The Impact of External Approval Processes on Programme Development

Ten years of external quality audit in Australia: evaluating its effectiveness and success

“…Other studies in a range of countries found positive effects, including: in Chile, indications of a change in institutional culture (Lemaitre 2004;Silva, Reich, and Gallegos 1997); in the West Indies, the implementation of review recommendations and enhanced learning and teaching (Gift and Bell-Hutchinson 2007); the enhancement of learning and teaching, sequences of learning and the approach to student assessments (Gerbic and Kranenburg 2003;Horsburgh 1997); and in New Zealand, an improvement in teaching and research outcomes (Carr, Hamilton, and Mead 2005).…”

Dynamic and Communicative Aspects of Quality Assurance

“…Gerbic and Kranenburg (2002) contrasted the programme approval processes of the Committee on University Academic Programmes (CUAP) with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). The former is used for programme approval by the universities, and the rest of tertiary education in that country employs the latter.…”

“…They educate Australian (and international) students who are both universally students in role and particularly Australian in definition of social and academic programmes. In preparing a document for the approval of a new academic programme by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), developers engaged in serious discussion of the programme idea and its justification as well as bemoaned the seemingly endless document rewrites, the need to speak the language of NZQA approvals, and the attendant uncertainty of what was required in the document (Gerbic & Kranenburg, 2002). Quality of institutions and programmes must contend with this Janus 'both/and' attribute of learning and of the environment in which it takes place (Baxter & Montgomery, 1996;Elton, 2002).…”

Fifteen Years ofQuality in Higher Education(Part Two)

“…Social, economic, political and personal contexts are powerful influencers and for quality monitoring to have an impact on student learning, the emphasis must be on curriculum, learning, teaching and assessment. Gerbic and Kranenburg (2003), though, argued that the New Zealand external process impacted positively on new programme development. Clear documentation that requires significant detail of philosophy, structure, sequence of learning, details of the individual courses, teaching and learning approaches, assessment approach as well as details of the assessment activities planned as well as student support services results in a more cohesive, student-centred and implementation-ready programme.…”