Quality Assurance (QA) in Higher Education
Quality Assurance (QA) is a set of activities intended to ensure that products (goods and/or services) satisfy customer requirements in a systematic, reliable fashion. QA cannot absolutely guarantee the production of quality products but makes this more likely.
It is important to realize also that quality is determined by the intended users, clients or customers, not by society in general: it is not the same as 'expensive' or 'high quality'. Even goods with low prices can be considered quality items if they meet a market need.
Quality assurance attempts to improve and stabilize production, and associated processes, to avoid, or at least minimize, issues that led to the defects in the first place. To prevent mistakes from arising, several QA methodologies are used.
During the 1980s, the concept of "company quality" with the focus on management and people came to the fore. It was realized that, if all departments approached quality with an open mind, success was possible if the management led the quality improvement process.
Quality improvement process is generic in the sense it can be applied to any of many activities (including education) and it establishes a behavior pattern, which supports the achievement of quality. This in turn is supported by quality management practices which can include a number of business systems and which are usually specific to the activities of the business unit concerned.
There are many methods for quality improvement. These cover product improvement, process improvement and people based improvement. In the following list are methods of quality management and techniques that incorporate and drive quality improvement in the field of education:
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) created the Quality Management System (QMS) standards in 1987. The last major revision was in the year 2000 and the series was called ISO 9000:2000 series. ISO released a minor revision, ISO 9001:2008 on 14 October 2008. It contains no new requirements. Many of the changes were to improve consistency in grammar, facilitating translation of the standard into other languages. The Quality Management System standards created by ISO are meant to certify the processes and the system of an organization, not the product or service itself. ISO 9000 standards do not certify the quality of the product or service. It certifies the optimal performance of the organization. ISO 29990: 2010 certifies "Learning services for non-formal education and training".
The first quality standard for e-learning This is the first standard in the field of quality management specific of virtual education. It was published in Spain as UNE 66181 by AENOR, the Spanish Association for Standardization and Certification, member organization of ISO. This new standard is intended as a guide to identify the characteristics of virtual courses, so that buyers can select virtual training products that best fit their needs and expectations, and so that providers can improve its offer and thus the satisfaction of their customers or students.
It has become customary to use consultants and contractors when introducing new quality practices and methods, particularly where the relevant skills and expertise are not available within the organization. In addition, when new initiatives and improvements are required to boost the current quality system, or perhaps improve upon current manufacturing systems, the use of temporary consultants becomes a viable solution when allocating valuable resources.
It is important not to underestimate the people factors, such as culture, in selecting a quality improvement approach. Any improvement (change) takes time to implement, gain acceptance and stabilize as accepted practice. Improvement must allow pauses between implementing new changes so that the change is stabilized and assessed as a real improvement, before the next improvement is made (hence continual improvement, not continuous improvement).
- Do you need Education Quality Consulting Services?
The Education Quality Accrediting Commission may act as a consultant for any institution interested in achieving a QA certification. The EQAC works in collaboration with the EQA European Quality Assurance, another independent Certification Body established to provide ISO certification services to companies engaged in a wide range of industries. The preliminary consulting review of your institution is provided for free. |
