Presented at the National Conference on Quality Assurance in Higher Education Innovation

1. The Role of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Stimulating and Sustaining Higher Education Innovation in Vietnam Presented at the National Conference on Quality Assurance in Higher Education Innovation Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City Socialist Republic of Vietnam March 31, 2006

2. Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF) • An independent United States federal agency • Keystone project: placing outstanding Vietnamese into top US graduate schools in science and technology • Academic year 2005-2006: 149 fellows in 56 subjects at 44 U.S. universities

3. The Quality Assessment Initiative • Was created to further assist VEF Fellows upon their return to Vietnam. • Its goal is to better understand how new models and approaches to undergraduate education can contribute to increased teaching effectiveness in the sciences, engineering, and technology in Vietnam.

4. The Quality Assessment Initiative Purpose • to assess the effectiveness of undergraduate education in Vietnam in the fields of computer science (CS), electrical engineering (EE), and physics (PH) • to develop recommendations for improving undergraduate education in these fields • to assist the Vietnamese in implementing changes that will lead to more effective education • to use this experience to formulate an educational assessment model that can be applied in other fields in undergraduate education in the sciences and engineering • to help incorporate this assessment model into the quality assurance process

5. Participants • MOET representatives in science and technology, higher education, and assessment and evaluation. • U.S. scientists organized by the National Academies in Washington, D.C. • Vietnamese participants • Hanoi University of Technology (HUT) • Hanoi University of Science (HUS), VNU-Hanoi • HCMC University of Technology (HCMUT), VNU-HCMC • HCMC University of Natural Sciences (HCMUNS), VNU-HCMC • Besides VEF as the main sponsor, Vietnamese sponsors include • HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH), VNU-HCMC • Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Training Center (SEAMEO RETRAC) • HCMC Institute for Educational Research (IER)

6. Project Phases • Phase 1 (January to August 2006) • proposal development • agreements with Vietnamese constituents • initial program review and evaluation • proposed plan for improvement • Phase 2 (September 2006 to September 2009) • faculty development projects • program improvement projects • annual formative evaluations • three-year summative evaluation

7. Conceptual Foundation Although Vietnam has millennia of experience with higher education, its systems have been totally redesigned twice in the last 200 years. Now comes the third reorganization, based in the on-going renovation (‘doi moi’) of the country’s social organization so as to fit into a socialist market economy. Nguyen, P. N. and McDonald, J. J. (2001). Quality assurance in Vietnam higher education. The sixth QHE Seminar: The End of Quality. p.1

8. Vietnam faces a number of challenges… • There has been widespread criticism of a system that is still too Soviet in approach and unwilling to loosen centralized control to allow for competition between private and state sectors. • In particular, many commentators have expressed the concern that outdated knowledge and “ivory tower” curricula repeatedly stifle creative thinking and fail to produce students who can apply academic knowledge to real life situations. Institute of International Education. (2004). Higher Education in Vietnam Update. Hanoi, Vietnam: Institute of International Education.

9. Vietnam faces a number of challenges… • None of these challenges present easy solutions. • Nonetheless, the acknowledgement and focus on these issues suggests that MOET is positioning itself to analyze the situation and move toward workable solutions. Institute of International Education. (2004). Higher Education in Vietnam Update. Hanoi, Vietnam: Institute of International Education.

10. Vietnam faces a number of challenges… One of the ways to “analyze the situation and move toward workable solutions” to these challenges is to apply the principles of quality assurance, accreditation, and the assessment of student learning to stimulate and sustain innovation in Vietnam higher education.

11. Quality Assurance and Accreditation • In the United States, the processes of quality assurance and accreditation are focused on the continuous improvement of an institution, especially in the areas of teaching and learning. • Therefore, quality assurance and accreditation standards must emphasize the use of assessment results to inform decisions about the allocation of resources to support innovative teaching and learning practices.

12. Quality Assurance and Accreditation • The concept of institutional effectiveness based on assessment is new and foreign to Vietnamese higher education and, therefore, not much literature on it exists. • Nor is there much training on, or practice of, institutional effectiveness based on planning, assessment, documentation, and improvement. • It is suggested that the whole set of ideas related to quality assurance, accreditation, and assessment must themselves be viewed as innovations for higher education in Vietnam. Nguyen, T. T. P. (2005). Potential quality improvement approaches to educational reform in Vietnam, Presented at The Second Annual Vietnam Education Foundation Fellows’ Conference; Irvine, California.

13. Innovation and Change • Innovation adoption is a process and not a decision point. • An innovation is an idea, practice, or object perceived as new by an individual or group. Gray, P. J. (1997). Viewing assessment as an innovation: Leadership and the change process. In P. J. Gray and T. W. Banta (editors). The campus-level impact of assessment: Progress, problems, and possibilities. New Directions in Higher Education, 100.

14. Initiating and Sustaining Innovations A process of planned change will be promoted in order to initiate and sustain: • quality assurance, • accreditation, • assessment, and, ultimately, • changes in teaching and learning. . Gray, P. J. (1997). Viewing assessment as an innovation: Leadership and the change process. In P. J. Gray and T. W. Banta (editors). The campus-level impact of assessment: Progress, problems, and possibilities. New Directions in Higher Education, 100.

15. Adoption of Innovations

16. In order to successfully stimulate and sustain higher education innovation, it is necessary to identify, develop, and support leaders who can mobilize multiple resources, including human, material, and symbolic resources.

17. Leaders Leading Change • Prepare the organization for change • Help to define and shape issues • Help to build community-wide coalitions • Provide funding and other incentives • Sponsor change • Facilitate change • Must be visionary in initiating change

18. Initiation NeedsAssessment Basic InputData Implementation Problem clarification Creating ideal and operational designs Institutional-ization Production, field testing and revision Formative data on: - plans - use - outcomes Summative data on: - impact - processes Using Data to Inform Decision-Making as Part of a Planned Change Process

19. Initiation Phase • What is the current status of teaching and learning in the selected disciplines, namely, computer science, electrical engineering, and physics, in Vietnamese universities? • What are the opportunities for improvement? • What are feasible strategies that can bring about the improvements?

20. Next Steps • Team visit in May. • A report summarizing Phase One results and making recommendations on how to proceed with local collaborators will be produced by the end of July 2006. • The recommendations in the report will include proposed designs for pilot projects related to faculty and leadership development, program improvement, and ongoing evaluation.

21. Phase Two • Operational designs that include measurable goals, objectives, activities, and tasks will be developed, implemented, and refined by Vietnamese stakeholders with assistance from U.S. experts. • At the end of Phase Two, a comprehensive evaluation will be conducted to determine the effectiveness of the Quality Assessment Initiative and the Assessment of Undergraduate Education project.

22. Questions

23. Thank you! • Dr. Peter J. Gray, Director of Academic Assessment, United States Naval Academy • Dr. Gloria Rogers, Director of Research and Assessment, ABET • Dr. Lynne McNamara, Director of Programs Vietnam Education Foundation • Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuong, Project Coordinator, Vietnam Education Foundation • Dr. John Hopcroft, Professor, Cornell University • Dr. Ray Gamble, Director of Fellowship Office, The National Academies