An outcomes-based framework for assessing the quality of transnational engineering education at a private college

The concept of 'transnational' education has emerged over the past decade or more as a critical strategy for meeting the growing demand for higher education worldwide. Essentially, transnational higher education allows international providers with outstanding credentials to conduct degree programs at local sites in conjunction with local tertiary institutions. Due to the rapid expansion of transnational programmes and the proliferation of transnational education providers, both governments and parents have, however, raised questions about the quality of education provided through transnational mechanisms. Rapid technological development, coupled with the recent growth of new engineering specialty areas, has led to the development of outcomes-based criteria for engineering education by a range of international engineering professional bodies. The emergence of outcomes-based approaches requires new instruments to measure the success, or otherwise, of engineering programs offered by universities. This study was conducted at a Malaysian private college (pseudonym 'Trans College' with the prime purpose of developing an authoritative measurement instrument for evaluating the quality of transnational engineering education. This study generated a theory-based 11-dimension Preliminary Conceptual Framework consisting of four Outcomes dimensions and seven Contributory dimensions for Transnational Engineering Education, and tested the integrity of the theoretical framework through surveys of enrolled students, staff, and representatives of employing agencies. The Preliminary Conceptual Framework was found to have a high degree of conceptual validity, as well as some limitations. The findings of the surveys enabled a Revised Conceptual Framework for Transnational Engineering Education to be developed through reliability test and validated by using confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses. The revised framework comprises five Outcomes and eight Contributory dimensions. It has been transposed into a 13-dimension revised survey instrument consisting of 25 Outcomes items clustered into five Outcomes dimensions, and 49 Contributory items clustered into eight Contributory dimensions. The developed survey instrument was then used to study the perceptions of students, staff, and employers regarding the quality of the transnational engineering education. Through performing t-tests, ANOVA, and other statistical analyses, the results of the study indicate that the quality of the transnational engineering education at Trans College was perceived by students, staff, and employers to be generally sound. It was also revealed that the Contributory construct can be adopted for measuring the satisfaction levels of students. Students, staff, and employers were also satisfied for the most part with their respective experiences of the programs in question. The study is believed to have considerable significance. First, it has generated a conceptual framework for measuring the quality of the transnational engineering education. The validated conceptual framework is transposed into a validated instrument that can be adapted for use by a range of other transnational educational providers. Second, it affirms the value of the 'transnational' concept while also providing a number of recommendations for the enhancement of such programmes, particularly at Trans College. Third, the conceptual framework for the delivery of successful transnational engineering education derived from this study may help to improve the quality of transnational engineering programmes conducted in Malaysia, and make Malaysia 'the centre of educational excellence' in the ASEAN region, with the transnational providers becoming hubs of tertiary education, and their networks spanning the globe.