QUALITY ASSURANCE IN ESTONIA: EVALUATION OF ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES Workshop: Boosting quality:...
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QUALITY ASSURANCE IN QUALITY ASSURANCE IN ESTONIA:ESTONIA:
EVALUATION OF ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES
Workshop: Boosting quality: International Credential Evaluation and Higher Education Quality Assessment in SSH (PHOENIX)
Bishkek, 13-14 April 2006
TIIT LAASBERGTIIT LAASBERG
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NEED FOR ACCREDITATIONNEED FOR ACCREDITATION::
• Rapid changes in Estonian HE in the beginning of 90s
• Universities, strictly regulated by the state before, started to operate relatively autonomously
• Increasing number of private institutions
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LAWS AND REGULATIONSLAWS AND REGULATIONS::
• Main principles were laid out 1994 to 1995
• Law on Universities was adopted 1995 and amended 1996
• State-recognized diplomas were introduced
• Universities and curricula have to be assessed every seven years
• Procedures for accreditation were written up
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QUALITY ASSESSMENT CENTERQUALITY ASSESSMENT CENTER::
• Founded on September 1, 1997, by the Estonian Ministry of Education
• Legally a part of the Archimedes Foundation
• Funded by the state
• Arranges accreditation of universities and their curricula in the country
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• Prepares documentation required by the Assessment Council: self-analysis reports, expert commission reports
• Arranges experts’ evaluation visits to schools
• Cooperates internationally with other assessment centers
• Advises and holds seminars on writing of self-analysis reports
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QUALITY ASSURANCE COUNCILQUALITY ASSURANCE COUNCIL::
• Established on June 13, 1995, by the decree of the Government of the Republic of Estonia
• Operates in accordance with Estonia’s Law on Universities
• Includes 12 representatives of research and development institutions, state foundations, and professional associations
• May not include university rectors, pro-rectors, or Quality Assessment Center staff
• Makes accreditation decisions based on expert evaluation reports
• Accreditation decisions must be approved by the Minister of Education
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• Discloses accreditation decisions
• Makes recommendations for bringing higher education standards into accordance with internationally approved educational standards
• Develops methods for assessing academic programmes at higher education institutions
• Makes recommendations based on accreditation decisions
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Higher Education Quality Assurance Higher Education Quality Assurance System in EstoniaSystem in Estonia
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Accredited programmes in EstoniaAccredited programmes in Estonia
1997-2005 (722)1997-2005 (722)
539
158
250
100
200
300
400
500
600
full accreditation
conditional
no accreditation
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Cost of the accreditation
• One expert per one week:
- salary 1150 EUR
- travel 600 EUR
- accomodation 400 EUR
- other 100 EUR
2250 EUR
• Four experts per one week:
9000 EUR
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COMMENTS OF EXPERTSCOMMENTS OF EXPERTS::
• Experts from different fields have made almost the same general comments about Estonian higher education
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CURRICULACURRICULA::
• Too intense, no time left for individual work
• Principles for the compilation of curricula require revision, they are currently based on traditions, ad hoc decisions
• BA, MA and PhD curricula are not always sufficiently inter-related
• Total duration of PhD studies (10 years) is too long, 9-8 would be reasonable
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• Too many small – volume subjects
• Not enough credit points have been given for research
• Number of students withdrawing, mostly non-academic reasons, is too high
ORGANIZING STUDIESORGANIZING STUDIES::
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STUDY PROCESSSTUDY PROCESS::
• Too much emphasizes on lectures, focusing on the knowledge based on facts
• Number of lectures and study load is too heavy
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TEACHING TEACHING STAFSTAFFF::
• Shortage of young academics
• Insufficient number of high-level publications
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RESOURCESRESOURCES::
• Laboratories need modern equipment
• Libraries need more study material, especially scholarly and scientific journals
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QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY ASSURANCE AND FEEDBACKFEEDBACK::
• Internal QA system has to be introduced in HEI
• Poor contacts with graduates
• Small number of alumni organizations
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COMPILATION OF SELF-ANALYSIS COMPILATION OF SELF-ANALYSIS REPORTSREPORTS::
• Requires improvement: self-evaluation report should be based on the SWOT analysis - strengths and projected remedies of the areas analyzed by universities would be clearly outlined
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AFTER THE ACCREDITATION:AFTER THE ACCREDITATION:
• Teaching methods have been changed
• Universities have updated their libraries, equipped computer classes, etc
• A process for regular self-assessment has been developed (SWOT analyzes)
• Expert reports have been used in writing universities´ development plan
• HE financial resources from the state have not increased
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BENEFITS OF HE:BENEFITS OF HE:
•Accreditation process was carried out only by international experts
•3+2 system together with accreditation “woke up” Estonian HEI
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• International relations have helped to improve the quality of Estonian higher education (students’ and teaching staff exchanges), implementing one the main aims of Bologna declaration
• Accreditation results have been helpful for students to decide where to continue their studies. Accreditation results can be easily found from the internet
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Accredited as human
being
Wow, what kind of great feeling !!