Developing a comprehensive and integrated set of performance indicators for the quality assurance of learning and teaching in European higher education.
Researchers
- James Williams
- David Kane
- Sam Geary
- Ron Austin
Research background
Quality assurance in higher education has developed hugely but has focused on processes. However, there has been very little investigation into the interconnection between the processes of quality assurance and learning and teaching, research, services and institutional management.
The SQELT project, funded by Erasmus+, brought together well-established experts from Germany, Austria, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Belgium and the United Kingdom to address this issue.
Research aims
The SQELT project aimed at developing a comprehensive and integrated set of performance indicators for the quality assurance of learning and teaching in European higher education.
How has the research been carried out?
The research used a mixed methods approach. In the first stage of the project, a large scale questionnaire was used to identify key issues in the partner countries.
This was followed up in the second stage with interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders: students, lecturers and senior institutional managers. In this stage of the research, we identified key experiences, perceptions and concerns relating to performance indicators in learning and teaching.
Outcomes and impact
The SQELT project developed a comprehensive set of performance indicators for teaching and learning competences; learning outcomes and learning gain and its assessment; and environmental indicators.
Of central importance in all of this is data management and the potential of learning analytics in the monitoring and improvement of the student experience.
In this regard, the SQELT project found that many institutions across Europe are focusing on redeveloping data management systems in the context of rapidly developing IT systems and data collection.
Results have been discussed in a special issue of the international journal Quality in Higher Education (vol 28 issue 1).