Adopting self-accreditation in response to the diversity of higher education: quality assurance in Taiwan and its impact on institutions

Abstract

In 2012, Taiwan implemented a dual-track quality assurance system comprising accreditation and selfaccreditation in higher education institutions. Self-accrediting institutions can accredit their programs without requiring approval from external quality assurance agencies. In contrast to other countries, the Ministry of Education of Taiwan authorized self-accrediting institutions to develop their own evaluation standards. This study investigated the institution-based accreditation standards and their implications on institutional internal quality assurance. Content analysis revealed that 37 % of the indicators of self-accreditation were new and not used as review indicators in the original accreditation track. Two frequently added indicators were featured indicators and levels of internationalization. The results also indicated that institutions tend to structure their internal quality assurance systems uniquely. Three types of approaches for developing institution-based standards were identified: bottom-up, hybrid, and innovative approaches. Self-accreditation has benefited institutions committed to educational quality and pursuing excellence by enabling them to employ a fitness-for-purpose approach. The diversity of higher education and educational policy changes constitute new challenges to higher education. Balancing between accountability and autonomy is critical for all stakeholders of higher education.

Quality assurance and the classification of universities: the case of Chile

“…To ensure the integrity and autonomy of the institutions, self-assessment processes and mixed systems have been incorporated so that both self-evaluation and external evaluation are considered (Brennan and Shah, 2000;Vanhoof and Van Petegem, 2007). In many countries, self-accreditation processes are being implemented (Chen and Hou, 2016).…”

Características del aseguramiento de la calidad educativa: Un mapeo sistemático 2016-2020

“…Las líneas temáticas establecidas en el estudio permitieron reconocer los ejes desde donde se fundamentan los procesos de aseguramiento de calidad, se reconoce el valor de las políticas de educación y los estándares de calidad nacional como guía para la inclusión y adopción de parámetros estratégicos. En ese mismo orden de ideas, Du et al, (2017) mencionan que los marcos de control de calidad y los procesos de integración global en la práctica internacional forman parte de un sistema nacional para garantizar la calidad de la educación, en concordancia, Cardoso et al (2017) sugieren que los marcos de control de calidad podrían, por lo tanto, moverse de un enfoque más prescriptivo a uno más interpretativo, es decir, más dependiente de la interpretación y adaptación de las instituciones; las modificaciones se deben considerar para ajustar los sistemas de garantía de calidad y buscar, simultáneamente, la excelencia estableciendo un equilibrio entre la responsabilidad y la autonomía para todas las partes interesadas de la educación superior (Chen y Hou, 2016). Se puede distinguir que la predisposición de las IES por garantizar el aseguramiento de calidad en sus procesos ha sido tomando como referencia estándares que sistematizan las experiencias de la aplicación de sistemas de calidad, en donde estos lineamientos han sido creados en diferentes contextos y adaptados según las variables del entorno de la institución, aunque estas características promueven el desarrollo de trabajo de experiencias sobre el aseguramiento de la calidad educativa, es necesario garantizar la vinculación de variables que den cuenta de las oportunidades de mejora que pueden existir en el proceso enseñanza-aprendizaje.…”

International Students’ Conceptions of the Sustainable Internationalization of Business Education in Taiwan

“…Taiwan also possesses advanced e-learning technology and has expanded all or part of the English curriculum in order to make the business educational system more attractive and accessible to international students. Although quality assurance mechanisms have been established in Taiwanese business education [12,45], many universities offer programs in cooperation with global universities; hence, many talented international students may initially be attracted to Taiwan based on these partnerships. It is imperative to note that the participants in Conception C suggested that there should be a proper balance in the curriculum design between local features and international perspectives, which is consistent with the studies of Ma and Trigo [46].…”