Increasing national capability for quality higher education the case of the Sultanate of Oman

This paper explores a number of quality enhancement initiatives being implemented in a developing country, the Sultanate of Oman, to increase the national capability for quality higher education. Oman is a young country with a youthful and rapidly growing population. A brief description of the relatively short history of Oman’s national systems for secondary and postsecondary education is provided. This highlights the challenges for quality education resulting from a strategy of importing postsecondary education from a variety of countries, and delivering the programs through a largely privatized sector.

The paper then describes the outcomes of an initial needs analysis that led to the development of a National Quality Plan. Some of the strategies in this plan for improving and increasing capability are considered, most particularly the establishment of a practitioner‐oriented Oman Quality Network, and the design and implementation of a National Quality Training Program. These two strategies attempt to address common obstacles to capability, namely a paradigm that entrenches compliance and helplessness, and only early awareness of effective quality enhancement and quality assurance principles and methods.

Evaluation results are presented that comment on progress thus far, and suggest critical success factors. These include building legitimacy and trust to overcome barriers to sharing information in a competitive privatized environment. They also include the establishment of peer to peer mechanisms that build confidence and create sustainability over time, as imported or external expertise gives way to local capability and expertise.

Benchmarking potential factors leading to education quality : a study of Cambodian higher education

Purpose To study the quality in higher education in Cambodia and explore the potential factors leading to quality in Cambodian higher education. Design/methodology/approach Five main factors that were deemed relevant in providing quality in Cambodian higher education were proposed: academic curriculum and extra-curricular activities, teachers' qualification and methods, funding and tuition, school facilities, and interactive network. These five propositions were used to compare Shu-Te University, Taiwan with the top five universities in Cambodia. The data came in the forms of questionnaire and desk research. Descriptive analytical approach is then carried out to describe these five factors. Findings Only 6 per cent of lecturers hold PhD degree and about 85 per cent never published any papers; some private universities charge as low as USD200 per academic year, there is almost no donation from international organizations, and annual government funding on higher education sector nationwide in 2005 was only about USD3.67 million; even though there is a library at each university, books, study materials etc. are not up-to-date and inadequate; 90 per cent of the lecturers never have technical discussion or meeting and about 60 per cent of students felt that their teachers did not have time for them to consult with. Originality/value A useful insight was gained into the perceived importance of quality in higher education that can stimulate debate and discussion on the role of government in building the standard quality in higher education. Also, the findings from this research can assist in the development of a framework of developing human resource.

Quality assurance in higher education : for whom and of what?

Over the past two decades the quality assurance of higher education institutions has captured a growing interest as evidenced by the increasing number of national and transnational bodies engaged in this area. Yet as the first decade of the 21st century draws to a close, higher education systems and thus the regimes designed to ensure their quality are faced with significant complexity. Issues of accountability, authority and responsibility are paramount when responding to industry bodies, to globalisation and the transnational provision of higher education and to the use of market mechanisms. In this paper we raise some of the challenges for quality assurance for higher education presented by this growing complexity through the question, quality assurance in higher education, for whom and of what, highlighting our concern for a need to expand the centrality of accountability to include authority and responsibility as part of the quality assurance regimes for higher education

Evaluation of the quality of diverse teaching practice in higher education research methods

The purpose of this paper is to report on a methods research project investigating the evaluation of diverse teaching practice in Higher Education. The research method is a single site case study of an Australian university with data collected through published documents, surveys, interviews and focus groups. This project provides evidence of the wide variety of evaluation practice and diverse teaching practice across the university. This breadth identifies the need for greater flexibility of evaluation processes, tools and support to assist teaching staff to evaluate their diverse teaching practice. The employment opportunities for academics benchmark the university nationally and position the case study in the field. Finally this reaffirms the institutional responsibility for services to support teaching staff in an ongoing manner.

