Making the benchmarks explicit through programme specification
| Published date | 01 December 2000 |
| Pages | 190-202 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684880010356174 |
| Date | 01 December 2000 |
| Author | Norman Jackson,Geoff Parks,Margaret Harrison,Chantal Stebbings |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Making the benchmarks
explicit through
programme
specification
Norman Jackson
Geoff Parks
Margaret Harrison and
Chantal Stebbings
Benchmarking academic programmes
An important objective of the UK's new
quality assurance regime is to encourage HE
institutions to show how their standards (or
more correctly the learning outcomes that are
embodied in the standards of an award) are
related to what subject communities or other
bodies that influence standards believe such
standards should contain. The idea of
benchmarking (``a process to facilitate the
systematic comparison and evaluation of
practice, process and performance to aid
improvement and self-regulation'' (Jackson,
2000) is being promoted as a means of
achieving this objective.
In this article the term subject
benchmarking is a process that is being
developed by the Quality Assurance Agency
for HE (Quality Assurance Agency, 2000a). It
is intended to encourage academics to relate
key aspects of an institution's educational
provision and academic standards to
information that guides the definition and
setting of standards or the conditions for
creating standards.
The term benchmark has three meanings
(Jackson, 2000):
(1) a reference point against which similar
``things'' can be referenced;
(2) a criterion against which something can
be measured;
(3) a mark of distinction, i.e. the best
example of its kind (product, service,
process, performance).
Subject benchmarking statements relate to
the first two meanings.
Benchmarking is a method of self-
evaluation that is based on two different
processes:
(1) referencing and comparing one thing with
another;
(2) searching for and creating reference
points or benchmarks and understanding
the reasons why they are reference points.
The application of subject benchmarking
information is essentially concerned with the
first of these meanings.
The authors
Norman Jackson is a Senior Research Fellow at the
University of Surrey and a Senior Professional Adviser to
the Generic Learning and Teaching Centre.
Geoff Parks is University Lecturer in Nuclear Engineering
and Director of Undergraduate Education at the
Cambridge University Engineering Department.
Margaret Harrison is a Principal Lecturer at Cheltenham
and Gloucester College of Higher Education and course
leader for degree courses in Environmental Management,
Geography, Human Geography and Physical Geography.
Chantal Stebbings is Reader in Modern Legal History,
Principal Lecturer in the Law of Trusts and Director of
Teaching Development in the School of Law at the
University of Exeter.
Keywords
Quality assurance, Higher education, Benchmarking
Abstract
The article introduces the concept of benchmarking as a
referencing process to support self-regulation of quality
and outcome standards in higher education programmes.
It examines the potential for exploiting the product of
programme specification to explain which institutional
and external reference points or benchmarks have been
used to inform the design of programmes. It provides
practitioner commentary on the process of benchmarking
based on the worked examples provided in the Quality
Assurance Agency guidelines for preparing programme
specifications and offers an emergent practice model. It
concludes by identifying key development issues that will
need to be addressed.
Electronic access
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
http://www.emerald-library.com The views being expressed are those of the authors.
They should not be taken to represent the views of
the Quality Assurance Agency or the Generic
Learning and Teaching Centre.
190
Quality Assurance in Education
Volume 8 .Number 4 .2000 .pp. 190±202
#MCB University Press .ISSN 0968-4883
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