Flexible higher education: implications for QA

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 European Quality Assurance Forum was organised in the form of online sessions. This decision was taken with the health and safety of all participants in mind.

 

The EQAF organisers express their gratitude to the host, Aalto University, for all of the work and effort put into the preparations for the 2020 event and look forward to holding the next event there in person in 2021.

The 2020 EQAF online event, entitled “Flexible higher education: implications for QA”, will combine online sessions about European policies and trends, research, and practical case examples related to the Forum theme and more generally about current developments in quality assurance.

Responding to current societal changes, higher education institutions are increasingly inclusive and accommodate diverse student populations. In addition, as part of the move towards student-centred learning, institutions are expected to allow students to choose the pace, place and mode of delivery. These developments are leading to the emergence of more flexible learning paths and educational offers beyond traditional qualifications. The 15th edition of EQAF explored if QA is fit for this dynamic and flexible environment and how it could better support higher education institutions in this transition and encourage them make the most of it. 

The European Quality Assurance Forum (EQAF) provided a platform for discussion, professional development and exchange of experiences among the main stakeholders in quality assurance. Specifically, the Forum was of interest to rectors and vice-rectors responsible for quality assurance, quality assurance officers in higher education institutions, students, quality assurance agency staff and researchers working on higher education or the quality assurance field.

A “2020 EQAF playlist” of the speakers' video presentations is available on the EUA YouTube channel.

For updates, follow @EQAF on Twitter.

 

Organisers

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Maximum capacity has been reached and the registrations have been closed.
All the session will be recorded and the recordings will be available after the event on the website. 

The event booklet with more information about the speakers and their contributions is now available.

PRE-FORUM SESSIONS


TUESDAY, 10 NOVEMBER

 14.00-15.00 CET    Introduction to the European quality assurance framework
This pre-Forum session provided an introduction to the quality assurance framework of the European Higher Education Area. 

  • Tia Loukkola, Director, Institutional Development, EUA
  • Maria Kelo, Director, ENQA

     

WEDNESDAY, 11 NOVEMBER

16.00-19.00 CET    Meeting for student experts in quality assurance
This session is organised by ESU and separate registration information is available here.  

 

2020 European Quality Assurance Forum


THURSDAY, 12 NOVEMBER

During both days of the event, Tia Loukkola, the chair, and Ronny Heintze, member of the EQAF Programme Committee, will guide participants through the event.

10.00-11.00 CET     Opening Session I: Flexible higher education is here
This session will host three speakers in a discussion on the state of play and future perspectives regarding flexible higher education. How do higher education systems respond to the rapid transformation? And how should higher education institutions best prepare to face and implement the changes? 

What is flexible higher education? Reflections from a national case-study on flexible learning pathways
  • Leasa Weimer, Researcher, Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Supporting flexible learning pathways in higher education through national qualification frameworks and QA – findings from a UNESCO international survey
  • Michaela Martin, Programme specialist, IIEP-UNESCO
Purposefully different approaches to flexible learning at scale: a Dublin City University case study 
  • Conchúr Mac Lochlainn, Research Officer/PhD candidate, Dublin City University, Ireland 
    Chair: Jens Jungblut, EQAF Programme Committee

 

11.00-11.30 CET   Break

 

11.30-13.00 CET    Session II: Internal quality assurance in emergency situations
During this session, speakers will present examples of how the internal quality assurance community across Europe reacted during the Covid-19 crisis.

