Quality Assurance in an International Higher Education Area [electronic resource] : A Case Study Approach and Comparative Analysis /
Bernhard, Andrea.author.
Rethinking the purpose and the aim of higher education has led to new and alternative ways to assure the quality of different higher education systems. In the case studies of six OECD countries, Andrea Bernhard exemplifies the ongoing trends and changes of quality assurance systems along peer-reviewed country reports and interviews with national and international experts. The comparative analysis is based on international, descriptive, discursive, and analytical aspects concentrating on the theoretical concepts of massification, diversification, privatisation, and internationalisation. The author highlights the leading trend towards quality assurance within an international higher education area and provides recommendations to establish a functioning quality assurance system within the observed higher education systems and beyond their borders.   This book is valuable reading for academics, practitioners, and policy makers in the field of higher education.
Description based upon print version of record.
Foreword; Preface; Contents; Abbreviations; Introduction; Theoretical Approach; 1 Transformative Higher Education; 1.1 The Rise of Higher Education Systems; 1.2 The Concept of Massification; 1.3 The Concept of Diversification; 1.4 Privatisation of Higher Education; 1.5 Internationalisation of Higher Education; 2 Quality Assurance in Higher Education; 2.1 The Rise of Quality Assurance; 2.2 Quality / Quality Assurance Definitions; 2.3 Quality Assurance Systems and their Critics; 2.4 Quality Assurance in an International Perspective; Research Design; 3 Methodology and Operationalisation
3.1 Methodological Approach3.2 Research Instruments; Country Reports; 4 Austria; 4.1 Facts and Figures; 4.2 Governance and Funding; 4.3 Quality Assurance; 5 Germany; 5.1 Facts and Figures; 5.2 Governance and Funding; 5.3 Quality Assurance; 6 Finland; 6.1 Facts and Figures; 6.2 Governance and Funding; 6.3 Quality Assurance; 7 United Kingdom (UK); 7.1 Facts and Figures; 7.2 Governance and Funding; 7.3 Quality Assurance; 8 United States of America (U.S.); 8.1 Facts and Figures; 8.2 Governance and Funding; 8.3 Quality Assurance; 9 Canada; 9.1 Facts and Figures; 9.2 Governance and Funding
9.3 Quality AssuranceExpert Interviews; 10 Basic Considerations; 11 Operationalisation and Data; 12 Analysis and Evaluation; 12.1 Interviews with International Experts; 12.2 Interviews with National Experts; 12.2.1 Austria; 12.2.2 Germany; 12.2.3 Finland; 12.2.4 United Kingdom; 12.2.5 United States of America; 12.2.6 Canada; Comparison and Future Challenges; 13 Comparative Analysis; 13.1 International Perspectives; 13.2 National Key Actors and Elements; 13.3 National Perspectives; 13.4 Theoretical Concepts and Assumptions; 14 Theory, Methodology and Reality; References; Annex
Diss.-- University of Klagenfurt, 2011.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [261]-285).
Rethinking the purpose and the aim of higher education has led to new and alternative ways to assure the quality of different higher education systems. In the case studies of six OECD countries, Andrea Bernhard exemplifies the ongoing trends and changes of quality assurance systems along peer-reviewed country reports and interviews with national and international experts. The comparative analysis is based on international, descriptive, discursive, and analytical aspects concentrating on the theoretical concepts of massification, diversification, privatisation, and internationalisation. The author highlights the leading trend towards quality assurance within an international higher education area and provides recommendations to establish a functioning quality assurance system within the observed higher education systems and beyond their borders.   This book is valuable reading for academics, practitioners, and policy makers in the field of higher education.
Education.
Education, general.