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Sample records for higher quality text

  1. Hungary Higher Education Quality Assurance System

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    Che Ru-shan

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Higher education quality assurance system has drawn much attention since 1980s. Most countries are committed to build the higher education quality assurance system to meet international standards. Under such an international trend, Hungary also actively promotes higher education reform, and established Hungarian Accreditation Committee and in order to ensure the quality of higher education.

  2. APPROACH TO QUALITY ASSURANCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION

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    Zora Arsovski

    2007-03-01

    Full Text Available Quality assurance in higher education is streamed in two interconnected concepts: (1 quality management according to ISO 9000 and (2 Bologna process. In this paper both concepts are presented, with point on internal state and term plan activities for quality improvement in higher education in Serbia.

  3. GENERIC QUALITY STANDARDS VS. SPECIFIC QUALITY STANDARDS: THE CASE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

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    Laila El Abbadi

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Quality as a new requirement for the field of higher education leads institutions to seek to satisfy generic or specific quality standards imposed directly or indirectly by its customers. The aim of this study is to compare between ISO9001, as a generic quality standard, and the Code of Practice of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA, as a specific quality standard. A correlation matrix is drawn and correlation rates are calculated to show similarities and differences between them. This paper shows, first, that ISO9001 and QAA Code of Practice are compatible. Second, implementing a quality management system in accordance with ISO9001 requirements can constitute an adequate framework for the application of the QAA Code of Practice requirements. Third, to make the ISO9001 requirements closer to a specific quality standard in the field of higher education, it is recommended to complete these standards by specific requirements to the field of higher education.

  4. Reinforcing Quality Assurance in Romanian Higher Education

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    Ana-Maria Dima

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Since 1993, the quality assurance system in Romania has gained considerable experience. This experience was recently recognized in 2008 by the ENQA: European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education through the admission of ARACIS as a full member of EQAR: the European Quality Assurance Register. The Board of ENQA agreed to grant ARACIS’s full membership of ENQA for five years from 2 June 2009. This article explores the benefits of membership for the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education – ARACIS, comparing to other regional and global quality assurance agencies networks. The common features and differences between ARACIS and other European agencies are questioned through the frameworks of ENQA and INQAAHE as a case study.

  5. Quality of Higher Education

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zou, Yihuan

    is about constructing a more inclusive understanding of quality in higher education through combining the macro, meso and micro levels, i.e. from the perspectives of national policy, higher education institutions as organizations in society, individual teaching staff and students. It covers both......Quality in higher education was not invented in recent decades – universities have always possessed mechanisms for assuring the quality of their work. The rising concern over quality is closely related to the changes in higher education and its social context. Among others, the most conspicuous...... changes are the massive expansion, diversification and increased cost in higher education, and new mechanisms of accountability initiated by the state. With these changes the traditional internally enacted academic quality-keeping has been given an important external dimension – quality assurance, which...

  6. Quality Assurance: Strategic Choices for Higher Education in Turkey

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    Mahmut ÖZER

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available As the number of students and higher education institutions in the world increases and there is a growing difficulty in financing the higher education systems, decision-makers have begun to show more interest in quality assurance. As quality assurance is given special attention in European countries, developing countries such as Turkey are interested in importing quality assurance systems. It is not possible to set quality assurance without sensitivity toward quality and without having quality as a cultural practice. The most likely encountered quality assurance approach in the world is that the higher education institution itself is responsible for its quality. In addition, external quality assurance procedures used are based on (academic peer review rather than on bureaucratic evaluations. Moreover, there is a lively debate across the world regarding the bureaucratic regulations of the quality assurance agencies and institutions that restrict the autonomy of higher education institutions. Without taking into consideration of the existing centralized structure of the higher education system in Turkey, of meeting social demands for the higher education, and of current higher education enrollment rates, the possible establishment of a quality assurance mechanism that may have sanctions on universities in Turkey is a threat to already limited autonomy of universities and is having a risk of additional bureaucratic burden. By laying out the roles and responsibilities of Turkish Council of Higher Education, the government and universities, this article discusses policies that should be adopted regarding the quality assurance.

  7. IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEM ACTIVITIES OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

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    Z. M. Sultalieva

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract. The aim of the article is the improvement of quality assessment system of higher education institutions in the aspect of management. The problems of quality improvement are revealed and classified. The analysis of criteria assessment sets used to define the efficiency of higher education institutions activity is carried out. The components of quality of higher education institutions activity are specified. The structural model of quality assessment system of higher education institutions activity is offered. The analysis of macro environment of a university based on the method of strategic management is carried out, i.e. PEST analysis. As a result of the research a new model of macro criteria model of quality assessment system of higher education institutions, characterizing quality management as an approach to university efficiency is offered, moreover, this system can define the level of its competitiveness in the aspect of quality management. 

  8. Quality assessment in higher education using the SERVQUALQ model

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    Sabina Đonlagić

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Economy in Bosnia and Herzegovina is striving towards growth and increased employment and it has been proven by empirical studies worldwide that higher education contributes to socio-economic development of a country. Universities are important for generation, preservation and dissemination of knowledge in order to contribute to socio-economic benefits of a country. Higher education institutions are being pressured to improve value for their activities and providing quality higher education service to students should be taken seriously. In this paper we will address the emerging demand for quality in higher education. Higher education institutions should assess quality of their services and establish methods for improving quality. Activities of quality assurance should be integrated into the management process at higher education institutions. This paper is addressing the issue of service quality measurement in higher education institutions. The most frequently used model in this context is the SERVQUAL model. This model is measuring quality from the students' point of view, since students are considered to be one of the most important stakeholders for a higher education institution. The main objective of this research is to provide empirical evidence that the adapted SERVQAL model can be used in higher education and to identify the service quality gap based on its application at one institution of higher education (Faculty of Economics in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Furthermore, results of the gap analysis using the SERVQUAL methodology provide relevant information in which areas improvement is necessary in order to enhance service quality.

  9. Apropos of the Quality Management in Higher Education

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    A. G. Kislov

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper is devoted to introduction and implementation of quality management system in the sphere of Russian higher education. The research demanded the prehistory observation of the above processes, their legal bases analysis, as well as setting the existing practices of the state control and supervision of education in compliance with the principles of TQM (Total Quality Management. Different normative acts and documents have been reviewed concerning accreditation of higher educational establishments, and determining the state policy of quality improvement of the higher school functioning. The author emphasizes that participation of different organizations - including educational ones – in certification procedures and competitions in the quality sphere is considered voluntary according to the Russian legislation. However, for getting the state accreditation educational establishments have no other way apart from setting the internal structures responsible for students training quality. The above structures in educational establishments look rather strange and alien duplicating in their best the state control and supervision system. They appear to be quite expansive for educational establishments and demanding extra time and effort from the staff. In conclusion the author points out that the state policy forcing the quality management issues reflects the interests of certain social groups, namely those who directly participate in external supervision of higher educa- tional institutions. The research findings can be applied while correcting the educational policy of the Russian Federation, and developing the concepts of regulatory legal acts in the higher educational sphere.

  10. QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES: A LITERATURE REVIEW

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    Goutam Kumar Kundu

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of existing research and present a holistic understanding of quality in higher education. This literature review builds on major sources of relevant research relating to educational quality methodologies, quality literacy and multi-dimensional concept of quality. The paper attempts to understand quality in education as a relationship amongst all the participants and resources of an educational institution. Based on the results of the literature review, the paper attempts to establish the foundation for a comprehensive understanding and analysis of quality focussing on higher education. This literature review provides a frame of reference that serves as a basis for future research regarding role of quality in education.

  11. QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEMS IN POLISH AND UKRAINIAN HIGHER EDUCATION. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

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    Marta Tutko

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with the progress made to develop external and internal quality assurance systems in Polish and Ukrainian higher education in the European Higher Education Area background. The focus of the paper is on the extent to which quality assurance systems in these countries are following the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area. Furthermore, internal and external quality assur-ance in the European context is presented in the article. The authors of the article also conducted a comparative analysis of quality assurance systems in Polish and Ukrainian higher education.

  12. Quality Inspection of Printed Texts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Jesper Ballisager; Nasrollahi, Kamal; Moeslund, Thomas B.

    2016-01-01

    -folded: for costumers of the printing and verification system, the overall grade used to verify if the text is of sufficient quality, while for printer's manufacturer, the detailed character/symbols grades and quality measurements are used for the improvement and optimization of the printing task. The proposed system...

  13. Is quality of higher educational institutions in Western Balkan real?

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    Živaljević Aleksandra

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents a survey conducted in November of 2013 in 120 higher education institutions in the Western Balkans Countries, with purpose to determine which models are used for quality improvement in Western Balkans higher educational institutions, and whether critical conditions for continuous quality improvement have been met by applying those models. Data were obtained by using questionnaire which consisted of 24 questions related to 2 previously defined hypotheses. Gathered data were tested with Student's t test to determine if there is a significant difference between the groups of higher educational institutions which use different quality models, as well as between private and public higher educational institutions. Authors argue that the rules imposed by Governments do not provide sufficient incentive for meeting the critical conditions for the continuous quality improvement. Legal framework and mandatory accreditation conducted by government bodies lead higher educational institutions to fulfil the formal requirements, distancing them from the essence of quality management, i.e. from self-criticism and motivation to consistently deliver better results than the previous ones and giving them the illusion of achieving quality through compliance with formal criteria.

  14. The Academic Quality Handbook: Enhancing Higher Education in Universities and Further Education Colleges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGhee, Patrick

    This book is intended as an introduction to the management of quality assurance and enhancement in higher education, particularly in England. The text focuses on the relationship between institutional quality assurance and the auditing authority of the British Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. The chapters of part 1, "The Quality…

  15. Quality Assurance in Chinese Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yuan

    2010-01-01

    Quality assurance has been integrated into the fabric of higher education in China, with the issue of quality in higher education--how to evaluate it and how to enhance it--now taking centre stage in Chinese higher education. In the past decade, the development of quality assurance in Chinese higher education has covered a broad spectrum of…

  16. Quality Management in Higher Education

    OpenAIRE

    Svoboda, Petr

    2017-01-01

    The thesis deals with quality management theory as an important part of management science. The primary objective of this work is an identification, formulation and analysis of such managerial issues in quality of higher education, which either are not known, or whose resolution is not considered fully sufficient. The thesis contains a bibliography of more than 200 related scientific works and presents selected issues of quality management in higher education, such as quality perception or it...

  17. Quality of Higher Education

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zou, Yihuan; Zhao, Yingsheng; Du, Xiangyun

    . This transformation involves a broad scale of change at individual level, organizational level, and societal level. In this change process in higher education, staff development remains one of the key elements for university innovation and at the same time demands a systematic and holistic approach.......This paper starts with a critical approach to reflect on the current practice of quality assessment and assurance in higher education. This is followed by a proposal that in response to the global challenges for improving the quality of higher education, universities should take active actions...... of change by improving the quality of teaching and learning. From a constructivist perspective of understanding education and learning, this paper also discusses why and how universities should give more weight to learning and change the traditional role of teaching to an innovative approach of facilitation...

  18. Gender-heterogeneous working groups produce higher quality science.

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    Lesley G Campbell

    Full Text Available Here we present the first empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that a gender-heterogeneous problem-solving team generally produced journal articles perceived to be higher quality by peers than a team comprised of highly-performing individuals of the same gender. Although women were historically underrepresented as principal investigators of working groups, their frequency as PIs at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis is now comparable to the national frequencies in biology and they are now equally qualified, in terms of their impact on the accumulation of ecological knowledge (as measured by the h-index. While women continue to be underrepresented as working group participants, peer-reviewed publications with gender-heterogeneous authorship teams received 34% more citations than publications produced by gender-uniform authorship teams. This suggests that peers citing these publications perceive publications that also happen to have gender-heterogeneous authorship teams as higher quality than publications with gender uniform authorship teams. Promoting diversity not only promotes representation and fairness but may lead to higher quality science.

  19. Worldviews and Quality in Higher Education: a dichotomy between productivity and social responsibility

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    Julio Bertolin

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper addresses and analyzes concepts that have been often used by important stakeholders to refer to challenges and to quality in higher education. The aim is to identify the conceptualizations of quality in higher education that underlie the use of different concepts such as efficiency and equity. Based on publications by important multilateral organizations, these terms are correlated with the conceptualizations of higher education and, at the political level, with two major contemporary socioeconomic models: neoliberalism and social welfare state. Finally, two ideological tendencies for the understanding of quality in higher education are presented: quality as productivity and quality as social responsibility.

