| 1. |
- Bergseth, Brita, et al.
(författare)
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Ranking quality in higher education : guiding or misleading?
- 2014
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081. ; 20:3, s. 330-347
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The study examines two different models of measuring, assessing and ranking quality in higher education. Do different systems of quality assessment lead to equivalent conclusions about the quality of education? This comparative study is based on the rankings of 24 Swedish higher education institutions. Two ranking actors have independently assessed the quality of these institutions during the same year. The analysis focuses on the concepts of quality on which the rankings are based, the choice of quality indicators, as well as methods, data sources and assessors. Although both actors base their rankings on the same overarching definition of quality, their conclusions do not correspond. The statistical method applied in this review, Bland-Altman analysis, indicates no significant agreement between the qualitative and quantitative measurements of quality in higher education. On the contrary, in several cases there are remarkable differences.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Hallonsten, Olof, et al.
(författare)
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Commissioning the University of Excellence : Swedish research policy and new public research funding programmes
- 2012
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081. ; 18:3, s. 367-381
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In many countries, current research policy is dominated by managerialism and excellence, manifesting the aim of making universities into national strategic assets in the globally competitive knowledge economy. This article discusses these policy trends and their mirror in recent developments in public funding for academic research, with special attention to Sweden. A review of the language in three consecutive Swedish governmental research bills from the past 10 years shows a clear policy shift towards the promotion of excellence and strategic priority on the level of higher education institutions. Reforms to the funding system, especially the launch of specific strategic excellence funding programmes, are introduced to put the policy in practice. While the policy shift itself might be discursive, the changes to the funding system clearly show a determination on behalf of the Swedish government to increase strategic profiling and the pursuit of excellence in research on behalf of universities. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
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| 4. |
- Hallonsten, Olof
(författare)
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Where did all the money go? Funding, personnel and expenditure in Swedish universities and colleges 2001–21
- 2024
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Swedish universities and colleges have received a substantial funding increase since the turn of the millennium, as part of continued policies of expanding the admission of students to higher education to broader layers of the population and strengthen Swedish public research and development to increase the competitiveness of the Swedish knowledge-based economy. In this article, publicly available statistics are used to trace how this increase in funding has been used by the sector. Comparing figures on income (base grant for research, third-party funding and base grant for education) with statistics on personnel and student enrolment as well as data on actual expenditure, the article draws some conclusions that are used to discuss some common misunderstandings and erroneous beliefs, including claims of a ‘depletion’ of the base grant for research and an uninhibited growth of the number of administrative staff, which are common themes in the Swedish and international debate over higher education.
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| 5. |
- Hill, Sophie, et al.
(författare)
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Development of national curriculum guidelines using a modified RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method
- 2020
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081. ; 26:3, s. 323-336
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2017, the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research implemented a project to develop curriculum guidelines for all health and social care programmes. The modified RAND/UCLA appropriateness method used by the group developing guidelines for programmes in prosthetics and orthotics is described. The method resulted in 126 learning outcomes that were condensed into 48, encompassed within eight competency areas. This number is greater than the number of learning outcomes found in most existing syllabi but comparable to those found in similar work carried out internationally. The article suggests that the RAND/UCLA appropriateness method is a suitable method to deploy in the development of curriculum guidelines.
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| 6. |
- Holmberg, Leif, 1943-
(författare)
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Coach, consultant or mother : supervisors' views on quality in the supervision of bachelor theses
- 2006
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081. ; 12:2, s. 207-216
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study is about what supervisors perceive as crucial aspects of quality in supervising students writing their bachelor theses. The questions on quality are related to a scientific perspective, a learning perspective, a societal perspective and a social perspective. The study demonstrates that the criteria on science varied considerably, despite the supervisors being in a single discipline area. There is also marked variation in views of the relation between science and practice and different supervisors expressed variations in their conception of competence. Furthermore, supervisors perceive their own role as senior researchers or senior consultants, and sometimes also in the supporting role of "deputy mother." The conclusion is that the supervisors seem to have a marked lack of understanding of the differences between them in undertaking their role. A main reason for this seems to be the lack of a common theoretical frame of reference. Due to a lack of communication, possible problems related to different perceptions of understanding the task may remain hidden or at least be neglected and underestimated.