The practice of quality assuring learning in higher education

There remains a lack of published empirical data on the substantive outcomes of higher learning and the establishment of quality processes for determining them. Studies that do exist are nationally focused with available rankings of institutions reflecting neither the quality of teaching and learning nor the diversity of institutions. This paper describes two studies in which Associate Deans from Australian higher education institutions and focus groups of management and academics identify current issues and practices in the design, development and implementation of processes for assuring the quality of learning and teaching. Results indicate that developing a perspective on graduate attributes and mapping assessments to measure outcomes across an entire program necessitates knowledge creation and new inclusive processes. Common elements supporting consistently superior outcomes included: inclusivity; embedded graduate attributes; consistent and appropriate assessment; digital collection mechanisms; and systematic analysis of outcomes used in program review. Quality measures for assuring learning are proliferating nationally and changing the processes, systems and culture of higher education as a result.

A higher education quality assurance model for small states : the Maldives case study

Increasing globalisation and local expansion of Higher Education presents challenges to manage quality of the education services. This study investigated key stakeholders' perspectives on what constitutes key elements and attributes of an effective Quality Assurance (QA) system in Higher Education. The findings highlighted the need for: i) legislation to support a strong QA regulatory framework, ii) independence of the QA agency, iii) development of minimum quality standards through broad stakeholder involvement, and iv) a cyclical approach. The findings of this study proposed a QA model which has implications for strengthening of HE QA systems of Small State.

Leadership to support quality improvement in Vietnamese higher education

The impetus for the study reported in this paper is the Higher Education (HE) reform agenda outlined by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). The paper reports on phase one of a mixed method research; a quantitative approach using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) to investigate the Vietnamese HE leaders’ leadership styles. The MLQ survey was administered to approximately 190 senior managers in State HE institutions in Mekong Delta region in Vietnam (nine of colleges). The psychometrics of the MLQ for the Vietnamese sample confirmed the reliability and validity of the instrument with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.779. A CFA was conducted and all factor structures were stable and consistent. The demographic variables were used to analyse patterns of leadership behaviours by the different sub-groups. The findings suggest that leaders who have different educational background and different gender in Mekong Delta region, Vietnam do not differ significantly in their perceptions about leadership factors.

“Cooperación Internacional entre el Banco Mundial y Colombia en educación superior proyecto: “Improving Acces And Quality In Higher Education Program P105164” 2008

Las relaciones internacionales, entendidas como una disciplina altamente interdisciplinaria, que estudia la relación y el comportamiento de los Estados y los diferentes actores internacionales, organizaciones internacionales y organizaciones no gubernamentales, reconoce la importancia de la existencia de una cooperación internacional para la integración y conocimiento de dichos actores. La cooperación internacional puede verse como un elemento esencial, ya que permite a países, entidades públicas y privadas compartir sus experiencias, conocimientos y capacidades en espacios donde los desafíos, oportunidades y limitaciones son similares; en el caso Latino Americano, debido a su historia, pueden identificarse necesidades y objetivos comunes en los diferentes países. Durante la primera década del siglo XXI, América Latina, al igual que el resto del mundo, está pasando por momentos de acople con el nuevo milenio. El aumento del alfabetismo, los desarrollos tecnológicos, la erradicación de enfermedades, la expansión cultural, la reducción de las fronteras entre países, son algunas de los muchos fenómenos que vemos día a día. Sin embargo, no han dejado de existir los niveles altos de pobreza, la violencia, las diferencias sociales marcadas, la discriminación y altos índices de desempleo. Muchos teóricos han propuesto soluciones para enmendar los errores que se han cometido en el pasado para sanar a la sociedad y brindarle herramientas para dicho progreso. El PNUD (Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo) manifiesta que una de las herramientas más importantes para lograr resultados reales en relación al desarrollo social, es la educación.

The equity aspect within the framework of the assessment of the quality of Higher Education : developing indicators to identify students with a higher risk of failure at university with a view to improving equality of chances of succes

Resumen basado en el de la publicaci??n

Higher Education Quality and Guidance : efficacy of a career celf-management seminar for undergraduates

Monogr??fico con el t??tulo: "Calidad en la Educaci??n Superior: una visi??n en perspectiva"