  20. Benchmarking as an Instrument for Improvement of Quality Management in Higher Education

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    Narimantas Kazimieras Paliulis

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Conditioned by globalisation and constant change, higher education institutions (HEIs are forced to pursue new instruments for quality assurance in higher education. States seem to pursue this aim by attempting to create an efficiently operating system of higher education that satisfies needs of diverse societal groups. Quality dimension is the most important element of efficient and effective higher education. From the perspective of a state, assessment and monitoring of quality are instruments for the management of processes of higher education. The article substantiates these statements using the evolution of the dimension of quality in the European and Lithuanian higher education in the course of the Bologna Process. The article also presents a benchmarking method and discusses its development and application tendencies in business organisations. Also, it looks at possibilities to apply this method in higher education. The main aim of this article is to explore benchmarking as an effective instrument for the improvement of performance quality in HEIs and complement the already implemented quality management systems. Another aim is to suggest this method to national agencies for quality assurance in higher education for monitoring and analysis of qualitative changes on the systematic level. The object of the article is the improvement of performance quality in HEIs. Benchmarking is proposed for the use in higher education on the institutional level as an instrument that complements presently introduced quality management systems in Lithuanian HEIs. This way, it will contribute to the formation of the culture of quality in higher education.

  1. Internal Resources to Improve the Quality of Higher Education

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    Tatyana V. Zak

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with the situation in the Russian higher education system. The factors affecting the improvement of the quality of higher education are analyzed. The emphasis is on mass universities. The main obstacles to improving the quality of education in these institutions are the Institute of collective reputation and the high costs of the struggle for improving the quality of education.The necessity of focusing on the actuation of the internal resources to improve the quality associated with the change in the educational process: giving students the right to choose the timing exams and training period at university. The implementation of the proposed measures will reduce the opportunity costs associated with quality improvement activities. The proposed change in the organization of the learning process opens the possibility to estimate the activity of universities in terms of medium-term implementation of educational programs. The use of this indicator will not only combine the two different targets of universities, but also to minimize the costs of opportunistic behavior of teachers and management.

  2. Higher prices, higher quality? Evidence from German nursing homes.

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    Herr, Annika; Hottenrott, Hanna

    2016-02-01

    This study investigates the relationship between prices and quality of 7400 German nursing homes. We use a cross section of public quality reports for all German nursing homes, which had been evaluated between 2010 and 2013 by external institutions. Our analysis is based on multivariate regressions in a two stage least squares framework, where we instrument prices to explain their effect on quality controlling for income, nursing home density, demographics, labour market characteristics, and infrastructure at the regional level. Descriptive analysis shows that prices and quality do not only vary across nursing homes, but also across counties and federal states and that quality and prices correlate positively. Second, the econometric analysis, which accounts for the endogenous relation between negotiated price and reported quality, shows that quality indeed positively depends on prices. In addition, more places in nursing homes per people in need are correlated with both lower prices and higher quality. Finally, unobserved factors at the federal state level capture some of the variation of reported quality across nursing homes. Our results suggest that higher prices increase quality. Furthermore, since reported quality and prices vary substantially across federal states, we conclude that the quality and prices of long-term care facilities may well be compared within federal states but not across. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Making Sense of an Elusive Concept: Academics’ Perspectives of Quality in Higher Education

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    Lazarus Nabaho

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Since the 1990s studies on how stakeholders in higher education perceive quality have burgeoned. Nevertheless, the majority of studies on perception of quality in higher education focus on students and employers. The few studies on academics’ perceptions of quality in higher education treat academics as a homogeneous group and, therefore, do not point out cross-disciplinary perspectives in perceptions of quality. This article explores how academics across six disciplines perceive quality in higher education. Method: The article is anchored in the interpretivist paradigm. Data was collected from 14 purposely selected academics at Makerere University in Uganda and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: The findings show that academics perceive quality in higher education as transformation, fitness for purpose, and exceptional. The findings further demonstrate that a stakeholder group or an individual stakeholder can subscribe to a notion of quality in higher education but voice divergent views on its variants. Similarly, the academic discipline, the perceived purpose of higher education, and the problems within a higher education system have an influence on stakeholders’ conception of quality in higher education. Conclusions: From the findings it can be inferred that quality in higher education defies a single definition and that stakeholders’ perceptions of quality do not take place in a vacuum. Implication for Theory and/or Practice: The multidimensional nature of quality and the contestations around it necessitate a multidimensional approach to assuring and assessing it.

  4. Reflection on Quality Assurance System of Higher Vocational Education under Big Data Era

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    Jiang Xinlan

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Big data has the features like Volume, Variety, Value and Velocity. Here come the new opportunities and challenges for construction of Chinese quality assurance system of higher vocational education under big data era. There are problems in current quality assurance system of higher vocational education, such as imperfect main body, non-formation of internally and externally incorporated quality assurance system, non-scientific security standard and insufficiency in security investment. The construction of higher vocational education under big data era requires a change in the idea of quality assurance system construction to realize the multiple main bodies and multiple layers development trend for educational quality assurance system, and strengthen the construction of information platform for quality assurance system.

  5. Higher Education Quality Assessment Model: Towards Achieving Educational Quality Standard

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noaman, Amin Y.; Ragab, Abdul Hamid M.; Madbouly, Ayman I.; Khedra, Ahmed M.; Fayoumi, Ayman G.

    2017-01-01

    This paper presents a developed higher education quality assessment model (HEQAM) that can be applied for enhancement of university services. This is because there is no universal unified quality standard model that can be used to assess the quality criteria of higher education institutes. The analytical hierarchy process is used to identify the…

  6. Quality Street: Encountering Higher Education's Accountabilities

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    Leihy, Peodair; Salazar, José Miguel

    2017-01-01

    This article offers a new approach to quality, focusing on the dimensions that gather around it. The mismatched goals of controlling and improving higher education continue to trouble the conceptual clarity of accountability. Quality in higher education emerges as something agreed upon (to varying efficacy) through accountability measures, rather…

  7. The Quality of Educational Services- Institutional Case Study From the Romanian Higher Education

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    Luminiţa NICOLESCU

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available The present paper approaches the topic of the quality of educational services, emphasizing on higher education, as a field of services of large public interest that has high influences at individual, group and society level. The paper starts by looking at the influencing factors for the quality of higher education from the perspective of the regulations and practices at both European and national level. In this context, the internal evaluation of quality at institutional level is a new requirement for higher education institutions in Romania. Part of the evaluation process is represented by the requirement to develop informational data bases. The paper exemplifies the results that can be obtained by monitoring quality and collecting information, and concludes with a set of recommendations for managing quality at institutional level.

  8. Why Are Some Texts Good and Others Not? Relationship between Text Quality and Management of the Writing Processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beauvais, Caroline; Olive, Thierry; Passerault, Jean-Michel

    2011-01-01

    Two experiments examined whether text quality is related to online management of the writing processes. Experiment 1 focused on the relationship between online management and text quality in narrative and argumentative texts. Experiment 2 investigated how this relationship might be affected by a goal emphasizing text quality. In both experiments,…

  9. "INTEGRATED QUALITY MANAGEMENT" AS A SUBJECT IN HIGHER EDUCATION CURRICULUM

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    Stevan Živojinović

    2007-03-01

    Full Text Available The importance of introduction of "Integrated quality management" into higher education curricula arises from the need for students to grasp synergetic application of new and advanced approaches to theoretical and practical management quality and process based management in particular as well as understanding a unified concept which improves conformity and linking of all levels in management hierarchy (normative, strategic and operational toward accomplishment of successful business performance. A curriculum is proposed (as a contribution to a map of necessary knowledge to be expected from prospective quality personnel with appropriate topics in accordance with studies objective and chosen up-to-date options of management concepts and methods.

  10. Quality in Higher Education: United Arab Emirates Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soomro, Tariq Rahim; Ahmad, Reyaz

    2012-01-01

    Quality in higher education is the major concern among researchers. Managing quality in higher education in a multicultural population with different approaches is not only challenging but an uphill task. This paper will focus on quality concern in higher education keeping in view, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) perspectives. A model to maintain…

  11. Assessment of quality indicators in spanish higher military education

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    Olmos Gómez Maria del Carmen

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The quality assessment is subject to multiple interpretations of its content and purpose, and also regarding to methods and techniques used to develop it. Although purposes of assessment are varied, usually pursuit three goals: Improvement, accountability and information. Currently, the concept of quality evaluation has been replaced by the management of educational quality, as Matthew [6] point “the new culture of evaluation is no longer oriented to penalty, ranking or selection of people, as provide a reasoned and reasonable information to guide the management of educational improvement”. Military Training Centres are externally evaluated by an experts External Evaluation Unit to identify strengths and weaknesses on their self-evaluation system and focus on important aspects related to the organization of the Centre, development of work plans, teacher’s style and students learning strategies, system of evaluation and qualification and accurate recommendations to improve all that. This research focuses on the evaluation of quality indicators for the external evaluation of higher education at Military Education Centres in Spain and it is funded by a joint project between University of Granada and MADOC. The technique used for collecting and analysing information was a content description of several documents provided by these military educational authorities, arising the identification and extraction of relevant indicators on the evaluation of higher education. This analysis was primarily based on standards and indicators systems by ANECA (National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation adapted to the Military Higher Education, but also it was consider other standards by international agencies and evaluative institutions, such as University of Chile, University of Paraguay, Canarias Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation and Agency for Quality Education System University of Castilla y León. The analysis realize a usual

  12. Assessment of quality indicators in Spanish higher military education

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    Olmos Gómez Maria del Carmen

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The quality assessment is subject to multiple interpretations of its content and purpose, and also regarding to methods and techniques used to develop it. Although purposes of assessment are varied, usually pursuit three goals: Improvement, accountability and information. Currently, the concept of quality evaluation has been replaced by the management of educational quality, as Matthew [6] point “the new culture of evaluation is no longer oriented to penalty, ranking or selection of people, as provide a reasoned and reasonable information to guide the management of educational improvement”. Military Training Centres are externally evaluated by an experts External Evaluation Unit to identify strengths and weaknesses on their self-evaluation system and focus on important aspects related to the organization of the Centre, development of work plans, teacher’s style and students learning strategies, system of evaluation and qualification and accurate recommendations to improve all that. This research focuses on the evaluation of quality indicators for the external evaluation of higher education at Military Education Centres in Spain and it is funded by a joint project between University of Granada and MADOC. The technique used for collecting and analysing information was a content description of several documents provided by these military educational authorities, arising the identification and extraction of relevant indicators on the evaluation of higher education. This analysis was primarily based on standards and indicators systems by ANECA (National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation adapted to the Military Higher Education, but also it was consider other standards by international agencies and evaluative institutions, such as University of Chile, University of Paraguay, Canarias Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation and Agency for Quality Education System University of Castilla y León. The analysis realize a usual

  13. An Empirical Investigation into the Construct of Higher Education Service Quality

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    Jaroslav Dado

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper addresses the issue of higher education service quality measurement and stresses the need of devising psychometrically as well as diagnostically sound measurement instruments, suitable to the context being investigated. The study builds upon the SERVQUAL scale, the inventory successfully tried and tested across a broad spectrum of service industries. Notwithstanding significant resemblance with the original five dimensions of service quality, research findings indicate six-dimensional structure of the construct of higher education service quality. Study performed on a sample of Engineering Management students reveals perceptions falling short of expectations across all of the determinants of service quality. The largest negative gap between students’ perceptions and expectations has been discovered concerning the potential for future career development, whereas research findings indicate the same dimension to be the most important predictor of students’ future behavioral intentions. In an attempt to inspire further interests in this field, managerial implications and directions for future research have been discussed.

  14. Service Quality, Students' Satisfaction and Behavioural Intentions in STEM and IC Higher Education Institutions

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    Dunja Meštrović

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Service quality, students' satisfaction and their behavioural intentions are recognised as rather important aspects in higher education institution's strategy in a competitive higher education marketplace, which enable them to attract and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM and information-communication (IC study areas. This research aimed to study the relationship between service quality, students' satisfaction and behavioural intentions of STEM and IC students of the University of Rijeka Departments. Partial least squares structural equation modelling using SmartPLS 3.0 software was performed on student survey data, confirming a direct, positive and significant relationship between higher education service quality and students' satisfaction and between students' satisfaction and their behavioural intentions. According to indirect effects analysis, perceived higher education service quality has an an indirect, positive and significant impact on students' behavioural intentions through students' satisfaction. The results indicate that higher education service quality is an imperative for higher education sector. Based on the findings of this study, useful to policy makers in the services industry in general and in higher education sector in particular, improvements can be planned all service quality dimensions as a key factor to attract, educate and retain STEM and IC students in Croatia.

