Lietuviškai Content
- Audronė Juodaitytė
Quality of studies in higher education institution: philosophy and praxeology of management More - Izabela Savickienė, Kęstutis Pukelis
Institutional quality assessment of higher education: dimensions, criteria and indicators More - Audronė Valiuškevičiūtė, Rūta Druskytė, Inga Mikutavičienė
Quality assessment of university studies: attitude of academic community More - Jean-Luc Patry, Angela Gastager
Dilemmas in quality assessment More - Gintautė Žibėnienė
External quality assessment of non-university study programmes which were developed and submitted for realisation: experience and problems More - Rober E. Stake, Edith J. Cisneros-Cohernour
The quality of teaching in higher education More - Rimantas Laužackas, Aistė Račkauskaitė, Daiva Jaškauskaitė
Master study programmes orientation and curricula inconsistency in Lithuanian universities More - Irma Spūdytė, Mindaugas Misiūnas
Management as a factor affecting the quality of institutional performance: the context of Kaunas college More - Jose Luis Arostegui
Uncovering contradictions in evaluation: the case of the music education programme at the University of Granada More - Eugenijus Stumbrys
Internal and external quality assurance in higher education More
Abstract
Audronė Juodaitytė
Šiauliai University
Quality of studies in higher education institution: philosophy and praxeology of management
Abstract
The article defines total quality philosophy, its transformations and significance for study quality in higher education institution. It reveals the concepts, principles and problems of study quality management and provides an overview of implementation of study quality management at today’s European universities. The experience of two European countries (Great Britain and Finland) in study quality management is analysed. Generalised conclusions and recommendations for study quality management efficiency at modern universities are provided.
Key words
Quality, total quality, total quality management, study total quality system, study total quality management, external study quality assessment, internal study quality assessment.
Izabela Savickienė, Kęstutis Pukelis
Vytautas Magnus University
Institutional quality assessment of higher education: dimensions, criteria and indicators
Abstract
The article discusses dimensions and criteria, which are used to asses the quality of higher education in different countries. The paper presents dimensions and criteria that could be appropriate for the assessment of the quality of higher education at Lithuanian universities. Quality dimensions, assessment criteria and indicators are defined and explained. It is suggested who could make decisions on the quality of higher education at universities.
Key words
Institutional quality assessment of higher education, institutional quality evaluation of higher education the quality of higher education, a dimension of the quality of higher education, assessment criteria of the quality of higher education, an assessment standard of the quality of higher education, a standard indicator of the quality of higher education, an institutional indicator of the quality of higher education.
Audronė Valiuškevičiūtė, Rūta Druskytė,
Inga Mikutavičienė
Vytautas Magnus University
Quality assessment of university studies: attitude of academic community
Abstract
The article presents the research on study quality state at three Lithuanian universities. The research was performed during the spring semester in 2003. Research participants were 669 students, 227 teachers, 126 administration officers and 359 graduates. The outcomes of the research did not aim at revealing the state of study quality in a comprehensive way and presenting an objective evaluation. The research allowed validating the developed survey method, determining problematic issues of study quality which necessitate further research and much deeper analysis, and laying foundation for further debate about study quality state at universities.
Key words
Study quality, assessment criteria, study quality assessment, study quality indicators.
Jean-Luc Patry, Angela Gastager
Zalcburg university
Dilemmas in quality assessment
Abstract
A taxonomy of potential values conflicts in evaluations is presented. Basis is the distinction of types of conflict (aims vs. means conflicts; qualitative vs. quantitative conflicts). Six areas of values are discussed: the ethical, methodical, social and interactive, legal, economic, and personal values. The taxonomy of conflicts between these values is applied to a concrete evaluation process, namely the student rating of teaching at the University of Salzburg. Some of the conflicts are discussed, e.g. bandwidth vs. fidelity, individual vs. social and criterion oriented reference norm, student ratings vs. evaluation, and cheating teachers. It is suggested to use the taxonomy before starting an evaluation.
Key words
Antagonism, bandwidth, criterion oriented norm, decision-making in difficult social - situations, decision situation, dilemma, dilemmas in evaluations, evaluation-process in (adult) education, fairness.
Gintautė Žibėnienė
Vilnius Pedagogical University
External quality assessment of non-university study programmes which were developed and submitted for realisation: experience and problems
Abstract
The author analyzes the nature of study programme assessment with regard to the assurance of study quality. The organisation of the assessment process of the non-university study programmes which were developed and submitted for realisation in Lithuania and other countries is also presented and compared. It is being analysedwhether it is possible to identify the quality of these programmes based on qualitative and quantitative indicators.