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| 7. |
- Holmberg, Leif
(författare)
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Coach, consultant or mother : supervisors' views on quality in the supervision of bachelor theses
- 2006
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - : Routledge. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081. ; 12:2, s. 207-216
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study is about what supervisors perceive as crucial aspects of quality in supervising students writing their bachelor theses. The questions on quality are related to a scientific perspective, a learning perspective, a societal perspective and a social perspective. The study demonstrates that the criteria on science varied considerably, despite the supervisors being in a single discipline area. There is also marked variation in views of the relation between science and practice and different supervisors expressed variations in their conception of competence. Furthermore, supervisors perceive their own role as senior researchers or senior consultants, and sometimes also in the supporting role of "deputy mother." The conclusion is that the supervisors seem to have a marked lack of understanding of the differences between them in undertaking their role. A main reason for this seems to be the lack of a common theoretical frame of reference. Due to a lack of communication, possible problems related to different perceptions of understanding the task may remain hidden or at least be neglected and underestimated.
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| 8. |
- Holmström, Ola, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
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Coordination of courses in university programmes and students' experiences of their studies : student perspectives on the importance of course coordination
- 2023
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - : Routledge. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article examines how university students assess the coordination of the courses their programmes contain and how course coordination affects how content they are with their studies. The study is based on survey data from more than 5700 students, collected through Lund University's Student Barometer. The survey examines the students' views on course coordination based on content, workload, administrative procedures and whether or not teachers of different courses provide coherent information. The analysis shows that the coordination of courses has a significant impact on how students experience their studies. The better the course coordination, the more satisfaction students will get from their studies; and the correlation remains stable when several other factors of importance for student satisfaction are included in the analysis. The conclusion of the study is thus that course coordination clearly contributes to explaining variations in students' appreciation of their university studies.
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| 9. |
- Hägg, Ingemund, et al.
(författare)
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Standards for quality? : A critical appraisal of the Berlin Principles for international rankings of universities
- 2013
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - London : Taylor & Francis Group. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081. ; 19:3, s. 326-342
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article discusses the principles developed to assure the quality of international ranking practices for higher education, the so-called Berlin Principles, and the role given to them in the higher education community. While the principles are generally regarded as proper quality assurance principles, they are problematic both in their content and form. This study examines the process leading up to the principles as well as their use, thereby highlighting some legitimacy problems with these principles and the potential impact this may have on the further development of the higher education field. The study is based on official documents and published material.
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| 10. |
- Josefson, Kristina, et al.
(författare)
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Student participation in developing student feedback
- 2011
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081. ; 17:2, s. 257-262
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sweden has a high level of student influence. At Lund University, students are not viewed as counterparts but partners in the university’s activities. Lund University has carried out Student Satisfaction Surveys (baromoters) since the 1990s and an overview has shown that an evaluation culture has grown during the past decade. It is, however, time to pose the critical question: do we ask the right questions? It is important that course evaluations and the institution-wide barometers complement each other without too much overlap. This article proposes a different way to carry through a barometer, where students’ experience mirrors the responses of alumni.
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| 11. |
- Kettis, Åsa, et al.
(författare)
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Placements : an underused vehicle for quality enhancement in higher education?