  15. Assessment of the Quality Management Models in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basar, Gulsun; Altinay, Zehra; Dagli, Gokmen; Altinay, Fahriye

    2016-01-01

    This study involves the assessment of the quality management models in Higher Education by explaining the importance of quality in higher education and by examining the higher education quality assurance system practices in other countries. The qualitative study was carried out with the members of the Higher Education Planning, Evaluation,…

  16. Quality of higher education: organisational or educational?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zou, Yihuan; Du, Xiangyun; Rasmussen, Palle

    2012-01-01

    Based on a study of Chinese university self-evaluation reports, this paper argues that higher education institutions are trying to manage the tensions between educational and organisational quality and the increasing and worldwide concerns about quality assurance. After 30 years of dramatic...... remain an important basis for external review. In an attempt to examine the institutional understanding of quality in higher education, the authors conducted a content analysis study of 53 self-evaluation reports written by a wide range of higher education institutions in China. This study concludes...... educational reform, China has established a nationwide evaluation system for assessing its higher education institutions. This comprehensive system includes a series of procedures for both internal self-evaluation and external peer reviewing, among which self-evaluation reports prepared by each institution...

  17. Ranking Quality in Higher Education: Guiding or Misleading?

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    Bergseth, Brita; Petocz, Peter; Abrandt Dahlgren, Madeleine

    2014-01-01

    The study examines two different models of measuring, assessing and ranking quality in higher education. Do different systems of quality assessment lead to equivalent conclusions about the quality of education? This comparative study is based on the rankings of 24 Swedish higher education institutions. Two ranking actors have independently…

  18. Quality Education and the Marketplace: An Exploration of Neoliberalism and its Impact on Higher Education

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    Mandy Frake

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper is an in attempt to open discussion about the impact of globalization and theories of neoliberalism on higher education. More specifically, viewing higher education institutions as a market place, where the more a product costs, the greater supply and quality of the product should be received; the quality of education received by university students should also reflect this. Considering the conflict between teaching and research in higher education, quality of education becomes questionable. This paper explores issues of neoliberalism resulting in a greater demand for the completion of research in higher education institutions. Furthermore, the imperialism of higher education leading towards the demand for more research, the teaching versus research nexus within universities, and discussion of how these theories impact international students will be examined throughout this paper

  19. Quality Assurance in Higher Education: A Review of Literature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryan, Tricia

    2015-01-01

    This paper examines the literature surrounding quality assurance in global higher education. It provides an overview of accreditation as a mechanism to ensure quality in higher education, examines models of QA, and explores the concept of quality (including definitions of quality and quality assurance). In addition, this paper provides a review of…

  20. Higher Dietary Cost Is Associated with Higher Diet Quality: A Cross-Sectional Study among Selected Malaysian Adults

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    Ibnteesam Pondor

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Food price is a determining factor of food choices; however its relationship with diet quality is unclear in Malaysia. This study aimed to examine socio-economic characteristics and daily dietary cost (DDC in relation to diet quality in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Dietary intake was assessed using a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ and diet quality was estimated using a Malaysian Healthy Eating Index (M-HEI. DDC in Malaysian Ringgit (RM was calculated from dietary intake and national food prices. Linear regression models were fitted to determine associations between DDC and M-HEI scores and predictors of diet quality. The mean M-HEI score of respondents was 61.31 ± 10.88 and energy adjusted DDC was RM10.71/2000 kcal (USD 2.49. The highest quintile of adjusted DDC had higher M-HEI scores for all respondents (Q1: 57.14 ± 10.07 versus Q5: 63.26 ± 11.54, p = 0.001. There were also positive associations between DDC and M-HEI scores for fruits (p < 0.001 and vegetables (p = 0.017 for all respondents. Predictors of diet quality included carbohydrate (β = 0290; p < 0.001 and fat intakes (β = −0.242; p < 0.001 and energy adjusted DDC (β = 0.196; p < 0.001. Higher dietary cost is associated with healthy eating among Malaysian adults.

  1. Quality assurance systems of higher education - The case of european institutions: origin, evolution and trends

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ángela Corengia

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1983-4535.2014v7n3p61 The purpose of this research is to analyze the origin, evolution, performance and trends of higher education quality assurance systems in the following European countries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom and France. It also studies the performance and impact of the organizations that join the European Quality Assurance Agencies together. The main sources of data collection were in situ semi-structured interviews to members of these agencies. It was found that in higher education institutions there is a strong trend towards the development of ‘internal quality assurance systems' in response to the public policies known as 'quality audits'. This overview about what is taking place in Europe may provide innovative instruments that could be considered for higher education quality evaluation and accreditation in Latin-American countries: quality audits, disciplinary agencies, evaluation of the quality assurance agencies, among others.

  2. Students’ perception of quality in higher education: An empirical investigation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zafrul Allam

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Students’ evaluation of quality in higher education is becoming increasingly important and widely accepted. Various researchers have reported that “high quality” education creates sustainability among students to accomplish their goals over a period of time. The intention of the present study was to explore students’ perceptions of quality in higher education in terms of curriculum content, learning and teaching experiences, institutional resources and outcome and assessment. A total of 91 students were randomly selected from the business and engineering colleges within Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics to obtain accurate results pertaining to the motif of the research. The findings revealed that total institutional factors emerged as one of the most prominent predictors of the outcome and assessment within the two different aforementioned disciplines. This paper concludes with suggestions for further investigation.

  3. Quality assurance and evaluation system in japanese higher education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Mami Yamaguchi

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract In this paper we aim to contribute to the debate over accountability and assessment of higher education (HE by introducing the Japanese system. We first discuss the circumstances and issues surrounding Japanese HE and then examine the historical development of the quality assurance and evaluation system. Since the 1990s, with the implementation of policies that focused on liberalization, deregulation and increased institutional autonomy, the role of the government has shifted from setting strict regulations and quality standards to organizing an evaluation system for assessing the learning outcomes and improving accountability of the HE institutions. Finally, we suggest how Japan may take hints from Brazil in organizing an evaluation system on a national level that can more efficiently support and assess HE institutions

  4. Nullifying quality: the marketasation of higher education

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bendixen, Carsten; Jacobsen, Jens Christian

    2017-01-01

    higher education. In the long run it will hardly benefit educational programmes if institutions of higher educations fail to ‘stand for’ quality that, in the very least, can supplement the fulfilment of politically determined targets and standards. In this way the market will have not only graduates who......The increasing dominance of educational markets means that quality of higher education has the character of open signifiers of periodic occurrence, embedded institutionally as ways of consensual communication on how to go on as smoothly as possible. This promotes the growth of context dependent...... nullification processes. On the other hand, institutions have to adopt standards in education as a measure of outcome indicators for benchmarking. When quality is replaced by standards and if standards are equivalent to labour market relevance this might signal the beginning of overall external control over...

  5. On Q: Causing Quality in Higher Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seymour, Daniel T.

    This book presents college and university education as a quality-oriented service with students, parents, and legislators as customers demanding quality. It attempts to blend the concept of strategic management of quality in industry with the latest thinking on the administration of higher education. The first chapter discusses the importance of…

  6. Analysis of professional quality of students majored with logistics management in the higher vocational college based on AHP

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dai Chengxia

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available To strength training of the professional quality of students in the higher vocational college, and then explore an effective way to train the professional quality of students in the higher vocational college is a very necessary and urgent task. On this basis, this paper aims at investigating the situation of the professional quality of the students majored with the logistics management in the higher vocational college according to the requirements of the industry and enterprise, constructs a multi-dimensional space of the professional quality by the use of the AHP analysis method, and proposes the training method of the professional quality, in order to further improve the professional quality of students in the higher vocational college, and provide reference for the training of the students majored with the logistics management in the higher vocational college.

  7. From Quality Assurance to Quality Enhancement in the European Higher Education Area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gvaramadze, Irakli

    2008-01-01

    This article focuses on recent trends in quality assurance initiatives, analyses how the European Higher Education Area promotes quality enhancement mechanisms and their implications for quality cultures in universities. It presents and discusses two approaches towards quality enhancement both at the institutional and programme level: 1. Quality…

  8. Exploring the use of text and instant messaging in higher education classrooms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sharon Lauricella

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available This article examined how higher education students used text and instant messaging for academic purposes with their peers and faculty. Specifically, comfort level, frequency of use, usefulness, reasons for messaging and differences between peer-to-peer and peer-to-instructor interactions were examined. Students noted that they were very comfortable with using both text and instant messaging. Text messaging was used weekly with instructors and daily with peers. Instant messaging was used rarely with instructors but weekly with peers. Students rated text messaging as very useful and instant messaging as moderately useful for academic purposes. Key reasons cited for using both text and instant messaging included saving time, resolving administrative issues, convenience and ease of use. Text messaging appears to be the preferred mode of communication for students with respect to communicating with both peers and instructors. It is concluded that both text and instant messaging are useful and viable tools for augmenting student's communication among peers and faculty in higher education.

  9. Exploring the Notion of Quality in Quality Higher Education Assessment in a Collaborative Future

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maguire, Kate; Gibbs, Paul

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to contribute to the debate on the notion of quality in higher education with particular focus on "objectifying through articulation" the assessment of quality by professional experts. The article gives an overview of the differentiations of quality as used in higher education. It explores a substantial…

  10. A Conceptual Analysis of Quality in Quality Function Deployment-Based Contexts of Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matorera, Douglas

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to assess and evaluate how higher education institutions (HEIs) using Quality Function Deployment draw out the relevancy and potential of the model in shaping their concept of "Quality" and how that Quality can be assured in higher education institutions' (HEIs') programmes. An intensive literature review was…

  11. Is quality assurance in higher education contextually relative ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    It does this by raising questions such as whether quality in higher education is the same as, for example, quality of clothing or the quality of meat in local butcheries. The article questions ... AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL.

  12. [Formula: see text]Higher cortisol is associated with poorer executive functioning in preschool children: The role of parenting stress, parent coping and quality of daycare.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wagner, Shannon L; Cepeda, Ivan; Krieger, Dena; Maggi, Stefania; D'Angiulli, Amedeo; Weinberg, Joanne; Grunau, Ruth E

    2016-01-01

    Child executive functions (cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, working memory) are key to success in school. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, is known to affect cognition; however, there is limited information about how child cortisol levels, parenting factors and child care context relate to executive functions in young children. The aim of this study was to examine relationships between child cortisol, parenting stress, parent coping, and daycare quality in relation to executive functions in children aged 3-5 years. We hypothesized that (1) poorer executive functioning would be related to higher child cortisol and higher parenting stress, and (2) positive daycare quality and positive parent coping style would buffer the effects of child cortisol and parenting stress on executive functions. A total of 101 children (53 girls, 48 boys, mean age 4.24 years ±0.74) with complete data on all measures were included. Three saliva samples to measure cortisol were collected at the child's daycare/preschool in one morning. Parents completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function - Preschool Version (BRIEF-P), Parenting Stress Index (PSI), and Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ). The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale - Revised (ECERS-R) was used to measure the quality of daycare. It was found that children with poorer executive functioning had higher levels of salivary cortisol, and their parents reported higher parenting stress. However, parent coping style and quality of daycare did not modulate these relationships. Identifying ways to promote child executive functioning is an important direction for improving school readiness.

  13. Researcher Creations? The Positioning of Policy Texts in Higher Education Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashwin, Paul; Smith, Karen

    2015-01-01

    In this article we explore the way in which policy texts are positioned in a selection of higher education journal articles. Previous research has suggested that policy implementation studies have taken an uncritical approach to researching policies. Based on an analysis of articles published in higher education and policy journals in 2011, we…

  14. The Role of Higher Education in National Quality Infrastructure Policy-Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jelena Ruso

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to raise awareness of the importance of the policy makers’ knowledge and expertise about quality infrastructure (QI for the successful policy-making. This article, which addresses the role of higher education in Serbian quality infrastructure policy-making, is an analysis of QI related contents of higher education institution curriculum. The target institutions are public faculties from whose official websites the data were collected. Depending on the keywords, the analysis was performed in order to classify the faculties into three categories. After reviewing the 307 subject titles and descriptions of undergraduate courses, the results show that the concepts of QI are widely recognized as an important and popular topic. The analysis of the QI adoption and diffusion indicates that although some of the faculties might be ‘leaders’ in a particular dimension, they still do not necessarily fall into the ‘leader’ category. JEL Classification:I21, I23, H54, L15

  15. Applying Total Quality Management Tools Using QFD at Higher Education Institutions in Gulf Area (Case Study: ALHOSN University

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adnan Al-Bashir

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Human power’s quality plays the key role in the growth and development of societies where the quality of human powers can be enriched with the high quality education provided by the higher education institutions. The higher education institutions are hereby an important sector of any society since it defines the overall quality of human lives. This research will investigate the application of Total Quality Management (TQM tools at the higher education institutions; specifically at ALHOSN University. In this study five tools were implemented at ALHOSN University’s engineering college including: Quality Function Deployment, Affinity Diagrams, Tree Diagrams, Pareto Charts, and Fishbone Diagrams. The research will reveal that the implementation of TQM tools has a great benefit for higher education institutions where they have uncovered many area of potential improvement as well as the main causes of some of the problems the Faculty of Engineering is facing. Also, it will show that the implementation of TQM tools on higher education institution systems will enhance the performance of such institutions.