Key words
Subject assessment, external study programme assessment, quantitative indicators, qualitative indicators, criterion, non-university study programme, regular study programme assessment.
Robert E. Stake, Edith J. Cisneros-Cohernour
University of Illinois, University of Yucatan
The quality of teaching in higher education
Abstract
Campus teaching is not independent of campus politics. Quality of teaching is partly a function of who cares. The complexity of the disciplines taught is not justification for indifference to the needs of students - and the needs of the public, and the state, and the campus administrative offices, and the instructors. Teaching is not merely a matter of communicating but also of providing opportunity to gain skills, understandings, and capacity to persevere, some of which will be outside the comprehension of some of those who teach.
Campus politics today seldom mirrors the Marxist, industrialist, civil rights and anti-war battles of the past. Today’s macro-politics are driven by global economic causes, particularly the drawing of students away from work in their home communities to the technological and business centers of the more economically developed cities and countries. The micro-politics of teaching continues to be largely a matter of who gets to teach the courses they want to teach. Good quality of teaching requires attention to the choices in the lives of students, not only in academic specialization but choices about with whom they will have coffee and to what values they will commit their careers.
In this paper, we support multiple evaluative efforts. We urge some but only a small amount of attention to traits and styles of instructors. We only slightly notice student outcomes. What we emphasize is instructor duty (McConney et al., 1995). We call for personal judgment of the evaluator and urge that the instructor be viewed as a member of a teaching community. Finally, partly as a political view, we oppose using personnel evaluation to standardize campus teaching.
Key words
Higher education, teaching quality, faculty evaluation, teacher duties, competence.
Rimantas Laužackas, Aistė Račkauskaitė,Daiva Jaškauskaitė
Vytautas Magnus University • Kaunas Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts • Kaunas Centre for Builder Training
Master study programmes orientation and curricula inconsistency in Lithuanian universities
Abstract
When independence was restored in Lithuania, a single-stage higher education system that had existed hitherto was reorganised into a multi-stage system with Bachelor, Master and Doctoral programme studies. The analysis of Master studies, as a new and atypical phenomenon in Lithuania, highlights the discrepancies between Master programme curricula and its orientation. Master study supervisors, responsible for study curricula and orientation, understand the studies as preparation for research activity, whereas master students and graduates link them to labour market. In Lithuania, academic and professional profiles are not clearly distinguished and defined in Master study programmes; therefore, it is recommended to acknowledge and legitimate academic, professional and even combined profile Master studies.
Key words
Higher education, higher education institution, graduate studies, a master, qualification.
Irma Spūdytė, Mindaugas Misiūnas
Kaunas College
Management as a factor affecting the quality of institutional performance: the context of Kaunas college
Abstract
The article deals with the necessity of the development of higher education institutions, improvement of their performance and management in the context of constant changes and reforms. The outcomes of the research carried out at Kaunas College in 2003 while implementing the college performance quality improvement plan are presented. Research allowed identifying problematic aspects of management. The authors recommend paying more attention for sharing of information, control, distribution of functions between departments and development of organisation culture.
Key words
Management, quality of institutional activity, college, quality assurance of higher education institution.
José Luis Aróstegui
University of Granada
Uncovering contradictions in evaluation: the case of the music education programme at the University of Granada
Abstract
This paper reports the evaluation carried out on the Music Teacher Education programme at the University of Granada. The first section deals with the European, national and university framework in which that evaluation was done. The four-stage methodology for collecting data, raising interpretations, external evaluation, and final report preparation corresponds to the main consequence of that framework.
In the second part I discuss the main data collected, interpretations suggested, and recommendations raised to different university establishments and communities in order to improve the quality of this syllabus. The three purviews evaluated were teaching, research, and facilities and services provided.
In the final section I present my reflections about quality and participation in evaluation that this experience suggests to me. Efficiency rather than quality is the aim pursued. Despite the low participation that students, faculties and staff members have had in this evaluation, I conclude that evaluation promoted actors’ involvement.
Key words
Efficiency, quality, participation, objective.
Eugenijus Stumbrys
Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education
Internal and external quality assurance in higher education
Abstract
This article deals with the issue of developing an efficient study quality assurance system in higher education. The issue of quality assurance is analysed in the context of the Lithuanian higher education integration into the common European Higher Education Area. The author explores the relevance of a study quality issue, presents an overview of internal and external quality assurance mechanisms and study programme accreditation issues. The final part of the article highlights the importance of external assessment and presents the guidelines for its development.
Key words
Study quality assurance, internal assessment, external assessment, study programme accreditation.