Quality Assurance Processes for Teaching in Research-led Universities: Implications for Pakistan

Abstract

Ensuring and enhancing the quality of education is one of the key responsibilities of higher education institutions. Despite its significance, the present situation concerning quality of higher education in Pakistan is of particular concern given that many Pakistan universities are not only struggling to meet global standards in education but are also striving to achieve their goals at the national level. The quality of teaching is central to achieving goals and improving their global standing. However, it is difficult for Pakistan universities to promote and support high quality teaching in the absence of a clear and coherent policy framework to guide the improvement of teaching as found in other highperformance global universities. This study focused on developing a framework of quality assurance (and enhancement) processes for teaching for Pakistan universities aligned with international academic standards and practices. Using Universitas 21 (U21) institutions as a benchmark, the intended Framework of quality assurance (QA) processes for Pakistan universities has been drawn from the experiences of these research-intensive universities. However, it also takes into account the academic culture of Pakistan universities. The study used a mixed method research approach comprising three phases. The first phase employed template analysis to identify eight broad categories of QA processes for teaching from 229 policy and practice documents from U21 institutions concerning QA of teaching. The second phase used the Delphi technique to elicit views on the desirability and the likely acceptability of these identified categories of QA processesin Pakistan universities. The third phase used interviews to examine the acceptability in more detail. Four main sets of conclusions emerge from this study. These conclusions contribute to scholarship in four significant ways. The first is the identification and classification of QA processes for teaching in U21 institutions into eight broad categories. These researchled universities view quality teaching in terms of enhancing students' learning outcomes. Secondly, the analysis of the nature of each process in the broader context of quality assurance or quality enhancement revealed that various aspects of each process vary along a continuum, from accountability at the judgemental end of the scale, to the purely developmental and enhancement-led end. On balance, however, U21 institutions base their QA processes for teaching towards enhancement-led end of the continuum. The third is the development of an Integrated Framework of Quality Assurance and Enhancement of Teaching (IFQAET) for Pakistan universities comprising quality assurance, quality enhancement, and recognition and rewards components. The fourth set of conclusions is methodological. The four commonly-used consensus criteria for the Delphi analysis not only corroborate each other but also compensate for each other's weaknesses.