  16. Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Proposals for Consultation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Higher Education Funding Council for England, Bristol.

    This document sets out for consultation proposals for a revised method for quality assurance of teaching and learning in higher education. The proposals cover: (1) the objectives and principles of quality assurance; (2) an approach to quality assurance based on external audit principles; (3) the collection and publication of information; (4)…

  17. Perceptions of Higher Education Quality at Three Universities in Vietnam

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pham, Huong Thi; Starkey, Louise

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Vietnam is experiencing rapid expansion in the provision of higher education that requires quality assurance appropriate for the Vietnamese-centralised Confucian cultural context. This paper aims to examine the concept of quality from the perspectives of academic leaders, quality assurance members and academics at three higher education…

  18. Quality Assurance in Higher Technical Education and the Context of Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olufunmilayo T. Iyunade, Ph.D

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Recent empirical evidences on higher technical education at a national scale focused on the relevance, student’s poor perception, low enrolment and progression rates, and the growing impact of globalization on the management of higher technical and vocational education with little or no reference point to the factor of quality assurance. This paper therefore correlates quality assurance factors in higher technical education and the context of youth empowerment for sustainable development. A survey of public technical colleges was done in Ogun State. From an estimate population of 637 final year students and 28 instructors and management staff, a simple of 376 students and 17 instructors and management staff were selected using the stratify random sampling technique. A 4-point rating scale validated questionnaires tagged: ‘Higher Technical Education, Youth Empowerment and Sustainable Development Scale (HTEYESDS (r=0.79, complemented with focus Group Discussion (FGD was used for data collection. Three research questions were raised and answered. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics of Pearson correlation, multiple regression and analysis of variance at 0.05 apha level. Results showed that poor quality assurance limits the capacity of higher technical education in the empowerment of youth for sustainable development (82.6%. Quality assurance factors significantly correlated with higher technical education in the empowerment of youth for sustainable development (r=0.188; P < 0.05. It was therefore recommended that government should neither neglect nor compromise the factors of quality assurance in higher technical education as they predicts youth empowerment drive in the system.

  19. Better Metrics to Automatically Predict the Quality of a Text Summary

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Judith D. Schlesinger

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we demonstrate a family of metrics for estimating the quality of a text summary relative to one or more human-generated summaries. The improved metrics are based on features automatically computed from the summaries to measure content and linguistic quality. The features are combined using one of three methods—robust regression, non-negative least squares, or canonical correlation, an eigenvalue method. The new metrics significantly outperform the previous standard for automatic text summarization evaluation, ROUGE.

  20. Quality Improvement in Virtual Higher Education: A Grounded Theory Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahdiuon, Rouhollah; Masoumi, Davoud; Farasatkhah, Maghsoud

    2017-01-01

    The article aims to explore the attributes of quality and quality improvement including the process and specific actions associated with these attributes--that contribute enhancing quality in Iranian Virtual Higher Education (VHE) institutions. A total of 16 interviews were conducted with experts and key actors in Iranian virtual higher education.…

  1. Quality and Quality Assurance in Ethiopian Higher Education. Critical Issues and Practical Implications.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kahsay, M.

    2012-01-01

    This book critically examines quality and quality assurance in the Ethiopian higher education context. More specifically, the main research problem that guided the study was: ‘how and under what circumstances do the public Universities in Ethiopia assure quality of their education, and what

  2. Quality provisioning and accountability in African higher | Maila ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Excellence in educational quality provisioning and accountability is an obligatory function for higher education. Currently certain scholars allege that poor provisioning and lack of accountability are rife in most higher education institutions. They cite varied reasons for the failures. Of note, African higher education institutions ...

  3. The Enigma of Quality in Greek Higher Education. A mixed methods study of introducing quality management into Greek higher education.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Papadimitriou, A.; Papadimitriou, Antigoni

    2011-01-01

    This study investigated the adoption of quality management in Greek universities as an outcome of organizational processes. It examined a period in the first decade of the 21st century when program evaluation and quality management were heavily debated in Greece. The study recognizes that higher

  4. Nominal Group Technique and its Applications in Managing Quality in Higher Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rafikul Islam

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Quality management is an important aspect in all kinds of businesses – manufacturing or service. Idea generation plays a pivotal role in managing quality in organizations. It is thenew and innovative ideas which can help corporations to survive in the turbulent business environment. Research in group dynamics has shown that more ideas are generated by individuals working alone but in a group environment than the individuals engaged in a formal group discussion. In Nominal Group Technique (NGT, individuals work alone but in a group setting. This paper shows how NGT can be applied to generate large number of ideas to solve quality related problems specifically in Malaysian higher education setting. The paper also discusses the details of NGT working procedure andexplores the areas of its further applications.

  5. Quality Assurance for Higher Education Franchising.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yorke, Mantz

    1993-01-01

    The practice of "franchising" higher education programs, or provision of educational programs through vendors, is examined as it occurs in the United Kingdom as a result of recent educational policy changes. A set of principles for assuring the quality of such programs is proposed. (MSE)

  6. Student Perceptions on Service Quality of Higher Education: an Empirical Study

    OpenAIRE

    Rahayu, Fatik; Murtanto, Murtanto; Ekasari, Ayu

    2007-01-01

    Educational literatures suggest that there is mounting pressure from customers of higher education to close the gap between their expectation of institutional performance and the actual performance (Widrick et al., 2002; Pariseau and Mc Daniel, 1997; Shank et al., 1995). Therefore, it is imperative that higher educations actively monitor the quality of their service. This study deals with measuring the service quality in higher education. The service quality of higher education in this resear...

  7. Quality Management in the Higher Education of the Republic of Moldova as a Framework for University Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prisacaru Veronica

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This investigation is focused on two objectives: 1 explaining the relationship between quality management and performance management in higher education; 2 evaluating the existing quality management systems in the higher education institutions of the Republic of Moldova. In order to accomplish the first objective, a comparative theoretical analysis of the quality management and performance management was carried out in terms of common aspects and distinctive peculiarities. Consequently, it was reasoned that the performance management system of a higher education institution is created and functions on the basis of the quality management system by extending the area of the quality objectives to the level at which they will ensure performance or, in other terms, by moving towards excellence. In order to achieve the second objective, an opinion survey for the teaching and managerial staff from 6 universities was carried out. As a consequence of processing the obtained results, there were identified problems related to the functioning of the quality management systems. The investigation resulted in the formulation of a set of recommendations for the higher education institutions of the Republic of Moldova in order to increase the efficiency of the quality management systems functioning and thus to ensure an efficient management.

  8. Quality Teaching in a Managerial Setting: Higher Education Challenges in Australia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Therese Demediuk

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Australian universities face increased challenges in a global higher education marketplace. They have responded to this competitive environment by introducing greater efficiency and accountability measures. One key measure is the quality of teaching and in particular, the delivery of student-centred teaching. However, the reforms have changed the working lives of academic teachers who now have greater reporting and administrative responsibilities with less sense of collegiality in the sector. In these circumstances, it is not clear that teaching staff will share the same perceptions of quality teaching as their institutions expect. This paper examines the utility of role theory and learning organization theory as part of a project which will examine the ways in which implicit knowledge can be made explicit and shared in the organization as part of academic teachers’ roles. The paper hypothesizes that when academics share their perceptions of good teaching, universities will benefit from a coherent set of quality teaching indicators which are aligned with their organizational cultures.

  9. Emblems of Quality in Higher Education. Developing and Sustaining High-Quality Programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haworth, Jennifer Grant; Conrad, Clifton F.

    This book proposes an "engagement" theory of program quality to evaluate and improve higher education programs at all degree levels. Based on interviews with 781 participants in a national study of Masters degree programs, it focuses on the interactive roles of students, faculty, and administrators in developing high-quality programs…

  10. The quality movement in higher education in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buchanan, H S

    1995-09-01

    Continuous quality improvement (CQI), often implemented as part of an integrated management system called total quality management (TQM), has been institutionalized within many manufacturing, military and service organizations in the USA as a response to declining market share, low productivity and customer complaints about poor quality. Signs and symptoms suggest that higher education has similar problems which are systematic and relate to the quality ot higher education, financing, facilities, curriculum and graduates. In the 1990S, the quality movement has begun to spread to the field of education as a means of diagnosing and treating the problems widely recognized as residing in US educational institutions, especially in colleges and universities. Many business leaders and authors believe that 'quality is the most important strategic issue facing top management in the 1990s'. This belief arises partly due to the fact that managers are beginning to understand the relationship between healthy, high quality organizations and healthy profits. This article traces the recent US quality movement from its roots in manufacturing and the military, its adoption by service institutions, and its more recent application by higher education institutions.

  11. Gender-heterogeneous working groups produce higher quality science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, Lesley G; Mehtani, Siya; Dozier, Mary E; Rinehart, Janice

    2013-01-01

    Here we present the first empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that a gender-heterogeneous problem-solving team generally produced journal articles perceived to be higher quality by peers than a team comprised of highly-performing individuals of the same gender. Although women were historically underrepresented as principal investigators of working groups, their frequency as PIs at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis is now comparable to the national frequencies in biology and they are now equally qualified, in terms of their impact on the accumulation of ecological knowledge (as measured by the h-index). While women continue to be underrepresented as working group participants, peer-reviewed publications with gender-heterogeneous authorship teams received 34% more citations than publications produced by gender-uniform authorship teams. This suggests that peers citing these publications perceive publications that also happen to have gender-heterogeneous authorship teams as higher quality than publications with gender uniform authorship teams. Promoting diversity not only promotes representation and fairness but may lead to higher quality science.

  12. QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN BANGLADESH: APPLICATION OF A MODIFIED SERVQUAL MODEL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Md. Mamun-ur-Rashid

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Progressive importance, swelling investment, and mounting national and global competition necessitate evaluation of the service quality of higher education. Quantifiable indicators such as student teacher ratio, student number, women participation, establishing new departments, and increase in the number of universities are no longer enough unless the student’s stand point is considered. This research probed the service quality of higher education in a public university in southern Bangladesh utilizing modified SERVQUAL gap model. The t-test results suggest that there is a significant service gap in all the selected service dimensions such as learning, teaching, recognition, assessment system, internet and library facilities, campus life, and non-academic administration. The results also mirror that little more than half (54.1% students are satisfied with the service quality of the selected university and almost similar proportion (52.1 % of the students have future interest in studying in the same university. Regression analysis reveals that learning and recognition are two important determinants of client’s overall satisfaction with the service of selected university. Importance Performance Analysis (IPA advocates that the university should take immediate step in improving internet and library facilities, campus life, and non-academic administration. Factor analysis output confirms that slight modification of the proposed seven set model into six set factors can be employed by the management as off-the-rack service quality measurement tool.

