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Quality Assurance in the Australian Higher Education Sector ACER Research Fellow Dr Yu Zhao presented at the 11th International Forum on Higher Education, held in Chongqing, China, from 22 to 24 October 2011. The theme of the forum was ‘Improving the Quality of Higher Education and Construction of a Powerful Nation in Higher Education’. Around 600 people from mainland China, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan were in attendance. In her key-note address, Dr Zhao gave a presentation (co-authored by ACER Senior Research Fellow Dr Sarah Richardson and ACER Higher Education Research Director Associate Professor Hamish Coates) which discussed the efforts in Australia to monitor and assure quality in higher education. “Australia is currently undergoing a transformation in the way in which quality is assured in the higher education sector,” Dr Zhao said. “One of the key features of this transformation was the establishment of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) in July 2011.” Through TEQSA, Dr Zhao explained, Australia is in the process of developing national teaching and learning standards for higher education. Dr Zhao told delegates there are currently a number of ways to measure the quality of a university’s research, with one of the most well-known being the Shanghai Jiao Tong rankings index. Universities regularly use their research ranking as a proxy to demonstrate the quality of education they offer. Dr Zhao argued that this is, however, problematic because there is little evidence to indicate that research excellence automatically leads to high quality teaching and learning. Currently, Dr Zhao said, there is no generalised assessment of students at the end of their university degrees. Hence it is not possible to compare what students from different institutions know and can do by the end of their degrees, and we have no measure of the quality of the education they have experienced. Dr Zhao told the conference that this raises a number of questions for the higher education sector, including: how to best measure what students learn during their university degrees; whether it is important to have national and international rankings of students’ learning outcomes, in the same way in which research is ranked, and how universities can agree on what students should have learnt by the end of their degrees. Dr Zhao suggested that international developments such as the Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) Feasibility Study, managed for the OECD by ACER, will influence Australia’s response to these questions. “The objective of the AHELO Feasibility Study is to discover whether it is possible to assess what students know and can do at the end of their degree in a way that is comparable across a diversity of institutions and countries,” she said. “Australia, and indeed the world, will be watching the outcomes of the AHELO Feasibility Study very closely to see what lessons they can learn to improve quality assurance in the higher education sector.” ACER leads the international consortium of organisations implementing AHELO. The International Project Director is Associate Professor Hamish Coates and Dr Sarah Richardson manages international activities. AHELO is taking place across sixteen countries, including Australia. Further information on ACER’s work in the area of higher education quality and standards is available from: http://www.acer.edu.au/highereducation/research-and-consultancy/ « Back to eNews
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ACER Research Fellow Dr Yu Zhao presented at the 11th International Forum on Higher Education, held in Chongqing, China, from 22 to 24 October 2011.

The theme of the forum was ‘Improving the Quality of Higher Education and Construction of a Powerful Nation in Higher Education’. Around 600 people from mainland China, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan were in attendance.

In her key-note address, Dr Zhao gave a presentation (co-authored by ACER Senior Research Fellow Dr Sarah Richardson and ACER Higher Education Research Director Associate Professor Hamish Coates) which discussed the efforts in Australia to monitor and assure quality in higher education.

“Australia is currently undergoing a transformation in the way in which quality is assured in the higher education sector,” Dr Zhao said. “One of the key features of this transformation was the establishment of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) in July 2011.”

Through TEQSA, Dr Zhao explained, Australia is in the process of developing national teaching and learning standards for higher education.

Dr Zhao told delegates there are currently a number of ways to measure the quality of a university’s research, with one of the most well-known being the Shanghai Jiao Tong rankings index. Universities regularly use their research ranking as a proxy to demonstrate the quality of education they offer. Dr Zhao argued that this is, however, problematic because there is little evidence to indicate that research excellence automatically leads to high quality teaching and learning.

Currently, Dr Zhao said, there is no generalised assessment of students at the end of their university degrees. Hence it is not possible to compare what students from different institutions know and can do by the end of their degrees, and we have no measure of the quality of the education they have experienced.

Dr Zhao told the conference that this raises a number of questions for the higher education sector, including: how to best measure what students learn during their university degrees; whether it is important to have national and international rankings of students’ learning outcomes, in the same way in which research is ranked, and how universities can agree on what students should have learnt by the end of their degrees.

Dr Zhao suggested that international developments such as the Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) Feasibility Study, managed for the OECD by ACER, will influence Australia’s response to these questions.

“The objective of the AHELO Feasibility Study is to discover whether it is possible to assess what students know and can do at the end of their degree in a way that is comparable across a diversity of institutions and countries,” she said.

“Australia, and indeed the world, will be watching the outcomes of the AHELO Feasibility Study very closely to see what lessons they can learn to improve quality assurance in the higher education sector.”

ACER leads the international consortium of organisations implementing AHELO. The International Project Director is Associate Professor Hamish Coates and Dr Sarah Richardson manages international activities. AHELO is taking place across sixteen countries, including Australia. Further information on ACER’s work in the area of higher education quality and standards is available from: http://www.acer.edu.au/highereducation/research-and-consultancy/

Quality Assurance in the Australian Higher Education Sector