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UK standards based QA
framework
Dr Norman Jackson
Generic Centre and University of Surrey
UK standards based QA
framework
 context
 conception
 use
 appraisal
UK HE transformational
context
1980
1990
2000
2010
2m
API 50%
high participation
1.5m
1m
0.5m
modularization
credit-based learning
outcomes-based learning & assessment
changes in what is valued as learning
strong emphasis on public accountability
low participation
Landmarks in HE regulatory reform
England,NI
Wales?
Scottish
enhancement-led QA
2003
1997 Quality Assurance Agency
begins developing standards QA
1992 Institutional Audit and Teaching
Quality Assessment introduced
Polytechnics regulated by
CNAA and HMI
1994-97 HEQC standards debate
1992 university system expanded
universities
self-regulating
1980
1996-97 National Committee of
Inquiry
1990
2000
2010
Educational rationale
underlying standards policy
 focusing attention on what students are learning
 promoting a consistent language to discuss students’
learning
 seeking alignment between what students are
intended to learn, the means by which learning is
promoted and the criteria on which achievement is
judged
 encouraging students to understand how, when, what
and why they are learning and to contribute to
evidencing and recording their learning
UK standards-based quality assurance
framework www.qaa.ac.uk
Policy roadmap
INSTITUTION
SUBJECT
NATIONAL
subject
benchmarks
programme
specifications
& progress files
qualifications
frameworks &
codes of practice
external reference points
12 Codes
 Postgraduate research
 Assessment of students
 Collaborative provision
 Programme approval
 Students with disabilities
 Career education
 External Examining
 Work placements
 Academic appeals
 Recruitment/admissions
 Distance Learning
Framework Supports
 Institutional programme design & review
 Institutional qa - programme validation
 External examining
 External peer review
 Accreditation of courses by professional
bodies
QA policies promote an outcomes
approach to learning and assessment
intended
learning
learning
process
EXPLICIT LEARNING OBJECTIVES
knowledge, understanding,
skills, values and behaviors.
actual
learning
ASSESSMENT ALIGNED
TO LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1) valid assessment methods
2) aligned criteria
LEARNING PROCESS ALIGNED TO OBJECTIVES
1) curriculum
2) teaching/learning activities and
3) support/guidance to promote/enable learning
A constructively aligned curriculum
John Biggs theory of constructive alignment
QA tools and curriculum representations
reference
points
Programme Specification
subject
benchmark
statements
* Educational outcomes
* Teaching, learning and assessment processes that
enable intended outcomes to be achieved and demonstrated
* Curriculum structure may include curriculum maps
requirements
of professional
and statutory
regulatory
bodies
institutional
policies
teaching system
learning system
what the teacher does
what the student does
what is actually taught and learnt
Where are we now?
 fantastic experiment - need for research and
evaluation into impact of policy on practice
 danger of unquestioning compliance
 opportunity for engagement of HE communities in
professional dialogue about students’ learning and the
ways in which it is promoted
 need for fundamental debate about deployment of
outcomes model for complex HE learning