Adaptations to internal quality assurance in Irish higher education institutions in response to Covid-19
  • Mairéad Boland, Senior Quality Officer, Quality and Qualifications Ireland
    Chair: Joaquim Mourato, EQAF Programme Committee
Exceptional times: main challenges to higher education internal quality assurance systems
  • Rodrigo Teixeira Lourenço, Pro-President for Quality Management and Assurance and Promotion of Academic Success, Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal, Portugal
    Chair: Maria Kelo, Director, ENQA 
Unintended consequences – an exploration of how conducting internal quality reviews online has actually increased student engagement
  • Stef Black, Senior Development Consultant, sparqs - Student Partnerships in Quality Scotland, United Kingdom
    Chair: Marieke Janssen, EQAF Programme Committee
Quality assessment of distance teaching and learning at the University of Geneva
  • Ahidoba de Franchi Mandscheff, Head of Quality, University of Geneva, Switzerland
    Chair: Gohar Hovhannisyan, President, ESU

 

13.00-14.00 CET    Networking lunch break
Several breakout rooms will be available for networking during lunchtime. The attendees will be able to enable their cameras and microphones, as well as communicate via chat.

 

14.00-15.00 CET   Session III:  External quality assurance in emergency situations
In this session, three quality assurance agencies will present their approaches to the crisis and the lessons learnt. 

Quality assurance in times of emergency remote teaching
  • Esther Huertas, Head of Quality Assurance Department, AQU Catalunya, Spain
Maintaining the efficacy of external QA in a virtual world
  • Marie Gould, Head of Tertiary Education Monitoring and Review, Quality and Qualifications Ireland
Extending the role of QA agencies in response to pandemic challenges
  • Nataliia Stukalo, Vice Head, National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, Ukraine
    Chair: Rikke Warming, EQAF Programme Committee

 

FRIDAY, 13 NOVEMBER

10.00-11.00 CET    Session IV: Micro-credentials paving the way to flexible higher education
This session will discuss micro-credentials and open education resources: What is the present status? How can higher education institutions make use of them? And how is their recognition and quality assurance organised?

State of play: micro-credentials in Europe
  • Elena Cirlan, Policy & Project Officer, Institutional Development, EUA
Recognition, credentialisation and instructional design principles: How can we co-create academic QA standards in open and smart learning environments?
  • Florian Rampelt, Project Lead (AI Campus), Stifterverband, Germany
Internal Quality Assurance to support high quality micro-credentials. Why do we not have enough contact tracers?
  • Anthony F. Camilleri, Tertiary education policy consultant, Knowledge Innovation Centre
    Chair: Jakub Grodecki, EQAF Programme Committee

 

11.00-11.30 CET    Break

 

11.30-12.30 CET    Session V: Student engagement contributing to the development of quality culture
This session explores the role of student engagement in developing quality culture and how to ensure that students have the appropriate competences to take part in this work.

Quality assurance supporting the delivery of social competences – towards a quality culture. Based on the results of the DASCHE project
  • Jakub Brdulak, Rector’s Proxy for Quality of Educationr, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Poland
Quality assurance and virtual programmes. How to reach quality assurance without hampering student engagement?
  • Agnieszka Pechcińska, Vice-President of the Students’ Union, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Poland
Diversity of student reviewers: Characteristics, experiences, and implications for quality assurance
  • Liv Teresa Muth, Student reviewer, German QA Student Experts’ Pool
    Chair: Geneviève Le Fort, EQAF Programme Committee

 

12.30-13.30  CET    Networking  lunch break

Several breakout rooms will be available for networking during lunchtime. The attendees will be able to enable their cameras and microphones, as well as communicate via chat.

 

13.30-14.30 CET    Closing Session VI: Quality assurance shaping change
This session will feature a discussion on the relationship quality assurance has with time: What role does time play in quality assurance? Do quality assurance practitioners ever discuss the temporal aspects of quality assurance processes?

  • Antony McClaran, Vice-Chancellor of St Mary’s University, United Kingdom
  • Oliver Vettori, Dean, Accreditations and Quality Management/Director Program Management & Teaching and Learning Affairs, WU Vienna, Austria
    Chair: Aleksandar Šušnjar, EQAF Programme Committee

The event booklet with more information about the speakers and their contributions is available.