- 2013
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081. ; 19:1, s. 28-40
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Placements have the potential to contribute more effectively to the quality of higher education. The aim of this article is to discuss how placements can be made more worthwhile for individual students, while also contributing to the overall quality of teaching and learning at HEIs as well as to the development of workplace cultures that are conducive to learning. Work experience opportunities help students to build substantive relationships and apply what they are learning. Students’ overall view of their learning experience becomes more positive, their identification with their intended profession strengthens and academic performance improves, as do graduate employment rates. Introducing placements in the curriculum does not, however, guarantee these positive effects. Learning is likely to be greater if the experience is ‘intentional and recognised’ and tightly knit into the curriculum. Using evidence from research on workplace learning is one way to improve the quality of placements, as exemplified by a scholarly approach to the development of placements for pharmacy students at Uppsala University. HEIs’ interaction with employers through placements enriches both parties. Academics gain insights into practice which may inspire teaching on campus, e.g. by generating real life examples that trigger students’ motivation and by informing curriculum design. Practitioners supervising students on placements are often excellent educational development partners. Placements may also contribute to organisational development. Developing a reflective, deliberate approach to learning in the workplace may be as useful for the employees as for the students. Also, students may carry out projects of value to the employer, while also keeping the university informed of current practice. An increased engagement in students' work experience opportunities may improve the student experience, and contribute to bridging the academy-practice divide in a way that is as much about influencing the rest of society as being influenced by it.
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| 12. |
- Lindell, Mats, et al.
(författare)
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Among demons and angels: Attitudes towards system evaluation for quality improvement in advanced vocational education
- 2002
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081. ; 8:2, s. 127-136
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper investigates attitudes among educational organisations towards the use of system evaluation for quality improvement in Swedish higher education. The subject of this investigation is the evaluation of the pilot project on advanced vocational education (AVE), which was conducted between 1997 and 1999 by a research team at the Luleå Technological University. The investigation was carried out in the form of a telephone inquiry with a strategic selection of the education organisers. The investigation shows that 65% of the respondents regard the work of the research team, built on the system-evaluation model, as an instrument to inspire confidence and contribute to renewal.
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| 13. |
- Lucander, Henriette, et al.
(författare)
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Engagement for quality development in higher education : a process for quality assurance of assessment
- 2020
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - : Routledge. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081. ; 26:2, s. 135-155
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper reports on the design, development and evaluation of a novel process for quality assurance of assessments for entire educational programmes. The process was developed and tested by multidisciplinary teaching staff and consists of five phases: inventory, analyses, evaluation, planning change and realising change. The process for quality assurance was evaluated in three diverse programmes. The results show that the process forms a solid base for decisions on short-term as well as long-term quality improvements. It was also found to encourage the development of a quality culture and had an improving effect on the curriculum design, enhanced internal quality work and supported documentation for external quality assurance. The results show that the process has the capacity to engage and involve teachers and other internal stakeholders in the quality development of a range of educational programmes, promoting engaged change for improved quality in a higher education institution.
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| 14. |
- Lundquist, Robert
(författare)
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Using a quality award for self-assessments in higher education
- 1996
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081. ; 2:2, s. 105-116
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Swedish Quality Award (SQA) is one of a number of similar instruments to be used in self-assessments. It is similar to, inter alia, the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award used in the USA, and to the European Quality Award. The intention is that it will provide support in working with continuous quality improvements. To investigate the possibilities of using this instrument in higher education, a study was performed during 1994. The study comprised two parts: assessments of different institutions and studies of expreiences from similar organisations where the SQA has been used.The results indicate that usage of this instrument could provide an effective way to reach a general picture of some important aspects in an institution, and that this picture can be a basis for further quality improvements. The study also suggets both suitable ways to conduct assessments and some possible pitfalls.
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| 15. |
- Melin, Marika, et al.
(författare)
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New work demands in higher education : a study of the relationship between excessive workload, coping strategies and subsequent health among academic staff
- 2014
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - Abingdon : Routledge. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081. ; 20:3, s. 290-308
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study investigates the relationship between the work conditions in higher education work settings, the academic staff’s strategies for handling excessive workload and impact on well-being and work-life balance. The results show that there is a risk that staff in academic work places will start using compensatory coping strategies to deal with excessive demands and that this might seriously impair their health. The compensatory strategy cluster emerged as a ‘risk group’ among the three identified strategy clusters, having a lower work-life balance and suffering from stress-related symptoms more often than the other two strategy clusters. The results also show that high educational level, management position and wide discretion as regards regulation of work in time and space (when and where to work) are factors that might contribute to a lower work-life balance. In practice, the results can contribute to create more sustainable work environments by detecting risk behaviours and risk factors.
