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oa Fifteen years of quality assessment in Iran's higher education system: Successes and failures
- Publisher: Hamad bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press)
- Source: QScience Proceedings, Conference on Education 2015. Partners in Excellence, Apr 2015, Volume 2015, 51
Abstract
In response to local, national and international developments and challenges many countries have developed quality assurance as a new approach and institutional innovation during the last three decades. Self-assessment is considered as a base of quality assessment in higher education. First experience of implementing self-assessment by departments was in the middle of 1990s. In the early 2000s, National Education Measurement Organization has introduced self-assessment nationwide. National Education Measurement Organization efforts led to hegemony of selfassessment in the 2000s. After fifteen years these questions are raised: 1) how was the trend of implementing self-assessment? 2) Which factors affected success and/or failure as a result of implementing self-assessment? 3) What is the lost ring of quality assessment in Iran’s higher education?
The research method was qualitative-quantitative mixed method design. Data have been gathered through documents content analysis, interviews and questionnaires. Participants in the qualitative phase were self-assessment committee members while the population of quantitative phase consisted of all faculty members of departments who implemented self-assessment. Results revealed that in spite of successful implementation of self-assessment in several departments, other departments faced problems that led to delay or pause in implementing self-assessment. Conflicts in the departments as well as losing motivation by executive committee members were the main determinants of failure in implementing self-assessment.
- 30 April 2015