The Role of Students in Quality Assurance in an ODLInstitution: The Case of Zou (original) (raw)
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International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications, 2012
The present study aimed at establishing the effectiveness of the Student Representative Council in Open and Distance Learning institutions. A case study was undertaken at the Zimbabwe Open University, in the Mashonaland East region which the researchers selected to understand in depth regardless of number of there being 10 regions in the ZOU. In order to make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Student Representative Council at the Zimbabwe Open University, this current study sought to find out what services were being offered by the SRC, how beneficial these services were and how effective the SRC had been in addressing student concerns. The study also aimed at unearthing the challenges which the SRC faced in their quest to provide effective student services. The respondents were drawn from all the 436 active ZOU students from the four faculties in Mashonaland East region duly registered for the August-December 2010 semester. A sample of 100 students was drawn and consisted of 10 Student Representative Council members, and 90 ordinary students. The responses from the students were solicited through the use of a questionnaire, for the ordinary students, while the student representatives` views were extracted through the use interviews. Findings revealed that at most, the SRC was not being effective in rendering the services for which they were elected. No meetings had been held with students although only one had been held with the Regional Administration. Students` grievances were obtained through a suggestion box once, but unfortunately, these had not been deliberated upon. The most dominating challenge was lack of funds and this made the majority of the SRC`s objectives unattainable during the 2010 academic year. For the effective functioning of the SRC, it is recommended that financial control of the students` monies should be devolved to regions in order to expedite disbursements to various service providers. For ease of coordination, office space should be availed to the SRC where the receive students` issues and sit for their meetings. There is also need for a vigorous campaign to have the students linked with their counterparts in universities inside and outside the country for exchange programmes.
2020
The success of Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) is hinged on the quality of graduates they channel into the society. The growing concern about the declining employability of graduates of HEIs places a high threshold on the quality of education and training HEIs offer. Moreover, education regulatory bodies have enshrined quality assurance (QA) as a requirement for HEIs. Consequently, HEIs are increasingly embedding robust quality assurance systems in their processes for continuous institutional improvement. Despite the critical role stakeholders play in enhancing quality in HEIs, several challenges hinder the entrenchment of a culture of involving stakeholders in QA in most of these HEIs. The challenges include recruitment of stakeholders to take part in QA processes, stakeholder disinterest, inadequate QA competences in stakeholders, utilization of stakeholder input, and assessing the value of their involvement for institutional improvement. As a matter of fact, HEIs have a wi...
Journal of Education and Practice, 2012
This study sought to find out the role of the programme coordinators in the Zimbabwe Open University in delivering quality service to students. A case study (Flick 2004) of a purposive sample of 50 students and 12 programme coordinators participated in this research. Data was obtained from students and programme coordinators' essays evaluated with Qualitative content analysis. Respondents were of the view that there is need for a paradigm shift in the way in which programme coordinators work and pay critical attention to developing trust in students, empowering students, and work as knowledge creators and knowledge retrievers. They suggested that the programme coordinators must run parallel leadership centres and be visible in the community. The study recommended a paradigm shift in the work of the programme coordinators. Programme coordinators need to work as managers of their programmes, incorporating students in planning, instructional design and course development. Quality decision making by the programme coordinators in their endeavours to provide quality serviced to the students need not to be emphasised in the contemporary higher education programme management. Further studies need to be done on supporting the programme coordinators in the regions.
South African journal of higher education, 2020
The need for student involvement in quality assurance and promotion in higher education has been a topical issue for a couple of decades. This is because students are valuable stakeholders who are at the receiving end of the higher education delivery chain and their contribution to quality assurance processes and promotion cannot be underscored. Various researchers have alluded to the fact that when students participate in quality assurance and promotion processes as joint partners, their desire to see the processes succeed would be re-invigorated. While it is easy to understand and appreciate the value of involving students in quality assurance and promotion processes, the literature reviewed has shown that, in practice, not much is happening in this regard. The article explored the perceptions of students from two comprehensive universities in South Africa on the factors that constrain their involvement in quality assurance and promotion processes in their respective higher education institutions and their possible solutions. Convenience sampling was used to select student respondents at the two selected comprehensive universities. Semi-structured questionnaires were sent to student participants to complete and the responses were coded and analysed using the Thematic Analysis Approach. The results of the study showed that the lack of knowledge on quality and quality assurance issues, lack of engagement platforms and lack of involvement in institutional decision-making processes were some of the challenges constraining the participation of students in processes pertaining to quality assurance. Some of the solutions to mitigate against the challenges proffered by students included having tutorials on quality and quality assurance issues, recognition of students as co-partners in the implementation of all academic processes and creating platforms to enable students, academic staff and management to engage one another on quality and quality assurance related issues.