  13. Information Support of the Higher Education Quality Management System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Murat K. Baymuldin

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with the quality management system (QMS of a university as a combination of organizational structure, procedures, processes and resources needed to implement quality policy with the help of quality planning, management, control and improvement, the need for automated information system of the university quality management system control

  14. Trading Quality across Borders: Colonial Discourse and International Quality Assurance Policies in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanco Ramírez, Gerardo

    2014-01-01

    Accountability and quality assurance have become central discourses in higher education policy throughout the world. However, accountability and quality assurance involve power and control. Practices and ideas about quality developed in the Global North are spreading rapidly across the Global South, leading to increased uniformity in the…

  15. QUALITY ASSURANCE IN RWANDAN HIGHER LEARNING EDUCATION: IS THE SYSTEM ADAPTIVE OR COMPLEX?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathan Kanuma Taremwa

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Developing knowledge infrastructure by massive investments in education and training are taken as a benchmark in facilitating the acceleration and possible increases in skills, capacities and competences of Rwandan people has become apriority issue in the recent years. This notion is relevant to vision 2020 where human resource development and building of a knowledge based economy are fundamental pillars. In the past years, several policy reforms have taken place in education sector. However, the overarching question is if such reforms are becoming adaptive or complex and if such reforms will not compromise the quality of education in higher learning education in Rwanda? The main objective of the study was to investigate the impact of changes in Higher Learning Institutions on the quality of education in Rwanda. This research had three hypotheses, namely; there is an impact of changes in Higher Learning Institutions on quality of education in Rwanda; the current complexity in Rwandan education system is affecting the quality of education in HLIs; Tailoring education system to the regional reforms and implementation strategies is affecting the quality of education in Rwanda. This study was carried out in 10 higher learning institutions (5 public, 5 private and 2 Ministry of Education directorates (HEC and REB. Key informants were the senior management/head of institutions, experienced academic staff, and students. The parameters considered included; the learning methods, assessment styles, workloads, language of instruction, merging of public HLIs, curriculum, and the transformation of some private higher learning institutions into company forms. Main research instruments were questionnaires and interview guides. Both qualitative and quantitative research was collected. Analyses were done using SPSS and excel packages. Major findings indicate that the system is still in transition with indicative gaps. Ample time would therefore be necessary for

  16. Factors Influencing Assessment Quality in Higher Vocational Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baartman, Liesbeth; Gulikers, Judith; Dijkstra, Asha

    2013-01-01

    The development of assessments that are fit to assess professional competence in higher vocational education requires a reconsideration of assessment methods, quality criteria and (self)evaluation. This article examines the self-evaluations of nine courses of a large higher vocational education institute. Per course, 4-11 teachers and 3-10…

  17. Opportunity or Exploitation? Women and Quality Assurance in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morley, Louise

    2005-01-01

    Based on interviews with 18 UK women academics and managers on quality and power in higher education, this article interrogates the impact of quality assurance discourses and practices on women in higher education. Micro-level analysis of the effects of audit and the evaluative state seem to suggest that hegemonic masculinities and gendered power…

  18. Lower- Versus Higher-Income Populations In The Alternative Quality Contract: Improved Quality And Similar Spending.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Zirui; Rose, Sherri; Chernew, Michael E; Safran, Dana Gelb

    2017-01-01

    As population-based payment models become increasingly common, it is crucial to understand how such payment models affect health disparities. We evaluated health care quality and spending among enrollees in areas with lower versus higher socioeconomic status in Massachusetts before and after providers entered into the Alternative Quality Contract, a two-sided population-based payment model with substantial incentives tied to quality. We compared changes in process measures, outcome measures, and spending between enrollees in areas with lower and higher socioeconomic status from 2006 to 2012 (outcome measures were measured after the intervention only). Quality improved for all enrollees in the Alternative Quality Contract after their provider organizations entered the contract. Process measures improved 1.2 percentage points per year more among enrollees in areas with lower socioeconomic status than among those in areas with higher socioeconomic status. Outcome measure improvement was no different between the subgroups; neither were changes in spending. Larger or comparable improvements in quality among enrollees in areas with lower socioeconomic status suggest a potential narrowing of disparities. Strong pay-for-performance incentives within a population-based payment model could encourage providers to focus on improving quality for more disadvantaged populations. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

  19. The information system of learning quality control in higher education institutions: achievements and problems of European universities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Orekhova Elena

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with the main trends in the development of the system of learning quality control connected with the European integration of higher education and the democratization of education. The authors analyze the state of information systems of learning quality control existing in European higher education and identify their strong and weak points. The authors show that in the learning process universities actively use innovative analytic methods as well as modern means of collecting, storing and transferring information that ensure the successful management of such a complex object as the university of the 21st century.

  20. The Methodological Approaches to Formation of the Internal System of Quality of Education of Higher Education Institution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Doronin Stepan A.

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The necessity of creation of a national conception of formation of the internal system of quality assurance of higher education institutions with obligatory introduction of methodological approach in its structure is substantiated; the variant of its terminological provision with clarification of the content of concepts of «quality of education», «internal system of quality of education», «methodological approach» is proposed; positioning of the approach in the system of other standard scientific instruments (method, methodology, program, algorithm is done; arguments for the orientation of the methodology of formation of the internal system of quality assurance of higher education institutions towards the socio-cultural model of paradigm are provided; a hierarchical classification of methodological approaches with allocation of the philosophical, scientific, concrete-scientific, technological levels and the characteristics of their purpose and contents is presented.

  1. Pricing Strategies and Models for the Provision of Digitized Texts in Higher Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hardy, Rachel; Oppenheim, Charles; Rubbert, Iris

    2002-01-01

    Describes research into charging mechanisms for the delivery of digitized texts to higher education students in the United Kingdom and discusses the need for a satisfactory pricing model. Explains the HERON (Higher Education Resources On-Demand) and PELICAN (Pricing Experiment Library Information Cooperative Network) projects and considers…

  2. Unravelling Quality Culture in Higher Education: A Realist Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bendermacher, G. W. G.; oude Egbrink, M. G. A.; Wolfhagen, I. H. A. P.; Dolmans, D. H. J. M.

    2017-01-01

    There is a growing belief that higher education institutions should nurture a "quality culture" in which structural/managerial and cultural/psychological elements act in synergy to continuously improve education. Notwithstanding the positive connotation of the "quality culture" concept, its exact configuration remains subject…

  3. Programme evaluation: Maintaining quality in higher education ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The evaluation of educational or social programmes is paramount for establishing success or impact in higher education. Evaluation questions about programme goals (e.g. better performance of first-year students) or about the quality of programme strategies (design and implementation) and effectiveness of delivery ...

  4. Is higher nursing home quality more costly?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giorgio, L Di; Filippini, M; Masiero, G

    2016-11-01

    Widespread issues regarding quality in nursing homes call for an improved understanding of the relationship with costs. This relationship may differ in European countries, where care is mainly delivered by nonprofit providers. In accordance with the economic theory of production, we estimate a total cost function for nursing home services using data from 45 nursing homes in Switzerland between 2006 and 2010. Quality is measured by means of clinical indicators regarding process and outcome derived from the minimum data set. We consider both composite and single quality indicators. Contrary to most previous studies, we use panel data and control for omitted variables bias. This allows us to capture features specific to nursing homes that may explain differences in structural quality or cost levels. Additional analysis is provided to address simultaneity bias using an instrumental variable approach. We find evidence that poor levels of quality regarding outcome, as measured by the prevalence of severe pain and weight loss, lead to higher costs. This may have important implications for the design of payment schemes for nursing homes.

  5. Programme Evaluation: Maintaining Quality in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loots, A.

    2008-01-01

    The evaluation of educational or social programmes is paramount for establishing success or impact in higher education. Evaluation questions about programme goals (e.g. better performance of first-year students) or about the quality of programme strategies (design and implementation) and effectiveness of delivery (coordinator inputs and…

  6. The Quality Movements in Higher Education in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Richard I.

    1996-01-01

    Discussion of various quality control strategies in American higher education looks at and compares Total Quality Management (TQM), outcomes assessment, Deming's 14 points, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the ISO 9000 series, restructuring, reengineering, and performance indicators. It is suggested that colleges and universities will…

  7. Quality Assurance in Transnational Higher Education. ENQA Workshop Report 11

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bennett, Paul; Bergan, Sjur; Cassar, Daniela; Hamilton, Marlene; Soinila, Michele; Sursock, Andree; Uvalic-Trumbic, Stamenka; Williams, Peter

    2010-01-01

    The present report is the product of an ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) Bologna Seminar "Quality Assurance in Transnational Education: from words to action" hosted by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA, UK) in London in December, 2008. The seminar discussed the current trends in Transnational…

  8. Service Quality in Higher Education Using an Enhanced SERVQUAL Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Kay C.; Kek, Sei W.

    2004-01-01

    Customer service and quality are driving forces in the business community. As higher educational institutions tussle for competitive advantage and high service quality, the evaluation of educational service quality is essential to provide motivation for and to give feedback on the effectiveness of educational plans and implementation. This…

  9. Quality and accreditation in higher education: integration and internationalization of Latin America and the Caribbean

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge González González

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available The paper discusses the concepts of «quality» and «accreditation» in education with different meanings, and proposes comprehensive definitions that have been put into practice by the Union of Universities of Latin America and the Caribbean and the International Network of Evaluators through model «V» evaluation planningfor continuous improvement, integration and internationalization of higher education.

  10. Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Zimbabwe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garwe, Evelyn Chiyevo

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to furnish local and global stakeholders with detailed information regarding the development and current status of quality assurance in the Zimbabwean higher education sector. The study used document analysis, observation and interviews with key informants as sources of data. This paper addresses the dearth of…

  11. Quality Instruction as a Motivating Factor in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sogunro, Olusegun A.

    2017-01-01

    The importance of quality instruction in motivating students in higher education cannot be overemphasized. Without quality instruction, students' motivation to learn recedes. Five focus groups of graduate students aided the data collection for this study. More than one-third of the 119 participating graduate students involved in this study claimed…

  12. "Folk" Understandings of Quality in UK Higher Hospitality Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Roy

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the evolution of "folk" understandings of quality in higher hospitality education and the consequent implications of these understandings for current quality concerns in the field. Design/methodology/approach: The paper combines a historical survey of the stated topic…

  13. Two-way text messaging: an interactive mobile learning environment in higher education

    OpenAIRE

    Premadasa, H. K. Salinda; Meegama, R. G. N.

    2016-01-01

    Short messaging service (SMS) is perhaps the most popular mobile technology prevalent among students in higher education due to its ubiquitous nature and the capability of two-way communication. However, a major limitation in two-way text messaging is sending back a part of received data with the reply message. This limitation results in users of a mobile learning environment being unable to reply back to the correct destination. This article presents a two-way text messaging system that can ...

  14. Quality Management in Higher Education: Towards a Better Understanding of an Emerging Field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pratasavitskaya, Halina; Stensaker, Bjorn

    2010-01-01

    The article analyses how quality management is understood in higher education research. By reviewing a number of academic contributions addressing quality management issues in "Quality in Higher Education" from 1995-2008, the article identifies central concepts associated with quality management, discusses whether there are commonalities to be…

  15. The Massification of Higher Education in the UK: Aspects of Service Quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giannakis, Mihalis; Bullivant, Nicola

    2016-01-01

    This article explores several aspects of service quality for the provision of higher education. Alongside the trend of the massification of higher education over the past two decades, higher education institutions are required to review quality across a range of outputs, besides teaching and learning. The study was undertaken within the…

  16. Reforms, Leadership and Quality Management in Greek Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papadimitriou, Antigoni

    2011-01-01

    This article reports on research to form an understanding of how to account whether and how quality management (QM) has been adopted in Greek higher education. Greece only recently introduced quality assurance policies. In this study, I will describe governmental reforms related to QM policies until 2010. An issue that is frequently addressed…

  17. Guiding and Modelling Quality Improvement in Higher Education Institutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Little, Daniel

    2015-01-01

    The article considers the process of creating quality improvement in higher education institutions from the point of view of current organisational theory and social-science modelling techniques. The author considers the higher education institution as a functioning complex of rules, norms and other organisational features and reviews the social…

  18. PERCEIVED SERVICE QUALITY AND STUDENTS' SATISFACTION IN HIGHER EDUCATION: THE INFLUENCE OF TEACHING METHODS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eugenia Pedro

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The main aim of this research was to study the relationship between perceived quality (PQ and satisfaction in Higher education, and especially to identify if these variables could differ between groups of students exposed to different teaching methods. A quantitative study was conducted at a Portuguese Faculty of Health Sciences, through a survey applied to a final sample of 359 students. Data analysis was performed through a structural equation model, using, for this purpose, the PLS method. Results confirm that PQ is positively related to students' satisfaction in the Higher Education Institutions (HEI context, and that PQ and satisfaction are significantly different when students are exposed to different teaching approaches. Although there is a substantial body of evidence regarding teaching methods in HEI, to our knowledge there is no reliable prior study that explicitly approached the influence of alternative teaching methods on students' satisfaction and their perception of service quality.

  19. Meeting the Challenge: Quality Systems in Private Higher Education in Kuwait

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Atiqi, Imad M.; Alharbi, Lafi M.

    2009-01-01

    In Kuwait, as in other rapidly-developing higher education systems, one major area of concern is ensuring the quality of education offered by private providers. This paper briefly reviews the history of the development of higher education in Kuwait since its inception in 1936. It considers various quality systems currently in place in other…

  20. Higher Degree Committee Members’ Perceptions of Quality Assurance of Doctoral Education: A South African Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shan Simmonds

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available In South Africa four key policy discourses underpin doctoral education: growth, capacity, efficiency, and quality discourses. This article contributes to the discourse on quality by engaging with quality assurance from the perspective of the decision makers and implementers of macro policy (national, meso (institutional, and micro (faculty/departmental levels. We explore the perceptions that members of higher degree committees in the field of Education have of the quality assurance of doctoral education. Our data are drawn from a national survey questionnaire completed by these respondents at all public South African institutions that offer a doctorate in Education. The insights gained reside within four categories: positionality, policy, programmes, and people (stakeholders. Thereafter, we problematised the main results using academic freedom in a mode 3 knowledge production environment as a lens, which revealed thought provoking directions for future research about doctoral education.

  1. Financial Intelligence and the Quality of Higher Education in Africa ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Financial Intelligence and the Quality of Higher Education in Africa. ... Improving the quality of curriculum development in private Universities in Africa from time to time is a task that is very essential to achieving ... AJOL African Journals Online.

