I am very interested in knowing more about the concept of "Quality" in higher education And the available assessment methods to measure that.
Quality in higher education is a broad concept. It could vary based on the specialty. For me, I think “Quality” should consider many dimensions: Student, Teacher, University resources, having significant figure to add the support and enthusiasm to the research works to be beyond the edge.
Thus, I think measuring it should be multidimensional: 1. type, quality, and quantity of research, 2. students achieve the intended learning outcome, and 3. the allocated resrouces for research.
The problem with measuring quality in higher education is the elitist nature of the universities themselves. Most strive for excellence. But they often have an ingrained bias that opposes any new ideas that challenge their established educational norms. The "Not Invented Here" syndrome is alive and well in many universities. In Missouri, we have a five and ten year program evaluation of all university academic programs that is conducted by the Missouri Department of Higher Education. We also have regional accreditation by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. These evaluations are to ensure the the college or university is providing a quality education and makes the school eligible for federal funds. It is considered to be the minimum acceptable standard. Different programs in different universities will of course be stronger than others. In the US there is no standardized was of evaluating every different academic department beyond accreditation. Some majors do have an additional level of voluntary accreditation in their particular major, others do not.
Quality in the area of students, the area of professors/instructors, or the university itself?
I wanted to reach a definition of "Quality" in the higher education section. In the industry and business section the "Quality" is measurable by the physical characteristics of the products, but in the higher education section, it should be measured by determining intangible features of the service which educational institutions provided.
For instance, when we buy chocolate we can say it has a high quality based on some characteristics such as taste, packaging, and appearance.
I want to know how we can measure intangible characteristics in an educational institution.
In other words when we can say this course of study in this doctoral program has a high quality.
That's a tough one, I see it as a production or output of product. Example - research institutions, to be tier 1, students and faculty must produce high "quality" work in the form and types of grants received, or the publications in high end journals. Maybe an intangible could be relationships within the community and across state lines, nationally, and internationally. That is a tough one.
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