Collaborative quality enhancement in engineering education: an overview of operational models at a programme level

ABSTRACT This article discusses the tension between quality assurance and quality enhancement in engineering education at a programme level. It acknowledges that accreditation has evolved for many years, but does not agilely support innovation or implement changes in educational programmes. Existing quality assurance systems, institutional collaboration networks, as well as new innovative quality enhancement models and processes are described, contrasted and synthesised. Quality enhancement is analysed based on its function as a source of inspiration and dissemination of good practice. The article reflects on a novel and more collaborative approach to quality enhancement, built on the foundations of specific pedagogical standards and rubrics (e.g. CDIO). One solution leading to real continuous quality enhancement could be flexible and agile evaluation processes. These are founded on measurement and rating frameworks and complemented with quality assurance for engineering education. Incremental enhancement is based on relevant needs identified collaboratively between programmes.

[1]  D. Houston,et al.  Rethinking quality and improvement in higher education , 2008 .

[2]  Johan Malmqvist,et al.  Rethinking Engineering Education - The CDIO Approach , 2007 .

[3]  Siegfried Rouvrais,et al.  RESISTANCE TO CHANGE IN INSTITUTIONALIZING THE CDIO STANDARDS: FROM A CASCADE TO AN AGILE IMPROVEMENT MODEL , 2012 .

[4]  Juha Kontio,et al.  Developing a Robust Self Evaluation Framework for Active Learning: The First Stage of an Erasmus+ Project (QAEMarketPlace4HEI) , 2015 .

[5]  Siegfried Rouvrais,et al.  Return on Experience from Sustainability Audits in European Engineering Educational Institutions , 2013 .

[6]  A. Sursock.  Quality Assurance and the European Transformational Agenda , 2012 .

[7]  Katriina Schrey-Niemenmaa,et al.  Using accreditation criteria for collaborative quality enhancement , 2015, 2015 International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning (ICL).

[8]  Dmitry Maslow,et al.  The EFQM Excellence Model for Deploying Quality Management: A British-Russian Journey. , 2005 .

[9]  Claire Lassudrie,et al.  Pairwise Collaborative Quality Enhancement: Experience of Two Engineering Programmes in Iceland and France , 2016 .

[10]  Peter J. Gray,et al.  The Background of Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Engineering Education , 2009 .

[11]  J. Brennan,et al.  Quality assessment and institutional change: Experiences from 14 countries , 2000 .

[12]  Maria João Rosa,et al.  Recent Trends in Quality Assurance , 2010 .

[13]  Mark Hutchison,et al.  Benchmarking for Competitive Advantage , 1996 .

[14]  Anne Marsden,et al.  International Organization for Standardization , 2014 .

[15]  Ourania Filippakou,et al.  Quality Assurance and Quality Enhancement in Higher Education: Contested Territories? , 2008 .

[16]  Basim Abu-Jdayil,et al.  Curriculum assessment as a direct tool in ABET outcomes assessment in a chemical engineering programme , 2010 .

[17]  Claire Lassudrie,et al.  An Assessment Framework for Engineering Education Systems , 2014, SPICE.

[18]  Johan Malmqvist,et al.  A Comparison of the CDIO and EUR-ACE Quality Assurance Systems , 2012, Int. J. Qual. Assur. Eng. Technol. Educ..

[19]  R. Mildenberg,et al.  Quality and Quality Assurance , 2007 .

[20]  Alberto Amaral,et al.  Quality assurance in higher education : contemporary debates , 2014 .

[21]  F. V. Vught,et al.  Introduction: Towards a New Ranking Approach in Higher Education and Research , 2012 .

[22]  A. Kamp,et al.  Engineering Education in the Rapidly Changing World: Rethinking the Vision for Higher engineering Education , 2016 .

[23]  Peter J. Gray,et al.  Engineering Education Quality Assurance , 2009 .

[24]  Jens Bennedsen,et al.  Finding good friends to learn from and to inspire , 2016, 2016 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE).

[25]  Henrik Björklund,et al.  A Preliminary Case Study for Collaborative Quality Enhancement , 2016 .

[26]  Peter J. Gray,et al.  Engineering education quality assurance : a global perspective , 2009 .

[27]  G. Landrac,et al.  Resistance to Change in Institutionalizing the CDIO Standards : From a Waterfall to and Agile Improvement Model , 2019 .

[28]  Arun Patil,et al.  Internal and External Quality Assurance Approaches for Improvement and Accountability: A Conceptual Framework , 2009 .

[29]  Juha Kontio,et al.  Improving Quality Assurance with CDIO Self-Evaluation: Experiences From a Nordic Project , 2012, Int. J. Qual. Assur. Eng. Technol. Educ..

[30]  Juha Kontio,et al.  QA and Enhancement Marketplace for HEIs – An Erasmus+ project , 2015 .