Assessing quality experience and learning outcomes. Part I: instrument and analysis
| Pages | 75-87 |
| Date | 01 January 2006 |
| Published date | 01 January 2006 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684880610643629 |
| Author | Maureen Tam |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Assessing quality experience and
learning outcomes
Part I: instrument and analysis
Maureen Tam
Teaching and Learning Centre, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Abstract
Purpose – This paper is the first part of a comprehensive report about a research study that aims to
assess the relationship between the university experience and student outcomes as a means of
determining a university’s success in meeting its educational goals.
Design/methodology/approach – It focuses on the research methodology deployed. Underlying
the methodology are four research questions that determine the empirical design, the process, the
selection, and the adaptation of an appropriate measurement instrument.
Findings – While this paper, the first part of a research report, focuses primarily on the research
methodology, the second part (to be published as a separate paper) will report on the findings,
discussions and implications for assessing universities based on student experiences and learning
outcomes.
Research limitations/implications – This paper will interrogate the various methods of analysis
and identify the limitations that are inherent in the overall design.
Practical implications – An alternative approach to quality assessment in higher education is
suggested to encourage institutions to be more oriented towards student learning and the development
of comprehensive databases for better institutional planning and decision making.
Originality/value – It sheds light on an instrument that aims to understand the students’ experience
in all aspects during their undergraduate years; and to identify how much of the growth and
development can be attributed to the quality university experience that the institution provides for its
students.
Keywords Higher education,Students, Quality
Paper type Research paper
The research design
The overall design is predicated on the notion that quality in higher education can be
best defined as the positive impact of university experiences on student outcomes. The
focus is on the effects of different experiences or exposures among individual students
or between groups of students. The four research questions that provide the
framework for the design are:
(1) Do students change or develop in various ways during the university years?
(2) What are their university experiences and how are they related to outcomes,
environment, and background characteristics?
(3) To what extent are student changes or developments attributable to the
university experiences and the various sub-environments within a university?
(4) And finally, what are those institutionally manipulable influences on student
change and development that are amenable to systematic intervention through
programmatic and policy decision making?
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0968-4883.htm
Assessing
quality
experience
75
Quality Assurance in Education
Vol. 14 No. 1, 2006
pp. 75-87
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0968-4883
DOI 10.1108/09684880610643629
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