  2. Implementation and translation: from European standards and guidelines for quality assurance to education quality work in higher education institutions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Westerheijden, Donald F.; Kohoutek, Jan; Eggins, Heather

    2014-01-01

    The Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG for short) have been part of the regulative infrastructure of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) since 2005 (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, 2009).

  3. Quality assessment in higher education using the SERVQUALQ model

    OpenAIRE

    Đonlagić, Sabina; Fazlić, Samira

    2015-01-01

    Economy in Bosnia and Herzegovina is striving towards growth and increased employment and it has been proven by empirical studies worldwide that higher education contributes to socio-economic development of a country. Universities are important for generation, preservation and dissemination of knowledge in order to contribute to socio-economic benefits of a country. Higher education institutions are being pressured to improve value for their activities and providing quality higher education s...

  4. Learning How to Write an Academic Text: The Effect of Instructional Method and Reflection on Text Quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Loo, Janneke; Krahmer, Emiel; van Amelsvoort, Marije

    2016-01-01

    In this paper we present preliminary results on a study on the effect of instructional method (observational learning and learning by doing) and reflection (yes or no) on academic text quality and self-efficacy beliefs. 56 undergraduate students were assigned to either an observational learning or learning-by-doing condition, with or without…

  5. Quality Of Life And Prevalence Of Burnout Syndrome In Higher Education Teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria de Lourdes Campos

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Burnout Syndrome, in the twenty-first century, appears among the most common mental disorder among teachers resulting from the interaction between  individual aspects and the working environment, interpreted as a response to chronic job stress.  Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of burnout syndrome and quality of life of higher education teachers in the city of Cajazeiras, Paraíba, Brazil.  Method: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study performed with 174 teachers from institutions of higher education.  Results: The burnout syndrome was observed in only 3.4% of teachers. However, the recorded data require a closer look at the health of the teachers investigated, since a considerable part of them are in the score limit for disease development. Regarding the quality of life of teachers who presented the manifestations of the syndrome, the physical and psychological domains were shown to be the worst for most subjects.  Conclusion: There are teachers in higher education, executing their  profession, affected by burnout syndrome, suggesting a  relationship between this psychosocial phenomenon and the labor context, permeating  the three dimensions proposed by Maslach and Leiter: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and the lack of personal fulfillment.   DOI: https://doi.org/10.3823/2512

  6. US Accreditation in Mexico: Quality in Higher Education as Symbol, Performance and Translation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanco-Ramirez, Gerardo

    2015-01-01

    Quality practices in higher education involve more than mere compliance with standards and technical mandates; given the complexity of the decisions involved in quality in higher education, this concept, quality, can be analyzed as symbol and performance. This paper utilizes translation as heuristic to analyze the implementation of US…

  7. Students' Perceptions of Higher Education Quality at Notre Dame University-Louaize in Lebanon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saad, Nada

    2013-01-01

    Understanding how students perceive quality of education and identifying the most important quality factors from their perspectives represent a first stage for quality improvement and customer satisfaction in higher education. The purpose of this project was to investigate how higher education students in Lebanon perceived the concept of quality…

  8. Impact Evaluation of Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Methodology and Causal Designs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leiber, Theodor; Stensaker, Bjørn; Harvey, Lee

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, the theoretical perspectives and general methodological elements of impact evaluation of quality assurance in higher education institutions are discussed, which should be a cornerstone of quality development in higher education and contribute to improving the knowledge about the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of quality…

  9. Comparing Alternative Instruments to Measure Service Quality in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brochado, Ana

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the performance of five alternative measures of service quality in the high education sector--service quality (SERVQUAL), importance-weighted SERVQUAL, service performance (SERVPERF), importance-weighted SERVPERF, and higher education performance (HEdPERF). Design/methodology/approach: Data were…

  10. Making Sense of an Elusive Concept: Academics' Perspectives of Quality in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nabaho, Lazarus; Aguti, Jessica Norah; Oonyu, Joseph

    2017-01-01

    Objective: Since the 1990s studies on how stakeholders in higher education perceive quality have burgeoned. Nevertheless, the majority of studies on perception of quality in higher education focus on students and employers. The few studies on academics' perceptions of quality in higher education treat academics as a homogeneous group and,…

  11. Two-Way Text Messaging: An Interactive Mobile Learning Environment in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Premadasa, H. K. Salinda; Meegama, R. G. N.

    2016-01-01

    Short messaging service (SMS) is perhaps the most popular mobile technology prevalent among students in higher education due to its ubiquitous nature and the capability of two-way communication. However, a major limitation in two-way text messaging is sending back a part of received data with the reply message. This limitation results in users of…

  12. Addressing the Wicked Problem of Quality in Higher Education: Theoretical Approaches and Implications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krause, Kerri-Lee

    2012-01-01

    This article explores the wicked problem of quality in higher education, arguing for a more robust theorising of the subject at national, institutional and local department level. The focus of the discussion rests on principles for theorising in more rigorous ways about the multidimensional issue of quality. Quality in higher education is proposed…

  13. Does Accelerating Access to Higher Education Lower Its Quality? The Australian Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pitman, Tim; Koshy, Paul; Phillimore, John

    2015-01-01

    In the pursuit of mass higher education, fears are often expressed that the quality of higher education suffers as access is increased. This quantitative study considers three proxies of educational quality: (1) prior academic achievement of the student, (2) attrition and retention rates and (3) progression rates, to establish whether educational…

  14. QUALITY-RELATED FUNDING IN ROMANIAN HIGHER EDUCATION THROUGHOUT 2003 – 2011: A GLOBAL ASSESSMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriel-Alexandru Vîiu

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The article explores quality-related funding and its global outcomes in the context of Romanian higher education by focusing on the funding allocations provided to public universities throughout a period of nine years based on their institutional performance on the quality indicators integrated in the funding algorithm. Global funding allocations between universities are analysed and a summative appraisal for the entire nine-year window is provided. The article also explores the relation between quality- related funding, institutional disciplinary profiles and the results of a comprehensive evaluation conducted in 2011 by the Ministry of Education to complete a classification of the universities. The main findings indicate a low overall impact of qualityrelated funding for many institutions, but also a clear pattern in which universities focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics overwhelmingly outperformed mixed institutions, as well as those focused on humanities, arts and social sciences. Furthermore, the global quality-related funding outcomes of the 2003 – 2011 period studied in the paper are shown to be significantly associated with the results of the 2011 classification

  15. Quality Research in Higher Education Institutions in Oman: Some Views of Teacher Researchers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmed Ali Saleh Al Ajmi

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Academic research remains a prime source of knowledge and innovation for higher education institutions (HEIs that strive to grow, expand and develop their academic reputations and standards. Yet, research informs teaching practices, shapes social changes and it has financial outcomes for HEIs. Therefore, it is imperative to develop institutional policies and strategies for promoting and sustaining quality research in HEIs in Oman. There are a number of international frameworks and models which have been developed to measure research quality in HEIs around the world. For example, bibliometrics were used to assess research quality in HEIs in the UK because bibliometric data can provide a number of component variables. An appropriate bibliometric model may include components such as output volume, diversity of outputs, citation volume, journal impact factor and average citations per publication, etc. Moreover, other popular examples of models for assessing research quality are Multidimensional Research Assessment Matrix (MRAM used in Europe and the UK’s Research Assessment Exercise (RAE. However, neither of the above mentioned models is adopted by HEIs in Oman. Thus, the current study is an attempt to explore some institutional, international, logistic and pragmatic factors that impact academic research and publication quality, review popular international research quality assessment models and explore the possibility of applying them in the Omani context. To achieve the study objectives, 20 teacher researchers were surveyed and the findings and recommendations were presented. Keywords: Quality Research, HEIs in Oman, International Models, Factors, Teacher Researchers' Views

  16. Access and quality in South African higher education: the twin ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    with the transformation agenda in South Africa. It is proposed that a comprehensive quality assurance framework with embedded commitment to access is likely to respond appropriately to national development prerogatives of higher education access. South African Journal of Higher Education Vol. 21 (3) 2007: pp. 385-399.

  17. Investigation of Malaysian Higher Education Quality Culture and Workforce Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Hairuddin Mohd; Musah, Mohammed Borhandden

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the quality culture and workforce performance in the Malaysian higher education sector. The study also aims to test and validate the psychometric properties of the quality culture and workforce performance instruments used in the study. Design/methodology/approach: A total…

  18. Accreditation and Quality Assurance in the Egyptian Higher Education System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schomaker, Rahel

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: This study aims to analyze the quality of the Egyptian accreditation system. With a view on the high competition in the domestic labor market as well as with regards to the international competitiveness of Egyptian graduates and the potential role of Egyptian universities in the international market for higher education, a high quality of…

  19. ASPECTS REGARDING THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF SPORT IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN ROMANIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sorin BUHAȘ

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This study addresses sport in higher education in rel ation to its organization structure, quality and sports performance. We have studied documents, normative acts and the way in which certain decisional factors involved in higher education sports activities are organized. The lack of a concrete strategy inthis respect, renders the information sources to be relatively limited. Particularly, our research was based on scientific documentation, historical method and document analysis. There is a small number of legitimated athletes related to the number of higher education students. Higher education sport is a non-functional system, it cannot generate a representative number of participants in the National University Championships, and the international representation is not a natural consequence of the internal competition. Therefore, it is imperative for higher education sports to be the foundation of performance sports. This involves changing both the approach to this phenomenon and its organizational structure. Also, the development of human resources and sports infrastructure are essential conditions for the development ofsports activity.

  20. Placements: An Underused Vehicle for Quality Enhancement in Higher Education?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kettis, Asa; Ring, Lena; Gustavsson, Maria; Wallman, Andy

    2013-01-01

    Placements have the potential to contribute more effectively to the quality of higher education. The aim of this article is to discuss how placements can be made more worthwhile for individual students, while also contributing to the overall quality of teaching and learning at HEIs as well as to the development of workplace cultures that are…

  1. Equality adds quality: On upgrading higher education and research in the field of law

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Baer Susanne

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Much has been attempted, and many projects are still underway aimed at achieving equality in higher education and research. Today, the key argument to demand and support the integration of gender in academia is that equality is indeed about the quality on which academic work is supposed to be based. Although more or less national political, social and cultural contexts matter as much as academic environments, regarding higher education and research, the integration of gender into the field of law seems particularly interesting. Faculties of law enjoy a certain standing and status, are closely connected to power and politics, and are likely to feature resistance to equality efforts, both in the law itself and in the curriculum and research agenda. However, a multidimensional, intersectional gender analysis helps to reframe cases and doctrines, rulings and regulations far beyond the law that evidently affects women, which the headscarf controversies illustrate. In addition to gender competence, team diversity is a procedural device for success, and non-discrimination is a key requirement when diversity is meant to work. After all, such efforts - to expose bias and educate about gender in an academic field, to insist and integrate it continuously, and to not only demand but also do it - produce quality. Thus, gender equality is crucial for the achievement of the best possible results in higher education and research.

  2. Engaging in Enhancement: Implications of Participatory Approaches in Higher Education Quality Assurance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Groen, Jovan F.

    2017-01-01

    Stemming from increased levels of participation and diversity of the student base and from growing scrutiny on the quality of university degrees, governments have begun establishing mechanisms to monitor and support quality in higher education. Faced with administrative quality assurance structures, academics often complain that little is…

  3. Higher Education Quality in Kenya: A Critical Reflection of Key Challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odhiambo, George O.

    2011-01-01

    This article examines the unique challenges facing Kenya's public higher education institutions. It explores the struggle to develop quality and quality assurance mechanisms against a background of rapidly diminishing income, brain drain, political interference and the negative aspects of globalisation. The challenges have consequently led to a…

  4. Embedding Quality Culture in Higher Education in Ghana: Quality Control and Assessment in Emerging Private Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ntim, Stephen

    2014-01-01

    High quality provision has been one of the key aims of the current reforms in higher educational institutions across the globe since the beginning of the century and the millennium. Consequently this has led to the increasing demand for quality assurance (QA). This report identifies those institutional processes and structures that support the…

  5. Quality Management in Higher Education: Review and Perspectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papanthymou, Anastasia; Darra, Maria

    2017-01-01

    This paper is a review which presents a summary of 52 studies from 2006 to 2016 in Quality Management (QM) within Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). The aim of this paper is to submit evidence regarding the level of QM in HEIs, particularly in developing countries, and also to enhance the research in the field of QM. The findings reveal that from…

  6. Quality assurance in transnational higher education: a case study of the tropEd network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zwanikken, Prisca A C; Peterhans, Bernadette; Dardis, Lorraine; Scherpbier, Albert

    2013-03-27

    Transnational or cross-border higher education has rapidly expanded since the 1980s. Together with that expansion issues on quality assurance came to the forefront. This article aims to identify key issues regarding quality assurance of transnational higher education and discusses the quality assurance of the tropEd Network for International Health in Higher Education in relation to these key issues. Literature review and review of documents. From the literature the following key issues regarding transnational quality assurance were identified and explored: comparability of quality assurance frameworks, true collaboration versus erosion of national education sovereignty, accreditation agencies and transparency. The tropEd network developed a transnational quality assurance framework for the network. The network accredits modules through a rigorous process which has been accepted by major stakeholders. This process was a participatory learning process and at the same time the process worked positive for the relations between the institutions. The development of the quality assurance framework and the process provides a potential example for others.

