ENQA QAA meeting 8 9 December 2005 Birmingham

ENQA – QAA meeting 8 -9 December 2005 Birmingham, UK 8 December, 13. 30 – 14. 30 Introductions to workshop themes

Student involvement in audit Nicola Channon Head of Operations, Institutional Review QAA

What role do students have at present? • students complete a ‘student written submission’ which is received at the same time as the institution’s self evaluation document • teams meet with elected student representatives at the briefing visit • teams meet with groups of students in the course of audits

Advantages • by having to complete a written document, students have a formal opportunity to help set the agenda for the audit • engaging with audit gives the students a better view of their role in the management of quality and standards • knowing that students will be sending a written document increases institutional recognition of the students’ role in the management of quality and standards

Disadvantages • the group of students who complete the document are not always those who meet the team because of the length of time between the two events • institutions are uneasy about students writing what could be a confidential document • not all student groups understand the role • the written submissions have become very long and based on expensive but inconclusive questionnaires

Conclusions • the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages • improve the guidance on the written submission • increase the understanding in student representative bodies about their role in the management of quality and standards

What next? • improve guidance • work with institutions • work with student groups BUT • how do we hear the student voice and not just an individual student voice or student political agendas? • are there other and better ways to improve student involvement in evaluation processes that increase their involvement in institutional processes?

Quality enhancement in institutional audit David Buckingham Assistant Director QAA

What is quality enhancement? l change that results in quality improvement? l continuous improvement of quality? l systematic improvement of quality? l planned improvement in quality? l improvement founded on assurance? l does it matter?

Quality enhanced Local enhancement Individual activity Quality assured

Quality enhanced Strategic activity Institutional quality enhancement policy Quality assured Institutional enhancement

Enhancement of what? l is it the quality of the student experience? l is enhancement of ‘student experience’ measurable? l is it the quality of learning opportunities? l is enhancement of ‘learning opportunities’ measurable? l can ‘enhancement’ be applied to the conversion of ‘learning opportunities’ into ‘student experience’?

Enhancement in audit Keywords to consider? l planned, systematic, deliberate l strategic, institutional l learning opportunities l building on quality assurance

What is quality enhancement? Enhancement-led institutional review (ELIR) in Scotland defines enhancement as l taking deliberate steps to bring about continuous improvement in the effectiveness of the learning experience of students

What is quality enhancement? Definition of enhancement for the proposed institutional audit method in England is l taking deliberate steps at institutional level to improve the quality of learning opportunities

Reports and how to produce them – Fiona Crozier

Reports Who/what are the reports for? - Institutions? (confirmation, enhancement etc. ) - Students? (new, current, information) - Others? (Government, public, assurance) How should they be written? - Who writes them? (Agency? Experts? ) - How much input does the institution have? - How is it structured? - If it has a multiple audience/purpose, how can we make it for purpose?