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| 16. |
- Pecorari, Diane, et al.
(författare)
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Reading in tertiary education : Undergraduate student practices and attitudes
- 2012
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081. ; 18:2, s. 235-256
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper reports the findings of a study of undergraduate student use of, and attitudes toward, textbooks and other assigned reading. More than 1200 students of various subjects at three Swedish universities were surveyed. Most students said reading played an important role in learning generally and attributed positive characteristics to their textbooks. However, students’ self-reported reading behaviour was at odds with these attitudes, with many students reporting some degree of non-compliance with reading assignments and a small group of students expressing active resistance to completing reading assignments. Although textbooks were perceived as valuable, students reported a preference for learning course content from other resources, such as lectures and lecture notes. Textbooks were perceived as alternatives, rather than complements, to attending class. Differences were found across academic disciplines. Implications of these findings for educational administration and classroom practice are discussed.
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| 17. |
- Vu, Mai Trang
(författare)
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‘University of the world’ or the globalised, entrepreneurial logic of professionalism management in the Vietnam context
- 2019
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081. ; 25:3, s. 324-339
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This case study of a university in Vietnam examines how professionalism is established and managed in the university context as manifested in institutional quality assurance policies and practices towards academic staff development. By looking at both ‘regulations and instrumentalities’, the research showcases the different political forces involving in the making of professionalism. The findings suggest that the professionalism emerging from the case study is informed by a managerialist ethos. This striving university with its globalised logic can, in turn, be interpreted against a backdrop of larger socio-cultural contexts. In constructing the contemporary professionalism, there exist several forces and together they form an ecology system that includes both internal and external pressures under the overarching globalisation. A better understanding of these forces raises other questions about how they might change the traditional relationship between university and academic staff members, the impact of globalisation and the nature of teacher work and autonomy in higher education.
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| 18. |
- Yokoyama, Keiko
(författare)
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The rise of risk management in the universities : a new way to understand quality in university management
- 2018
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081. ; 24:1, s. 3-18
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study aims to identify how uncertainty and insecurity in the post-2008 period have reshaped risk management in the university systems. The study scrutinises internal control in the contexts of the English university system and the State University of New York (SUNY) system. It utilises the concept of 'risk' by exploring 'risk society' theses. The paper argues that uncertainty, anxiety and distrust following the 2008 financial crisis did not reshape the risk management mechanisms in England and the SUNY system. The adaptive reactions of these university systems against the crisis were immediate responses to fiscal shortage, rather than reforming of their internal control mechanisms. This suggests that the uncertain environment may thrust the universities into a reflexive mode; however, it is not necessary to bring about substantial structural changes.
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| 19. |
- Zineldin, Mosad, et al.
(författare)
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Assessing quality in higher education : new criteria for evaluating students’ satisfaction
- 2011
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Ingår i: Quality in Higher Education. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1353-8322 .- 1470-1081. ; 17:2, s. 231-243
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this research is to present a new quality assurance model (5Qs) and to examine the major factors affecting students’ perception of cumulative satisfaction. The model includes behavioural dimensions of student satisfaction. The factors included in this cumulative summation are technical, functional, infrastructure, interaction and atmosphere of higher education institutions. This study concerns students in higher education institutions in Istanbul Turkey. The questionnaire contains a total of 39 items (attributes) of newly developed five quality dimensions (5Qs). A total of 1641 complete and usable questionnaires was received. Frequency analysis, factor analysis and reliability analysis were used for analysing the data collected. Inspection of scree plot and eigenvalues enabled the analysis to reduce the 39 quality attributes to seven factors. The results can be used by higher education institutions to re-engineer and re-design creatively their quality-management processes and the future direction of their more effective education quality strategies.
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| 20. |
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