered and a contingency-based framework for designing flexible education outlined. The framework will consider models of flexible education design in the light of goals, the roles, needs and circumstances of teaching staff and learners, the changing technological environment, and the requirements of various external stakeholders. The focus will then move to course and unit concerns relating to flexible educational models of course design and operation as illustrated through the case of engineering and technology at Deakin. The final section will give some consideration to future directions in flexible education.

Want to know about quality in higher education? Ask an academic

How would you decide on the quality of a higher education institution? Would you (1) ask the academic registrar (or equivalent); (2) look up the most recent quality audit report; or (3) contact the teaching staff directly to discuss their perceptions about the quality of the services provided in their institution? While there is no one correct answer to the above question, the proposition underpinning the empirical research reported in this paper is: If you really want to know about quality in higher education, then ask those closest to the student-academic interface—the academics or the students. This paper focuses on the former. Using a postal survey, the views of accounting academics from 39 Australian universities about quality in accounting education were investigated from two perspectives—beliefs (what is currently occurring) and attitudes (what ought to be occurring). The findings suggest differences in those beliefs and attitudes, and an overall view that quality in accounting education has declined over recent years.

Australian transnational higher education quality assurance in Singapore and Malaysia

This thesis investigates the nature of the mutual understanding of quality assurance between two importing countries and Australia, as an exporter, of transnational higher education. The findings highlight the risks for policy makers and the need for better communication and collaboration between importing and exporting institutions and their transnational higher education counterparts.

Perceptions of quality in higher education : a comparative study of Turkish and Australian business academics

Finding a common definition of ‘quality’ in studies of quality and quality improvement in higher education institutions is very important. This study identifies the views of a key stakeholder group, academics, with reference to their beliefs (what is currently occurring) and their attitudes (what ought to be occurring) in relation to quality in their departments. The focus of this paper is on the collection of data from 64 business administration academics in Turkish universities. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using an instrument titled ‘Quality in Accounting Education Survey’. The questionnaire was developed by Watty and is based on the conceptions of quality framework, developed by Harvey and Green. The results are compared with the beliefs and attitudes of Australian accounting academics as reported in an earlier paper by Watty. The findings show that academics from Turkey adopt the perspective of quality as excellent or élitist, both in their beliefs (current situation perception) and in their attitudes (desired situation perception). This compares with the findings that Australian academics’ attitudes reflect a quality perspective as fitness for purpose in the current situation and beliefs that reflect a transformational quality perspective as the desired situation (what ought to be).

Service quality in a higher education context : an integrated model

Purpose – The aim of this study is to develop and empirically test an integrated model incorporating the antecedents and consequences of service quality in a higher education context.

Design/methodology/approach – This research employed both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The data from three focus groups, conducted at the Central Queensland University (CQU), Rockhampton, Australia, generated key themes and their interrelationships. The theoretical model was then tested using structural equation modelling technique on a sample of 528 university students.

Findings – The findings show that information (marketing communications) is more statistically significant than past experience as the antecedents of service quality. The consequences of service quality are composed of trust, satisfaction, and image. Overall, the results suggest a good validity of the theoretical model and the key paths in the model are found statistically significant, except past experience affecting service quality.

Originality/value – The model provides a good explanation of a university brand image, and perceived service quality was found playing an important role in this model. Universities intending to enhance their image are encouraged to consider focusing their efforts on marketing communication information, service quality, student satisfaction and trust.

Antecedents and consequences of service quality in a higher education context : A qualitative research approach

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to report on the perception of students in regard to critical antecedents, dimensions and consequences of service quality with an aim to develop a theoretical model in the context of a university in Australia.

Design/methodology/approach – This research used focus group discussions with 19 students who had been studying in undergraduate and postgraduate level programs at an Australian university.

Findings – The findings show that the critical antecedents to perceived service quality are information and past experience. There are three aspects of perceived service quality, namely, academic, administrative and facilities. Student satisfaction and student trust are found to have direct and positive relationships with perceived service quality as consequences; and brand performance and behavioural intention are found to have indirect relationships with perceived service quality mediated through satisfaction and trust.

Originality/value – This paper found three separate themes and their relationships with service quality in the context of a university. These themes are: information, past experience and brand performance. Perceived service quality was found playing an important role in this theoretical model. The model provides a good explanation of university brand performance and students' behavioural intentions.

Leading the quality management of online learning environments in Australian higher education

The paper presents the findings of the first year of a nationally funded Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) project on the quality management of online learning environments by and through distributed leadership. The project is being undertaken by five Australian universities with major commitments to online and distance education. Each university, however, has a distinctive location, history and profile in the sector. The first year of the project has seen the development of a quality management framework with six interrelated elements. The framework is being applied, refined and validated in the second year of the project. Allied with the development of the framework, was the conduct of focus groups at each of the five partner institutions in the middle of the first year. These focus groups composed a range of staff involved collectively in the leadership of the organisation's online learning environment. Prominence was given to the nature and value of strategic planning, due diligence conducted in selecting and mainstreaming technologies, evaluation approaches informing decision making, and the various relationships between different leadership levels and domains. A number of key issues which emerged relating to the elements identified in the framework are examined.

Brand orientation and service quality in online and offline environments: empirical examination in higher education

This study examines the relationship between perceived brand orientation (PBO) and service quality (SERVQUAL) in both online and offline education environment. A total of 476 questionnaires were completed by undergraduate students of a particular university in Australia. Structural equation modeling was employed in this study to examine the associations between PBO and service quality (SERVQUAL). The “interaction” dimension of PBO is significantly related to all elements of SERVQUAL in both groups. The “affect” dimension is only significantly related to the “tangibles” dimension in the online groups and is not significantly related to all SERVQUAL dimension in the offline groups