Browsing by Subject "quality assurance"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    Open Access
    The introduction of external quality assurance in South African higher education: an analysis of stakeholder response
    (Taylor & Francis, 2007) Luckett, Kathy
    This paper analyses the take-up of proposals for a national quality assurance system in South Africa using different approaches to quality assurance to classify stakeholder responses to survey and interview questions. The context of the study was the introduction of an external quality assurance system for South African higher education by an agency of the Department of Education, the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) in 2004. A conceptual framework using Habermas's distinctions between system and strategic action on the one hand and lifeworld and communicative action on the other was set up to map different approaches to quality assurance and to analyse the data. Stakeholder opinion on the HEQC's proposals for institutional audit and programme accreditation was gathered using survey questionnaire and depth-interview instruments. Given that quality assurance in South Africa has been conceived as a means of furthering the state's 'transformation agenda' for higher education, different and sometimes conflicting approaches to quality assurance exist in the higher education community—underpinned by different values, discourses and purposes for higher education. The study shows that these differences of opinion were shaped more strongly by the respondents' position in the social structure (apartheid defined class and race position) than by their social role (academic, manager, quality assurance manager) in the policy-making process. The paper concludes by suggesting that this finding may be explained if one understands the adoption and intended implementation of quality assurance policy to be a lifeworld matter. The contribution of Habermas' notions of lifeworld and system to conceptualising and understanding quality assurance systems is put forward.
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    Journalism curricula in the Arab region: a dilemma of content, context and contest
    (University of Cape Town, 2011-08) Saleh, Ibrahim
    This research attempts to address and evaluate the 2007 UNESCO Model Curricula after a regional consultation meeting on the possibilities of adaptation of the model in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of the Arab region at the University of Bahrain. The model was supposed to be a generic model that could be localised and adapted to match each country’s specific needs. The rapid strides in different mass media industries in the Arab region have opened up new opportunities for the field of journalism education and the profession itself as never before.This transformation of societies have urged global standards in educational components and curricula that address specialized skills and knowledge, and opened up new possibilities of launching education programmes in journalism at new universities located at various geographic locations of the region. As a result, both local regional and international agencies have come up with offers for undergraduate and post graduate/Masters programmes in Journalism or communication studies.
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    Methodology matters: what methods for quality improvement?
    (University of the Free State, 2007) Luckett, Kathy
    This article discusses methodological issues in relation to models of quality assurance for higher education. It first traces the historical development of the widely adopted pragmatic model and shows how this model has been adapted by the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) for the South African context. It then sets out some basic tenets of critical realism in order to critique the pragmatic model from a critical realist perspective. Finally it proposes a theory-based approach to evaluation located in a critical realist paradigm as an approach that has the potential to effect the improvement or even transformation of educational practice as a possible outcome of quality assurance.
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    Open textbook authorship, quality assurance and publishing: Social justice models of participatory design, engagement, co-creation and partnership
    (Digital Open Textbooks for Development, 2022-06) Masuku, Bianca; Cox, Glenda
    This is a presentation that was given by the DOT4D team as part of the CHED seminar series in June 2022. The presentation demonstrates how academics at UCT are embarking on open textbook initiatives in response to a largely mutual set of social injustices they witness in their classrooms related to affordable access, curriculum transformation and multilingualism. With a focus on student co-creation and inclusion, it presents models that address social (in)justice in the classroom and explores ways in which institutions can address sustainability in order to support open textbook development activity.
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    Open textbook authorship, quality assurance and publishing: Social justice models of participatory design, engagement, co-creation and partnership
    (Digital Open Textbooks for Development, 2022-05) Cox, Glenda; Masuku, Bianca; Willmers, Michelle
    A presentation by the DOT4D project for the OE Global Conference held in Nantes, France on the 23-25 May 2022 on collaborative open textbook development models at UCT.
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    Open Textbooks for Curriculum Change and Student Co-Creation: Collaborative models of open textbook production and student co-creation (Workshop 2)
    (Digital Open Textbooks for Development, 2022-09) Cox, Glenda; Willmers, Michelle; Masuku, Bianca
    This is the second of two workshop presentations by the Digital Open Textbooks for Development (DOT4D) initiative team as part of the Siyaphumelela Workshop Series in September 2022. This session introduced participants to practical ways in which to initiate open textbook production and engage students in authorship, quality assurance and publishing processes.
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    Quality assurance of qualitative research: a review of the discourse
    (BioMed Central Ltd, 2011) Reynolds, Joanna; Kizito, James; Ezumah, Nkoli; Mangesho, Peter; Allen, Elizabeth; Chandler, Clare
    BACKGROUND:Increasing demand for qualitative research within global health has emerged alongside increasing demand for demonstration of quality of research, in line with the evidence-based model of medicine. In quantitative health sciences research, in particular clinical trials, there exist clear and widely-recognised guidelines for conducting quality assurance of research. However, no comparable guidelines exist for qualitative research and although there are long-standing debates on what constitutes 'quality' in qualitative research, the concept of 'quality assurance' has not been explored widely. In acknowledgement of this gap, we sought to review discourses around quality assurance of qualitative research, as a first step towards developing guidance. METHODS: A range of databases, journals and grey literature sources were searched, and papers were included if they explicitly addressed quality assurance within a qualitative paradigm. A meta-narrative approach was used to review and synthesise the literature. RESULTS: Among the 37 papers included in the review, two dominant narratives were interpreted from the literature, reflecting contrasting approaches to quality assurance. The first focuses on demonstrating quality within research outputs; the second focuses on principles for quality practice throughout the research process. The second narrative appears to offer an approach to quality assurance that befits the values of qualitative research, emphasising the need to consider quality throughout the research process. CONCLUSIONS: The paper identifies the strengths of the approaches represented in each narrative and recommend these are brought together in the development of a flexible framework to help qualitative researchers to define, apply and demonstrate principles of quality in their research.
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    A 'quality revolution' constrained? A critical reflection on quality assurance methodology from the South African higher education context
    (Taylor & Francis, 2010) Luckett, Kathy
    This paper attempts a brief meta-reflection on quality assurance policy and practice in South African higher education, with a focus on methodology. More specifically it seeks to answer the question 'What are the effects of the Higher Education Quality Committee's (HEQC) quality assurance technologies on institutional practice and how could they be more effective in achieving its mandate?' This question is pursued with regard to the failure of the quality assurance system to impact significantly on the graduation rates of African South African students, despite the South African government's (and thus the HEQC’s) explicit 'transformation agenda' for higher education.
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    ‘Roadmap’ for Open Textbook Development
    (Digital Open Textbooks for Development, 2022-05) Willmers, Michelle
    A presentation by Digital Open Textbooks for Development (DOT4D) Publishing and Implementation Manager, Michelle Willmers, to the Nelson Mandela University 'Open Textbook Fellowship' Community in May 2022.