The Evaluation Agency (Evaluationsagentur) Baden Wurttember (evalag) is launching a Lifelong Learning, Erasmus funded project entitled Impact Analysis of External Quality Assurance Processes in Higher Education Institutions. Pluralistic Methodology and Application of a Formative Transdisciplinary Impact Evaluation (IMPALA) with the aim of improving the knowledge and know-how of all stakeholders about the outputs, outcomes, effects, and (mid- and long-term) impacts of EQA procedures.
TERM/DURATION
01 October 2013 to 30 September 2016 (36 months)
PARTNERSHIP
The project applicant and coordinator is the Evaluation Agency (Evaluationsagentur) Baden Wurttember (evalag).The project partnerships includes the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS) Romania, Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency (AQU) Spain, The Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council (FINHEEC) Finland, University of Stuttgart Germany, Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest Romania, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona Spain, Jyvaskyla University of Applied Sciences Finland, University of Oslo Norway, European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) Belgium and the European Students Union (ESU) Belgium.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
There is only rudimentary knowledge about the impact of external quality assurance (EQA) procedures on higher education institutions (HEIs). Thus, the IMPALA project aims at closing this gap by developing and applying a methodology to assess the impact of EQA procedures on HEIs. The main objective is to improve the knowledge and know-how of all stakeholders about the outputs, outcomes, effects, and (mid- and long-term) impacts of EQA procedures.
PROJECT OUTCOMES
The project is expected to achieve the following results:
- Development and application of a comprehensive methodology of IA of EQA procedures in HEIs which is flexible to be adjusted to different kinds of EQA procedures;
- Simultaneity of the IA with baseline study and before-after comparison (quasi-experimental design);
- Integrated incorporation of all members and students of the HEIs in the IA;
- Analysis and comparison of the impacts of different EQA procedures as well as of the various actors’s perception of and judgement on EQA procedure impacts;
- Analysis of the role of EQA procedures in changing and improving the support (and core) processes of HEIs;
- Improvement of the understanding of the causal relationship between QA and organisational change;
- Active and participative cooperation of several European HEIs; future cooperation of several European QA agencies and HEIs (e.g., bench marking in QA practice and in quality management).
PROJECT EVENTS
The following project activities are foreseen to take place:
- International conference on impact analysis of EQA processes in HEIs, Barcelona (Spain);
- Euro-Region training workshop organised by evalag (Germany);
- Euro-Region training workshop organised by ARACIS (Romania);
- Euro-Region training workshop organised by AQU Catalunya (Spain);
- Euro-Region training workshop organised by FINHEEC (Finland);
- European conference seminar (methodology seminar) in Mannheim (Germany).
More information is available on IMPALA website.