Students’ Participation in Quality Assuarance
2020
The article highlights the problems associated with the concept of involving students in the formation, development and implementation of vital decisions in the field of higher education. It is emphasized that the relevance of student participation is that students are not only a stakeholder but also an equal partner in the processes of university governance and in the process of ensuring the quality of higher education. The article analyses different approaches to the concept of «student voice». The authors propose to consider this concept as a philosophical and managerial idea that students have their unique opinion on education and they should be able to make a real contribution to decision-making in higher education, influencing results, expressing their views, promoting their ideas and feeling the results of their influence. Different models and mechanisms of student voice are presented: representation of students in the governing bodies of the university; activities of student...
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education
Student evaluation committees play a crucial role in internal quality assurance processes as representatives of the student body. However, the students on these committees sometimes experience difficulty in providing constructive and structured feedback to faculty in an environment characterised by a strong power differential between student and staff. This study aimed to evaluate a leadership and quality assurance training implemented for students involved in internal quality assurance. Furthermore, we explored how students give shape to their internal quality assurance role. Students from three health sciences programmes participated in a mixed methods study to evaluate the training and reflect on their internal quality assurance role. Overall, the students were very enthusiastic about the training. Qualitative data analysis indicated that in their internal quality assurance role, students: (1) harnessed the power of the entire student population; (2) tried to create focus and tak...
South African Journal of Higher Education, 2020
Researchers have investigated co-curricular and extracurricular activities associated with student learning and personal development but neglected exploring levels of students' involvement. IHLs oftentimes have no structures responsible for quality assurance (QA). Research should focus on specific structures, activities and the frequency of student involvement. Although Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education superintends over QA processes, it remains unclear which/how institutional structures foster student inclusivity in QA processes. Pragmatic research, marked by mixed methods was used to examine university QA structures for inclusivity. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics IHLs were targeted and purposive sampling helped select 15 QA office(rs) and SRC in one STEM university. Primary data from questionnaires and key informant interviews were used. Structures governing IHLs are prescribed by Acts of Parliament and the current frequency of involvement depends on meetings scheduled for IHL structures. This constricts effective involvement. Minimal involvement occurs in prescribed structures although more satisfying involvement is in student-initiated social clubs and organisations. IHL legislative instruments should be amended to reflect diversity in higher education; allow university Councils to tailor-make IHL institutional/infrastructural structures to deliver on their mandates than rely on prescribed one size fits all. Such change will foster more satisfying involvement for student socioacademic success.
Quality Assurance and Self-Assessment: Approach Methods by Southern University
The resources required for open distance learning (ODL) are human, physical, financial, and technological supported by cross cutting issues. This paper focuses on quality assurance and self-assessment as part of the cross cutting functional areas at Southern University. The Southern University (SU) envisions being a World Class University for the advancement of humanity, serving as a cradle of knowledge and excellence. To achieve this, the University will endeavour to generate and disseminate significant quality knowledge backed by its core values, upholding unbendable and uncompromising standards that contribute to national and global development. The university`s vision is “To be an icon of academic excellence in all disciplines and natural resource based professions in sub-Saharan Africa”. With the onset of peace in many African countries after many years of instability and insecurity, with the democratization of many African states following decades of totalitarian rule, and following years of corrupt and inept administrations, there is now an acute consciousness of the wasted years of African prosperity. One of the highest casualties of misrule has been education. Education became one of the lowest priorities. Investment in education across the sector diminished. SU like any other Open Distance Learning(ODL) Universities has observed that with peace and democratization in Zambia, there is population growth, rising prosperity, a thirst for knowledge, and a need to bridge the skills gap, all in the context of rising expectations and diminishing resources. For many, however, for whom life circumstances have rendered university attendance a distant dream, have yet another opportunity and this is the reason SU has come into being.
University Quality Assurance in Zimbabwe: A Case of Solusi University
International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies
Holistic education molds the head, the hand and the heart of a learner at all levels of education. Quality assurance has become an essential part of these academic core-value systems in institutions of higher learning, particularly, universities. This research focused on general quality; quality control, quality assurance and academic standards at Solusi University. The research took a library and computer based approach where information was gathered mainly from official documents. The researcher also got some information through observation. Collected data was analyzed qualitatively and the following themes emerged: assuring quality requires effort from all university workers and Solusi University has managed it; Solusi University controls quality through assessing the following: students entry requirements, programs, facilities, activities, faculty and feedback from stake holders; Quality is assured by Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE) and Adventist Accrediting Association (AAA). The study concluded that Solusi University has high academic standard that are abreast with global university expectations; although Solusi University has high quality, it has a number of areas that can still be improved.