EXPERIENCE SHARING CLOSING THE CQI LOOP AND QUALITY ASSURANCE PRACTICES IN MMU

Transcription

1 EXPERIENCE SHARING CLOSING THE CQI LOOP AND QUALITY ASSURANCE PRACTICES IN MMU Abstract Effectiveness in closing the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) loop in higher education teaching and learning has always been a challenge. It is deemed as a key to the successfully development of high quality academic programme against the backdrop of innovative teaching, effective learning and active stakeholders engagement, especially in the light of the implementation of Outcome Based Education (OBE). This paper is aimed to share the development of an ecosystem to support the realisation of a sustainable and effective QA management system for institutions of higher learning. Over the years, efforts to establish an effective quality assurance (QA) system incorporating the all-important Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) processes for teaching and learning (T&L) in institutions of higher learning (IHLs) around the world have been tremendous, especially in recent decades as a result of the impact of key factors such as (1) Increasing demand of multi-skilled, creative graduate and versatile workforce by the industry (2) The expectation of graduate to embrace and understand the importance of globalization and being a global citizen; personal and community social responsibility as well as civic engagement (3) Diverse cultural and educational backgrounds of local and international students (4) Unconventional learning behavior and expectations of Generation Y (5) The emergence of high International educational standards, professional recognition & International mobility. These key factors present challenges that require the commitment of university leadership and innovation in academic management to address. Among these notable challenges faced by IHLs are: 1

2 Non-active participation of internal and external stakeholders in the QA process Effectiveness in execution of processes to continuously improve and uphold the quality of programme Sustainable model to ensure good practices are to stay Constraint on resources to support and develop innovative teaching & learning activities Rapid change in market expectations and requirements of graduates Creativity and innovation in teaching & learning activities especially educating the generation Y learners Education Policy change and direction change of IHL The buy-in and support from all parties on commitment to good QA. In order to address these challenges and place the right amount of emphasis on the key issues, a well-defined and comprehensive QA ecosystem is required. The ecosystem would subsequently support the effective implementation of a good QA system as well as the necessary CQI activities to enhance the quality of academic programmes in IHLs. Figure 1 below presents the proposed ecosystem Figure 1: QA ecosystem 2

3 In this ecosystem, CQI is built upon a comprehensive quality assurance system, and supported by various essential components such as academic governance, academic leadership, conducive teaching and learning environment etc. as depicted in Figure 1. Essential support components are: 1. Conducive T&L environment: Creating and maintaining positive T&L environment such as optimum class size, student to staff ratio, highly committed and supportive teaching staff, caring environment and establishment of mutual respect among students and lecturers/facilitators. 2. Student centric T&L approaches & activities: Implementation of outcome based education to T& L to facilitate students to achieve the desired graduate attributes. 3. Academic leadership: Strong leadership with the commitment to lead and ensure targeted results are achieved. 4. Mission & Vision: Craft the right vision and mission to drive the IHL to achieving quality programme in addition to its other intended goals. For example, the mission of Multimedia University (MMU): To bring together talent for Inquiry, Inspiration and Innovation (I 3 ). It is also known as the I 3 culture. 5. Quality & Accreditation culture: Instill the quality and accreditation culture in everyone including students and non-academic staff that Quality is everyone s job where all parties play their essential roles and always confident about the quality of the programme as well as constantly wanting to excel in all undertakings. 6. External stakeholders: Active participation & feedback from international renowned and established external examiners/ professors, industrial advisory panels / champions, employers to advise IHL to ensure academic programme is 3

4 constantly incorporated with up to date academic content, syllabus and benchmarked practices to align graduates with the advancement of knowledge and stay relevant to the needs of industry. 7. Academic governance: A sound academic governance to ensure initiatives and plans are executed as planned and with total accountability. 8. Internal stakeholders: Active engagement of students, staff to obtain feedback on areas for improvement to devise initiatives to address the concerned areas swiftly as well as to obtain feedback on good practices in order to strengthen the CQI further or as much as possible to expand these practices to other aspects of T&L. 9. Adequate T&L resources: Adequate and up to date teaching & learning tools and support such as library resources, robust internet access, lab facilities & equipment..etc. Within this ecosystem, we establish a comprehensive quality assurance system which could be categorised into the inputs, the QA processes as well as the ultimate QA goals and objectives to be reached. The design of a comprehensive quality assurance system begins with the setting of targeted outcomes (Figure 2)such as graduate ultimately are well received by the industry holding professional and managerial positions; graduates whom have the spirit or drive to become entrepreneur...etc. that we hope our graduate could achieve. From the targeted outcomes, we work backwards to establish the required QA processes as well as identifying the required inputs. Figure 2 below shows a QA system we designed for MMU: 4

5 Figure 2: QA system To illustrate the system, take for example, when we design a programme one would need to ensure first the minimum programme standards set by the Malaysia Qualification Agency (MQA), Ministry of Education are met or fulfilled such as courses and syllabi are designed to address the eight MQF domains to ensure student would graduate from an accredited programme. Another input such as sound academic governance is essential to ensure effective implementation of the right academic initiatives is achieved as planned and with great accountability. Faculty KPIs which drive staff to deliver quality teaching, research, and services to contribute to achieving the outcomes. As for the QA processes in Figure 2, external examiners and industrial advisory panel are appointed and invited to provide feedback to ensure academic programme is of the highest standard and relevant to the need of the industry. Staff development to ensure members of staff are regularly given the essential trainings to upgrade their knowledge or attachment to the industry or Universities to keep them up to date of the latest technology trends and research development. 5

6 Finally, the CQI processes and activities in the ecosystem present in Figure 1 are essential to propel programme quality to the next level and ultimately producing highly competence graduates. Figure 3 below shows the implementation of CQI to the academic programme. Figure 3: CQI to the academic programme. The PDCA (plan do check act) cycle shown in Figure 3, also popularly known as the Deming circle/cycle/wheel is an iterative four-step management method used for executing CQI processes. The QA stopper block in Figure 3 is to maintain and ensure quality but to haul quality continuously up the quality ramp to the next level, the PDCA cycle is the key. The only parameter or constant in this CQI process is CHANGE. With reference to Figure 3, just to illustrate, in order to drive CQI or the PDCA wheel, strong academic leadership is required to make the right DECISION and at times bold DECISION to lead and drive. In addition, management to allocate sufficient and needed RESOURCES for effective implementation of CQI processes or initiatives. Management team to create the right conditions (e.g. sense of urgency or importance) 6

7 to allow the system to instill in staff and students the right "ATTITUDE" to embrace quality assurance and spirit of CQI positively. Conclusion In view of the needs and growing importance of good QA system and CQI in tertiary educations as well as the various notable challenges faced by IHLs in addressing these needs, we have in this paper outlined, shared and discussed the useful and essential components and approaches in establishing an ecosystem which would hopefully contribute to nurturing competent graduates for the present and future Acknowledgement Acknowledgement is to be recorded and given to Madam MA Lee, Prof. Dr. Ong Duu Sheng for his contribution, input, and discussions that lead to the final completion of this topic and paper. 7