How to Improve the Quality of Higher Education?

At the end of November the QuAsER (Quality Assurance of Higher Education — Bridging the Best EU Practices and the Russian Policies) took place at ITMO University. The discussion opened doors for international experts, ITMO’s staff members and students. Read about what the main higher ed stakeholder think about quality control in educational services.

The QuAsER project was initiated by the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet program. ITMO University supported by the International Educational Programs Department became its winner. The main target of the project is to compare Russian and European approaches to higher education, analyze different quality criteria and also apply the best practices of international educational centers to ITMO’s academic programs.

According to Neil Sparnon, quality assurance expert in the field of higher education, who was one of the speakers at the meeting, accreditation is not the only criterion for evaluation of higher education quality. It is necessary to create a culture in which each staff member feels responsible for the quality of teaching at the university.

In his speech Mr. Sparnon also talked about methods of quality control — the internal (when universities evaluate their educational programs themselves) and the external (when universities use the assistance of outside observers to analyze their activities). With regards to decision making processes, the expert acknowledge that ITMO has to combine centralized and decentralized approaches, which means joining initiatives of departments and centers as well as projects developed by top-level officials.

Anita Basi, representative of the International Department at Aalto University (Finland), shared how Finnish colleagues analyze the effectiveness of educational programs — Aalto provides quality control analyses every year. It also keeps in touch with graduates and involves active students to develop programs.

Ms. Basi offered to initiate seminars for ITMO, Aalto and other universities that develop double degree programs. A platform for discussions might help partners to understand goals and plans of each other.

ITMO’s students also made their presentations at the meetings. Sergei Belov and Elena Eremeeva who follow Bachelor’s programs and Master’s student Elizaveta Lutsenko, focused on what is really important for those who study at a modern university. Among their main values are freedom of choosing disciplines, practice-oriented programs and contacts between professors and graduates.

Maria Stepanova, head of ITMO’s Department for Quality Management of Education, talked about how ITMO contributes to its educational system. According to the speaker, higher education should be based on competitiveness, using the best educational trends and person-oriented approach. Speaking of ITMO’s main plans in this field she mentioned its promotion in the international higher educational arena, cooperation of all stakeholders of the educational process and improving the teaching quality.