CURRENT QUESTIONS OF QUALITY ASSURANCE IN FINNISH HIGHER EDUCATION

1. CURRENT QUESTIONS OF QUALITY ASSURANCE IN FINNISH HIGHER EDUCATION Dr. Hannele Salminen Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council FINHEEC

2. FINLAND: 5 million inhabitants 20 universities and 29 polytechnics (amk-institutions, multifield vocational HE) covering the areas of the whole country, 338 000 km2 (the sixth largest area of European countries) Y.2003 there were 163 000 students in the universities and 126 000 in the polytechnics, = ~ 70 % of the cohort in HE no tuition fees Hannele Salminen

3. Hannele Salminen

4. = KKA KKA:n suhde muihin toimijoihin = Koulutuksen arviointi-neuvosto Hannele Salminen

5. main responsibility of the quality of education: higher education institutions • obliged to take part in external evaluations. Hannele Salminen

6. The Bologna process • a common European Higher Education Area by 2010 Hannele Salminen

7. Bologna – Berlin - Bergen By 2005 national quality assurance systems should include: • A definition of the responsibilities of the bodies and institutions involved. • Evaluation of programmes or institutions, including internal assesment, external review, participation of students and the publication of results. • A system of accreditation, certification or comparable procedures. • International participation, co-operation and networking Hannele Salminen

8. In August 2003 the Ministry of Education set a committee to make proposals to develop quality assurance in Finnish higher education. The report was published in February 2004. Hannele Salminen

9. The committee recommends that : 1. Universities and polytechnics develop quality assurance systems, which comprise all spheres of operation in the higher education institution. Hannele Salminen

10. The quality assurance systems should • a) meet the developing quality assurance criteria of the European Higher Education Area, • b) be part of the operational steering and management system, • c) cover the entire operation of the higher education institution, • d) be interrelated as part of the normal operations of the higher education institution, Hannele Salminen

11. e) be continuous, f) be documented, and g) enable the participation of all members of the higher education community in quality work. The higher education institutions have the principle responsibility for the development and quality of the education they provide. Hannele Salminen

12. 2. In response to the objectives set in theBerlin Communiqué, auditing of the quality assurance systems of universities and polytechnics will be taken into use in Finland.The development and pilot phase of the auditing is realized during 2005. Hannele Salminen

13. The objective is that :- the audits will be carried out periodically (e.g. in 5-6 year intervals)- all quality assurance systems of the higher education institutions are audited once by the year 2010. Hannele Salminen

14. 3. The Ministry of Education develops methods and criteria for the decisions on starting new programmes, ending programmes and evaluating existing programmes in special cases. Hannele Salminen

15. Developmental evaluation refers to evaluation processes undertaken for the purpose of supporting program, project, staff, and/or organisational development, including asking evaluative questions and applying evaluation logic for developmental purposes. • The evaluator is part of a team whose members collaborate to conceptualise, design, and test new approaches in a long-term, ongoing process of continuous improvement, adaptation, and intentional change. • The evaluator's primary function in the team is to eludicate team discussions with evaluative questions, data, and logic and to facilitate data-based decision-making in the developmental process. (Patton 1997, 105.) Developmental evaluation- theory Hannele Salminen