Course Rep Conference

2014

Quality Street!

Today’s session: We will cover: What do we mean by Quality Assurance?Who are the Quality Assurance Agency? Why does ‘quality assurance’ matter to

Reps? How can I embed the idea of quality in my

work?

By the end of the session (hopefully!) you will:Know what we mean by quality assuranceUnderstand how it is relevant to your roleFeel confident in taking ideas forward to

improve quality in your subject area

Who am I? Clare PitkinRepresentation Assistant Student Voice TeamFormer UoP student Passionate about participationGlobe trotter Museum geek

Who are you?NameWhat made you choose Portsmouth?Who is your favourite Disney character?

Before we kick off…

First things first…

All universities are independent bodies, awarding their own degrees.

They manage the quality and standards of these awards.

Shout out…

What do you think we mean by ‘quality assurance’?

What do we mean by Quality Assurance?

Quality assurance relating to Higher Education quite simply means making

sure that students are getting the best out of their university

experience by monitoring and ensuring standards.

Exercise

With this definition in mind, what sort of areas do you think we might

need to look at related to quality assurance?

FEEDBACK

Quality Assurance

Teaching standards

Standard of feedback

Diversity of assessment methods

Communication Information available

Student engagement – action resulting from student feedback; representation

Learning resources and facilities

Organisation & Management

“Quality assurance is all about guaranteeing the standards and

quality of the education you get.”

Quality Assurance Agency, 2014

Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)

Think of them as Ofsted for Universities…

The QAA for Higher Education aims to ‘safeguard standards and improve the quality of UK higher education’.

They offer advice, guidance and support to help UK universities provide the best possible student experience of higher education.

They conduct reviews of institutions – Higher Education Reviews

Who are the QAA?

Although they don’t have the power to close Universities…

http://youtu.be/Jaq8b6mgg98?list=PLBCg761xnlfZiWdRGYCdoQ5sW3KUrUcBu

How does the QAA define ‘quality assurance?

As a student and especially as a Course Rep there are lots of opportunities for you to get

involved…We call this student engagement.

http://youtu.be/AVrRlAFH_3U?list=PLBCg761xnlfZiWdRGYCdoQ5sW3KUrUcBu

Filling out questionnaires about your course

Speaking at Student Staff Consultative Committees

Being a Course Rep!

You all already contribute to quality assurance by:

Student ReviewersFocus Groups

Meeting the QAA Reviewers

Lead Student Representative: Kayleigh Teague, VP Education &

Democracy

University of Portsmouth

The QAA produces the UK Quality Code for Higher Education.

This sets out expectations that all UK universities and colleges are required to meet.

How does the QAA review the University?

Part A: Setting and maintaining threshold academic standards

Part C: Information about Higher Education Provision

**Part B: Assuring and Enhancing Academic Quality**

Three parts…

Part B: Assuring and Enhancing Academic Quality

Each chapter of Part B will outline an expectation.

It will then outline indicators that the expectation is being met.

Your turn to use the Quality Code… Match the chapter, the

expectation and the indicator

Read the scenarios/examples and decide under which Chapter they might fall…

Having quality and standards means you and everyone you are representing can

have confidence in your education at the University of Portsmouth and your

degree.

So why should quality matter to you?

Any questions…?