 PRE-FORUM SESSIONS


TUESDAY, 10 NOVEMBER

f3a56378d46b3ee8f1145b4a6d8d3f11Introduction to the European quality assurance framework

Tia Loukkola, Director, Institutional Development, EUA
Maria Kelo, Director, ENQA

 

2020 European Quality Assurance Forum

THURSDAY, 12 NOVEMBER

f3a56378d46b3ee8f1145b4a6d8d3f11Opening Session I: Flexible higher education is here

PPTWhat is flexible higher education? Reflections from a national case-study on flexible learning pathways
Leasa Weimer, Researcher, Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

PPTSupporting flexible learning pathways in higher education through national qualification frameworks and QA – findings from a UNESCO international survey
Michaela Martin, Programme specialist, IIEP-UNESCO

PPTPurposefully different approaches to flexible learning at scale: a Dublin City University case study 
Conchúr Mac Lochlainn, Research Officer/PhD candidate, Dublin City University, Ireland 

f3a56378d46b3ee8f1145b4a6d8d3f11Session II: Internal quality assurance in emergency situations

PPTAdaptations to internal quality assurance in Irish higher education institutions in response to Covid-19
Mairéad Boland, Senior Quality Officer, Quality and Qualifications Ireland

PPTExceptional times: main challenges to higher education internal quality assurance systems
Rodrigo Teixeira Lourenço, Pro-President for Quality Management and Assurance and Promotion of Academic Success, Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal, Portugal

PPTUnintended consequences – an exploration of how conducting internal quality reviews online has actually increased student engagement
Stef Black, Senior Development Consultant, sparqs - Student Partnerships in Quality Scotland, United Kingdom

PPTQuality assessment of distance teaching and learning at the University of Geneva
Ahidoba de Franchi Mandscheff, Head of Quality, University of Geneva, Switzerland

f3a56378d46b3ee8f1145b4a6d8d3f11Session III:  External quality assurance in emergency situations

PPTQuality assurance in times of emergency remote teaching
Esther Huertas, Head of Quality Assurance Department, AQU Catalunya, Spain

PPTMaintaining the efficacy of external QA in a virtual world
Marie Gould, Head of Tertiary Education Monitoring and Review, Quality and Qualifications Ireland

PPTExtending the role of QA agencies in response to pandemic challenges
Nataliia Stukalo, Vice Head, National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, Ukraine

 

FRIDAY, 13 NOVEMBER

f3a56378d46b3ee8f1145b4a6d8d3f11Session IV: Micro-credentials paving the way to flexible higher education

PPTState of play: micro-credentials in Europe
Elena Cirlan, Policy & Project Officer, Institutional Development, EUA

PPTRecognition, credentialisation and instructional design principles: How can we co-create academic QA standards in open and smart learning environments?
Florian Rampelt, Project Lead (AI Campus), Stifterverband, Germany

PPTInternal Quality Assurance to support high quality micro-credentials. Why do we not have enough contact tracers?
Anthony F. Camilleri, Tertiary education policy consultant, Knowledge Innovation Centre

f3a56378d46b3ee8f1145b4a6d8d3f11Session V: Student engagement contributing to the development of quality culture

PPTQuality assurance supporting the delivery of social competences – towards a quality culture. Based on the results of the DASCHE project
Jakub Brdulak, Rector’s Proxy for Quality of Educationr, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Poland

PPTQuality assurance and virtual programmes. How to reach quality assurance without hampering student engagement?
Agnieszka Pechcińska, Vice-President of the Students’ Union, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Poland

PPTDiversity of student reviewers: Characteristics, experiences, and implications for quality assurance
Liv Teresa Muth, Student reviewer, German QA Student Experts’ Pool
 

f3a56378d46b3ee8f1145b4a6d8d3f11Closing Session VI: Quality assurance shaping change

Antony McClaran, Vice-Chancellor of St Mary’s University, United Kingdom

Oliver Vettori, Dean, Accreditations and Quality Management/Director Program Management & Teaching and Learning Affairs, WU Vienna, Austria

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