  7. Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Reflection, Criticism, and Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yingqiang, Zhang; Yongjian, Su

    2016-01-01

    Quality assurance in modern higher education is both an accountability-oriented ideology and a technological method. It has also evolved into a increasingly rationalist and professionalized power mechanism. Its advocacy of compliance, technological mythology, and imbalance between power and responsibility are inherent disadvantages of higher…

  8. Student Writing Accepted as High-Quality Responses to Analytic Text-Based Writing Tasks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Elaine; Matsumura, Lindsay Clare; Correnti, Richard

    2018-01-01

    Literacy standards increasingly emphasize the importance of analytic text-based writing. Little consensus exists, however, around what high-quality student responses should look like in this genre. In this study, we investigated fifth-grade students' writing in response to analytic text-based writing tasks (15 teachers, 44 writing tasks, 88 pieces…

  9. Automatic Assessment of Pathological Voice Quality Using Higher-Order Statistics in the LPC Residual Domain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    JiYeoun Lee

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available A preprocessing scheme based on linear prediction coefficient (LPC residual is applied to higher-order statistics (HOSs for automatic assessment of an overall pathological voice quality. The normalized skewness and kurtosis are estimated from the LPC residual and show statistically meaningful distributions to characterize the pathological voice quality. 83 voice samples of the sustained vowel /a/ phonation are used in this study and are independently assessed by a speech and language therapist (SALT according to the grade of the severity of dysphonia of GRBAS scale. These are used to train and test classification and regression tree (CART. The best result is obtained using an optima l decision tree implemented by a combination of the normalized skewness and kurtosis, with an accuracy of 92.9%. It is concluded that the method can be used as an assessment tool, providing a valuable aid to the SALT during clinical evaluation of an overall pathological voice quality.

  10. Examining the Text Quality of English/Chinese Bilingual Children's Picture Books

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Qiaoya; Chen, Xiaoning

    2016-01-01

    As a branch of multicultural literature, bilingual children's picture books present a special opportunity for readers to expand their horizons and knowledge of other cultures. The researchers took a closer look at the text quality of 31 English/Chinese bilingual children's picture books. These bilingual books were examined on the aspects of the…

  11. Criteria that ensure the quality of higher education in tourism and sport management study programme

    OpenAIRE

    Mikalauskas, Rimantas; Jasinskas, Edmundas; Švagždienė, Biruta

    2012-01-01

    The quality of higher education is predominantly determined by the work of academic staff and organization of instructional process; the criteria of higher education institution’s infrastructure are of moderate importance. Professional qualities of teaching staff that are related to communication with students during lectures are important for quality assurance; effective communication with others was found to be the most important personal quality of teaching staff. Professional qualities we...

  12. Scenarios of Quality Assurance of Stakeholder Relationships in Finnish Higher Education Institutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyytinen, Anu; Kohtamäki, Vuokko; Kivistö, Jussi; Pekkola, Elias; Hölttä, Seppo

    2017-01-01

    Although the role and significance of the external stakeholders of higher education institutions has grown in recent years, quality assurance of stakeholder relationships remains a new phenomenon in the management practices of higher education institutions and in higher education research. Based on interviews and expert panel data, this article…

  13. Russian Higher Education and European Standards of Quality Assurance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Motova, Galina; Pykko, Ritta

    2012-01-01

    This article considers the relevance and implementation of European approaches to quality assurance in the context of the Russian educational system. It covers the issues of transformation of the higher education system during the post-Soviet period, specific features of the state accreditation system, the impact of the European Standards and…

  14. Rewarding quality teaching in higher education: the evading dream ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Teaching, and specifically quality teaching, has for many centuries been the defining characteristic of the academic profession. However, since the dawning of the 20th century, it seems that the very basis of the global higher education institutional reward system is the belief that working with, contributing to, and pursuing ...

  15. Quality Education and the Marketplace: An Exploration of Neoliberalism and its Impact on Higher Education

    OpenAIRE

    Mandy Frake

    2008-01-01

    This paper is an in attempt to open discussion about the impact of globalization and theories of neoliberalism on higher education. More specifically, viewing higher education institutions as a market place, where the more a product costs, the greater supply and quality of the product should be received; the quality of education received by university students should also reflect this. Considering the conflict between teaching and research in higher education, quality of education beco...

  16. Mediatizing Higher Education Policies: Discourses about Quality Education in the Media

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabalin, Cristian

    2015-01-01

    This article presents a critical-political discourse analysis of the media debate over quality assurance in higher education, which occurred in Chile after the 2011 student movement. Students criticized the privatization of higher education and the multiple flaws of this sector, which included corruption scandals during the process of quality…

  17. Student Organizations and Their Contribution to Quality Assurance and Enhancement in Higher Education Institutions – Case Study: Romania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreea Mirică

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to analyze the involvement of student organizations toward quality assurance and enhancement in higher education institutions in Romania. In order to achieve this purpose, a survey among student organizations from the main university cities in Romania has been conducted between December 2013 and May 2014. In order to analyze the results we used the frequency distribution method. One of the main findings of this paper is that there is a strong desire of a high quality education among student organizations, yet some of them do not become involved in activities contributing to quality assurance and enhancement. This paper can become a valuable tool for policy makers of the Romanian national students federations in order to design the best policies meant to encourage all the organizations participate in the quality assurance and enhancement process.

  18. Yellowjackets use nest-based cues to differentially exploit higher-quality resources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Benjamin J.; Schalk, Dane R.; Jeanne, Robert L.

    2010-12-01

    While foraging, social insects encounter a dynamic array of food resources of varying quality and profitability. Because food acquisition influences colony growth and fitness, natural selection can be expected to favor colonies that allocate their overall foraging effort so as to maximize their intake of high-quality nutrients. Social wasps lack recruitment communication, but previous studies of vespine wasps have shown that olfactory cues influence foraging decisions. Odors associated with food brought into the nest by successful foragers prompt naive foragers to leave the nest and search for the source of those odors. Left unanswered, however, is the question of whether naive foragers take food quality into account in making their decisions about whether or not to search. In this study, two different concentrations of sucrose solutions, scented differently, were inserted directly into each of three Vespula germanica nests. At a feeder away from the nest, arriving foragers were given a choice between two 1.5 M sucrose solutions with the same scents as those in the nest. We show that wasps chose higher-quality resources in the field using information in the form of intranidal food-associated odor cues. By this simple mechanism, the colony can bias the allocation of its foraging effort toward higher-quality resources in the environment.

  19. Student satisfaction as an element of education quality monitoring in innovative higher education institution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Razinkina, Elena; Pankova, Ludmila; Trostinskaya, Irina; Pozdeeva, Elena; Evseeva, Lidiya; Tanova, Anna

    2018-03-01

    Topicality of the research is confirmed by increasing student involvement into the educational process, when not only the academic staff and administration participate in the improvement of higher education institution's activity, but also education customers - students. This adds a new dimension to the issue of monitoring education quality and student satisfaction with higher education. This issue echoes the ideas of M. Weber about the relationship between such components as cognitive motivation, personal development and student satisfaction with higher education. Besides, it is essential to focus on the approach of R. Barnet to defining the quality of education with the emphasis on a priority of development of an educational institution as the system that meets customers' needs. Monitoring student satisfaction with education quality has become an integral part of the educational process not only in a number of European universities, which have used this monitoring for decades, but also in Russian universities, which are interested in education quality improvement. Leading universities in Russia, including Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, are implementing policies targeted at increasing student satisfaction with higher education quality. Education quality monitoring as a key element in the system of providing feedback to students contributes greatly to this process.

  20. Quality Assurance in Higher Education in 20 MENA Economies

    Science.gov (United States)

    El Hassan, K.

    2013-01-01

    The last decades have witnessed an increased concern in higher education over accountability, quality and productivity, and a struggle to meet increasingly complex challenges. This is more so in Middle East and North African (MENA) economies that witnessed a large expansion as a result of a high social demand and massification policies adopted by…

  1. Stakeholder Perception of Service Quality in Qatar Higher Education Institutions: An Application to Qatar University

    OpenAIRE

    Shurair, Amal S.

    2017-01-01

    Managing quality of services offered by institutions of higher education is important in any country due to the inherent aim of producing quality graduates from programs offered in the university. Qatar has made substantial investments in higher education. Qatar University, being the national university of the country, the perception of stakeholders on the service quality in education becomes an important factor for developing a quality education system. Therefore, the main goal of this thesi...

  2. Total Quality Management in Higher Education: Applying Deming's Fourteen Points.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masters, Robert J.; Leiker, Linda

    1992-01-01

    This article presents guidelines to aid administrators of institutions of higher education in applying the 14 principles of Total Quality Management. The principles stress understanding process improvements, handling variation, fostering prediction, and using psychology to capitalize on human resources. (DB)

  3. Reconciling Organisational Culture and External Quality Assurance in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naidoo, Dhaya

    2013-01-01

    Organisational culture and external quality assurance have both been presented as significant drivers of effectiveness, efficiency and excellence in higher education institutions. However, these assumptions have not been critically examined given the philosophical, conceptual and methodological contestations surrounding both constructs. A…

  4. Pedagogy, Accountability, and Perceptions of Quality by Type of Higher Education in Egypt and Jordan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Assaad, Ragui; Badawy, Eslam; Krafft, Caroline

    2016-01-01

    A number of reasons have been proposed for the poor quality of higher education in the Arab world, including the poor incentive structures of public higher education institutions. The expansion of private higher education has been hailed as an important part of enhancing incentives and thus improving education quality. However, it is not clear…

  5. Two-way text messaging: an interactive mobile learning environment in higher education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H.K. Salinda Premadasa

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Short messaging service (SMS is perhaps the most popular mobile technology prevalent among students in higher education due to its ubiquitous nature and the capability of two-way communication. However, a major limitation in two-way text messaging is sending back a part of received data with the reply message. This limitation results in users of a mobile learning environment being unable to reply back to the correct destination. This article presents a two-way text messaging system that can be integrated into a learning management system (LMS to provide an interactive learning experience to the user community. Initially, a database is integrated into the LMS that holds message information such as recipient's phone number, message body and user data header. A specific port associated with the SMS is used to conceal and exchange data of a particular course unit. Subsequently, software in the student's mobile device captures this message and sends back the reply message to the appropriate course unit allowing both teachers and students to view messages sent and replies received pertaining to a particular course. Results indicate the educational impact of the proposed system in improving the learning environment and benefits it offers to the community in a campus-wide implementation.

  6. Psychometric Quality of a Student Evaluation of Teaching Survey in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oon, Pey-Tee; Spencer, Benson; Kam, Chester Chun Seng

    2017-01-01

    Student evaluations of teaching (SET) are used globally by higher education institutions for performance assessment of academic staff and evaluation of course quality. Higher education institutions commonly develop their own SETs to measure variables deemed relevant to them. However, "home-grown" SETs are rarely assessed…

  7. External quality assurance agencies and excellence in higher education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Josep Grifoll

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The article presents briefly the complexity of the concept of “excellence” in higher education. Taking into account this reality, the fundamental question is how agencies can consider this complexity in building up criteria on excellence and the use of the concept “excellence” in their improvement strategies and accountability processes in the sector of higher education. Public-private nature of higher education and its growing internationalisation have significant impact on how excellence in education is described and promoted as a tool.

  8. Higher Dietary Cost Is Associated with Higher Diet Quality: A Cross-Sectional Study among Selected Malaysian Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pondor, Ibnteesam; Gan, Wan Ying; Appannah, Geeta

    2017-09-16

    Food price is a determining factor of food choices; however its relationship with diet quality is unclear in Malaysia. This study aimed to examine socio-economic characteristics and daily dietary cost (DDC) in relation to diet quality in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Dietary intake was assessed using a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) and diet quality was estimated using a Malaysian Healthy Eating Index (M-HEI). DDC in Malaysian Ringgit (RM) was calculated from dietary intake and national food prices. Linear regression models were fitted to determine associations between DDC and M-HEI scores and predictors of diet quality. The mean M-HEI score of respondents was 61.31 ± 10.88 and energy adjusted DDC was RM10.71/2000 kcal (USD 2.49). The highest quintile of adjusted DDC had higher M-HEI scores for all respondents (Q1: 57.14 ± 10.07 versus Q5: 63.26 ± 11.54, p = 0.001). There were also positive associations between DDC and M-HEI scores for fruits ( p diet quality included carbohydrate (β = 0290; p healthy eating among Malaysian adults.

