Quality Assurance Toolkit for Distance Higher Education Institutions and Programmes
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Quality Assurance Toolkit Assurance Quality Quality Assurance Toolkit Distance Higher Education Institutions and Programmes TRUST TRUST ACCESS ACCESS Institutions Programmes and forDistance Higher Education INNOVATION INNOVATION COST EFFECTIVE COST EFFECTIVE FACULTY SATISFACTION FACULTY SATISFACTION STUDENT SATISFACTION STUDENT SATISFACTION LEARNING EFFECTIVENESS LEARNING EFFECTIVENESS CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT EXCELLENCE EXCELLENCE LEADERSHIP LEADERSHIP Quality Assurance Toolkit for Distance Higher Education Institutions and Programmes Distance Education Modernization Project The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is an intergovernmental organisation created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies. c befa Commonwealth of Learning, 2009 Any part of this document may be reproduced without permission but with attribution to the copyright holders. CC-BY-SA (share alike with attribution) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0 Quality Assurance Toolkit for Distance Higher Education Institutions and Programmes ISBN 978-1-894975-34-6 Published by: Commonwealth of Learning 1055 West Hastings, Suite 1200 Vancouver, British Columbia Canada V6E 2E9 Telephone: +1 604 775 8200 Fax: +1 604 775 8210 Web: www.col.org E-mail: [email protected] Project Leader - COL Dr Willie Clarke-Okah Education Specialist, Higher Education & Policy Development Commonwealth of Learning (COL) Project Leader & Coordinator - Sri Lanka Professor Uma Coomaraswamy Professor Emeritus of the Open University o[Sri Lanka QA Consultan~ Distance Education Modernization Project (DEMP) Ministry of Higher Education, Sri Lanka Editors Dr Kondapalli Rarna Deputy Adviser National Assessment and Accreditation Council Bangalore, India Ms Andrea Hope Associate Academic Vice·President Hong Kong Shue Van University Hong Kong Co - Editor Professor Uma Coomaraswamy ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The success o( this pub/icetion is the result of commitment, enthusiasm and cooperation of various. institutions, govemments, agencies and experts, both (rom Sri Lanka and other Commonwealth countries (es fisted in the Appendix 3). The outcome reflects the Interest In quality improvement among the expelfs from un;versities and other educational and training insUtutions who wof1( with DEMP with sustained interest through 8 period of over twoyeafS. COL Vancouver, DEMP Sri Lanka and UNESCO express their deep gratitude to aU of them for their tireless efforts. First and foremost the contributing institutions 8nd authors of case studies of best practices are gratefully acknowledged. In addition the follOwing experts and their sHorts are sincerely appreciated and acknowledged for tM;r roles in the creation of this toolkit. Ashe Kanw8r, Vice-President. COL for her support from the Initial stages of the initiative. Mohan Menon, Former Educstion Specialist, COL for ell the encouragement and critical suggestions from time to time. Krishna AI/uri, Fonner Education Specialist and Team Leader. Livelihood sector for fIfc1litetJng the conteJdualization of Performance Indicators for Agriculture education gMng immediate example for conteJdualizing abi/Hy of the tool. Alex Hennig. DesignerlProductlon Coordinator. COL, Carr» We/ker. Ruvani Amarasekef8 and Lydia Meister, Programme Assistants, COL (or their invisible help and coordinating the activities successfully. posting the base camp and gentle f8minders keeping the project moving on the tlmelines. N.S. Ab8yewardene. DEMP/Srl Lanka Director for providing unstinted support and motivation through the projed and the office staff for sdministrative support. NAAC, India for fsciinatjng the Best Practices editing and providing administrative support during coIlaborativtt editing at Banga/ore. OUSL Quality Assurance Committee and other staff and Sarath Chandre P.D .. DEMP·OUSL Coordinator for their cooperation and ass/stance at workshops, field testing reviews and pilot studies. Mall/ka Gamage. OUSL for secretarial support all through the period and particularly the pr9p8raOOn of the manuscript for printing. TABLE OF CONTENT Foreword ............ .............. .................................. ... .. ........... ... ... .. .............. .. .. ......... ix Preface ..... ... .. .. ... ... .. .. .......... .. ... ... .......... .... ... ..... .... .... ............................................ xi Message from the Director / DEMP ......................... .. ....................... ................... xiii Acronyms .. .. ............. .. .. .. ......... .. .. .. .. ..... .......... .. .... .......... .. ..... ..... .. ..... ......... .... ..... xv Section I - Guidelines for use of the Toolkit. .... ..... .. ... .. ........ .......... .. .... .. ....... .. .. .... 1 Introduction .... .. .................................................................................................... 3 Development of Performance Indicators (Pis) ...... ............ .. ................. ................ 5 Performance Indicators for Quality Assurance ........ ....... ........... ... ....................... 7 Using the Pis as a Tool for Quality Assessment.. .. .... ..... .............. .. .. ....... .. .. ... ..... 9 Procedure for self Assessment ... ... ....... .. .......... .. ..... .... ... .. ..... ... ....... ... .. .... .. .... .. 10 Requirements for success implementation ......................... ......... .. .. .. ............. .. 11 Section 1/ - Standards & Performance Indicators .. ................................. .. ........... 15 Institutions .. ... .. .. .. ..... ................... .. ... ... ............................... ..... .......................... 17 Programmes ............................................. ........ ............. .......... ..... .................. 101 Contextualisation ego Agriculture .. .......... ... .......... .............. ....... .. ................... 159 Section /II - Case Studies .. ......................... ................ .. .. .. ...................... ... .. ..... .. 199 1. Assuring Institutional Effectiveness through Good Governance at the Uk Open University ..... .. .. ... ....... ......... .. ......... .. .. ............................. 201 Denise Kirkpatrick 2. Best Practice Case Studies in Distance Higher Education: Mate (I) Programme: Transforming Teacher Educator Development ..... 209 Chandra Gunawardena 3. Harnessing Advances in Technology in Course Development to Enhance Learner Satisfaction in The Open University of Sri Lanka .... .... 217 Buddhini Gayathri Jayatilleke; Geetha Udayangani Kulasekera & Uma Coomaraswamy 4. Course Design and Development at Open University Malaysia .. .. ... ... .. .. 225 Dr. Abtar Kaur & Professor Dr. Zoraini Wati 5. The Use of Standard Development Guidelines in a Team -Based Approach to the Design and Development of ODL Courses at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Bc, Canada ..... .. .... .. ... 233 Rob McTavish 6. Developing E-Learning Programmes at The OUHK .......... ...................... 237 K. S. Yuen ; Eva Tsang & Caroline 7. Meeting National Manpower Development Needs through OD~ at the Mauritius College of the Air .. .. .. .. ........ .. .... .. ........................... 245 Kailash Allgoo 8. Leamer Support and Progression at the University of Technology. JAMAICA ...................... ........................................................................... 253 Jeannette M. Bart/ey 9. The Use of Mobile Phone Technology in Student Support at the University of Pretoria ............ ................................................................... 261 Johan Hendrikz 10. Technology for Leamer Support: Implementing a Learning Managem'e~t System at Wawasan Open University ............................... 267 Madhuliks Kaushik 11. Introducing an Online Leaming Course at The Open University of Srf L.nka ..................................... .......... ..................... .. ................... ..... 275 Shironica Karunanayaka 12. Impact of Research on Quality Enhancement of Open Distance Leaming in Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Open University ................ ....... 183 V. Venkaiah 13. Learning for Livelihood: The Role of a Know/edge Infomediary in a Lifelong Leaming for Farmers Project in Rural India ........ ................ 291 K. Balasubramanian 14. University· Centrad Utelong Learning for Farmers (L3 F.rmers) - A Pilal Project of COL. .. ............................ ..................... 297 Uma Coomaraswamy; Kshanika Hirimburegama & Krishna AI/uri 15. Empowering Clusters of Small Scale Vegetable Planters to Move to the Production of High Value Agricultural Products through the Col Ufelong Learning for Farmers Project.. ....................................... 309 Krishnalall Coonjan ; Naren Sukurdeep and Dhsnrsj Remjutto 1 16. Community Empowerment for Sustainable Livelihoods in Rural Papua New Guinea .. ..... .. .... ......... .. ................................................ 317 A Ramakrishna Section IV -Appendices ...... .................. ..... ...... ..... .. ... ............................. ...... ..... 325 Appendix I ....... .. .... Gfossary ........... ... ................... ..... .. ................. .... 327 Appendix II ............. Contributors to Case Studies .............. ..... .............. 339 Appendix 1/1 ............. Workshop Participants ...................... ................... 345 FOREWORD The University system for tertiary educauon in Sri Lanka is state controlled with 15 national universities, (including the Open universdy)