  9. Teacher evaluation system, institutions of technology higher education: quality guidelines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Belkis Parada Romero

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Due to the globalization of education, it has become prevalent to strengthen the quality systems to ensure that educational actors in higher education institutions are the best. In this context teachers are given a main role since they are cornerstones in educational processes. Currently, teacher quality is assessed through an assessment or evaluation system. Almost every university evaluates its teachers, but there is no legal regulation on how to do it, in most institutions there is a professional in charge of designing and applying assessment instruments according to the authors he/she prefers. In most universities, on the one hand, it is used a traditional questionnaire aiming to collect data about dimensions associated with teaching, on the other hand, there is another option in which assessment models include self-evaluation, as in some cases in Chile. That’s why one of the concerns of this research is to propose guidelines for a more qualitative and formative assessment not exclusively following political parameters –based on administrative decisions–, but following emerging proposals with a deeper analysis. Nowadays the main actors in teacher evaluation are teachers, students and administrative staff, every six months these actors are evaluated by using an assessment tool that they usually do not know. The research investigates the perception actors in teacher evaluation have regarding its objectives, methods and stages, so they put forward ideas on how to restructure the current institutional assessment and propose improvements aiming at both the quantitative aspect and the qualitative analysis of performances and skills.

  10. Quality and Equality: The Mask of Discursive Conflation in Education Policy Texts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gillies, Donald

    2008-01-01

    Two key themes of recent UK education policy texts have been a focus on "quality" in public sector performance, and on "equality" in the form of New Labour's stated commitment to equality of opportunity as a key policy objective. This twin approach can be seen at its most obvious in the concept of "excellence for…

  11. Mobile-based text recognition from water quality devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dhakal, Shanti; Rahnemoonfar, Maryam

    2015-03-01

    Measuring water quality of bays, estuaries, and gulfs is a complicated and time-consuming process. YSI Sonde is an instrument used to measure water quality parameters such as pH, temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen. This instrument is taken to water bodies in a boat trip and researchers note down different parameters displayed by the instrument's display monitor. In this project, a mobile application is developed for Android platform that allows a user to take a picture of the YSI Sonde monitor, extract text from the image and store it in a file on the phone. The image captured by the application is first processed to remove perspective distortion. Probabilistic Hough line transform is used to identify lines in the image and the corner of the image is then obtained by determining the intersection of the detected horizontal and vertical lines. The image is warped using the perspective transformation matrix, obtained from the corner points of the source image and the destination image, hence, removing the perspective distortion. Mathematical morphology operation, black-hat is used to correct the shading of the image. The image is binarized using Otsu's binarization technique and is then passed to the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software for character recognition. The extracted information is stored in a file on the phone and can be retrieved later for analysis. The algorithm was tested on 60 different images of YSI Sonde with different perspective features and shading. Experimental results, in comparison to ground-truth results, demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  12. Factors that Impact Quality of E-Teaching/Learning Technologies in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daukilas, Sigitas; Kaciniene, Irma; Vaisnoriene, Daiva; Vascila, Vytautas

    2008-01-01

    The article analyzes and assesses factors that have impact upon the quality of eTeaching/learning technologies in higher education; it is on their basis that the concept of eTeaching/learning quality is denied. Research data about the students' motives in choosing various teaching/learning technologies for the development of their competence are…

  13. Quality assurance policies and practices in Scandinavian higher education systems: convergence or different paths?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kalpazidou Schmidt, Evanthia

    2017-01-01

    Because there is close cooperation on quality assurance in the Scandinavian countries, one would expect there to be convergence of quality assurance policies and practices in Scandinavian higher education. Few studies have analysed these quality assurance policies and practices from a comparative...... quality assurance. The debate is compelling with regard to the Swedish case in particular, with its ‘one size fits all’ approach and exclusive focus on outcomes which has been heavily criticised by the higher education institutions and has turned out to be controversial from the European viewpoint....... viewpoint. Based on empirical evidence produced in connection with studies of recent quality reforms in Scandinavia and an approach based on linking diffusion and translation theories with institutionalist perspectives focusing on path dependency, the paper contributes to the current debate on Scandinavian...

  14. Identifying Predictors of Student Satisfaction and Student Motivation in the Framework of Assuring Quality in the Delivery of Higher Education Services

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yulia Stukalina

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, the quality of educational services provided by a university is a crucial aspect of the education managers’ strategy in the customer-driven education context, quality assurance in education being an essential issue to be promoted in European higher education institutions. Students’ evaluation of the educational services (that is consumer-oriented assessment can be regarded as one of the most significant educational management tools used for stimulating quality enhancement in a university. It is vital for supporting decision-making process. A special emphasis may be put on monitoring student satisfaction with the educational services and student motivation toward studies. Understanding the central factors that are supposed to influence and predict student satisfaction and student motivation may provide education managers with best possible solutions to improve quality of the educational services in a higher education institution. This paper presents the results of an empirical study performed in Riga Technical University. The study was aimed at identifying the basic determinants (predictors of student satisfaction and motivation in the framework of the ESP (English for Specific Purposes course.

  15. Higher Education Quality: Perception Differences among Internal and External Stakeholders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abidin, Munirul

    2015-01-01

    Conceptually, education quality of higher education can be determined by evaluation of their stakeholders's satisfaction level. The purpose of this study is to describe how students as external stakeholder and lecturers as internal stakeholder, perceived their satisfaction of learning experience in the university. This study was conducted in…

  16. Balanced Scorecard: A Strategy for the Quality Improvement of Islamic Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ilyasin, Mukhamd; Zamroni

    2017-01-01

    The main issue in improving the quality of Islamic Higher Education is to increase the competence and professionalism of teachers and education personnel to achieve its vision and mission in the middle of the complexity of the demands of society and the changing times. so that the quality of education and governance of Islamic Religion clean and…

  17. Reading Parallel Texts in the Target Language: A Way to Improve Literary Translation Quality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nazanin Shadman

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect of reading Persian literary texts on the quality of literary translations. To this end, 52 students majoring in English translation were randomly assigned to two groups. A Comprehensive English Language Test (CELT was administered to check the homogeneity of the participants. The treatment for the experimental group consisted of reading 60 Persian short stories and poems. In the meantime, the control group went through their ordinary course curriculum. Both groups were asked to translate extracts of two short stories. The translations were then rated. Through statistical analysis, it was revealed that reading Persian literary works, indeed, improves the quality of literary translations. Therefore, to promote a more fruitful instruction on literary translation, it is suggested that translation teachers attempt to consider reading Persian literary works as part of the curriculum and ask students to read Persian texts to the extent possible, so that more qualified translations would be rendered in the area of literature.

  18. Evaluating and Enhancing Outcomes Assessment Quality in Higher Education Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolf, Kenneth; Goodwin, Laura

    2007-01-01

    Accreditation is a mark of distinction indicating that an institution has met high standards set by the profession, and an increasingly important feature of the accreditation process in higher education is "outcomes assessment." This article presents two rubrics for evaluating the quality of an institution's outcomes assessment system. One rubric…

  19. Quality of higher education and the labor market in developing countries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boccanfuso, Dorothée; Larouche, Alexandre; Trandafir, Mircea

    2015-01-01

    While many studies examine the effect of primary education quality on labor market outcomes in developing countries, little is known about the effects at higher levels. We exploit the quasi-experiment provided by a large-scale education reform launched in Senegal in 2000 to investigate how quality...... improvements at the university level affect employment. Our difference-in-difference estimates suggest that young high-skilled workers experienced a nine percentage-point employment gain relative to older workers. They are also more likely to have “better” jobs (in the service industry or government......), suggesting a reduction in the mismatch between the quality of high-skill labor demanded and supplied....

  20. The Effectiveness of the Higher Education Quality Assessment System: Problems and Countermeasures in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guangli, Zhou

    2016-01-01

    The effectiveness of the higher education quality assessment system is essentially a matter of policy evaluation. On the macro level, such a system refers to external quality assessment, which includes government evaluation, quality certification, and university rankings. Depending on the degree of government intervention, the external quality…

  1. A Risk and Standards Based Approach to Quality Assurance in Australia's Diverse Higher Education Sector

    Science.gov (United States)

    Australian Government Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, 2015

    2015-01-01

    The Australian Government Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency's (TEQSA's) role is to assure that quality standards are being met by all registered higher education providers. This paper explains how TEQSA's risk-based approach to assuring higher education standards is applied in broad terms to a diverse sector. This explanation is…

  2. Possibilities for Using TAM and Technology Frames Models to Assess the Acceptance of New Technologies in the Chilean Higher Education Quality Assurance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luis González-Bravo

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available This essay reviews the importance of assessing the degree of acceptance of new technologies in the Chilean higher education institutions, as an input for managing quality assurance. Technology Acceptance and Technology Frames models are described, emphasizing their benefits in this field. Understanding and facilitating the process of new technologies acceptance in the organizations, by identifying those elements which hinder it, allows improving the implementation of quality assurance mechanisms in order to make the educational process more efficient and effective.

  3. Positive Attitude toward Healthy Eating Predicts Higher Diet Quality at All Cost Levels of Supermarkets☆

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aggarwal, Anju; Monsivais, Pablo; Cook, Andrea J.; Drewnowski, Adam

    2014-01-01

    Shopping at low-cost supermarkets has been associated with higher obesity rates. This study examined whether attitudes toward healthy eating are independently associated with diet quality among shoppers at low-cost, medium-cost, and high-cost supermarkets. Data on socioeconomic status (SES), attitudes toward healthy eating, and supermarket choice were collected using a telephone survey of a representative sample of adult residents of King County, WA. Dietary intake data were based on a food frequency questionnaire. Thirteen supermarket chains were stratified into three categories: low, medium, and high cost, based on a market basket of 100 commonly eaten foods. Diet-quality measures were energy density, mean adequacy ratio, and total servings of fruits and vegetables. The analytical sample consisted of 963 adults. Multivariable regressions with robust standard error examined relations between diet quality, supermarket type, attitudes, and SES. Shopping at higher-cost supermarkets was associated with higher-quality diets. These associations persisted after adjusting for SES, but were eliminated after taking attitudinal measures into account. Supermarket shoppers with positive attitudes toward healthy eating had equally higher-quality diets, even if they shopped at low-, medium-, or high-cost supermarkets, independent of SES and other covariates. These findings imply that shopping at low-cost supermarkets does not prevent consumers from having high-quality diets, as long as they attach importance to good nutrition. Promoting nutrition-education strategies among supermarkets, particularly those catering to low-income groups, can help to improve diet quality. PMID:23916974

  4. The expansion of higher education: A consideration of control, funding and quality

    OpenAIRE

    Bathmaker, A.-M.

    2003-01-01

    Since the Robbins Report of 1963, higher education in the UK has undergone major expansion, changing it from an elite to a mass system. This chapter explores the changing socio-economic context in which this transformation has taken place, and considers how the expansion of higher education has raised issues of control, quality and funding.

  5. Academic goals and learning quality in higher education students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valle, Antonio; Núñez, José C; Cabanach, Ramón G; González-Pienda, Julio A; Rodríguez, Susana; Rosário, Pedro; Muñoz-Cadavid, María A; Cerezo, Rebeca

    2009-05-01

    In this paper, the relations between academic goals and various indicators that define the quality of the learning process are analyzed. The purpose was to determine to what extent high, moderate, or low levels of academic goals were positively or negatively related to effort regulation, the value assigned to academic tasks, meta-cognitive self-regulation, self-efficacy, beliefs about learning control, and management of time and study environment. The investigation was carried out with a sample of 632 university students (70% female and 30% male) and mean age of 21.22 (SD=2.2).The results show that learning goals, or task orientation, are positively related to all the indictors of learning quality considered herein. Although for other kinds of goals-work-avoidance goals, performance-approach goals, and performance-avoidance goals-significant relations were not found with all the indicators, there was a similar tendency of significant results in all cases; the higher the levels of these goals, the lower the levels of the indicators of learning quality.

  6. South African Journal of Higher Education - Vol 16, No 2 (2002)

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    South African Journal of Higher Education - Vol 16, No 2 (2002) ... Rewarding quality teaching in higher education: the evading dream? ... Employers' perceptions of the profile of MBA graduates · EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL TEXT

  7. Academic Staff Quality in Higher Education: An Empirical Analysis of Portuguese Public Administration Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarrico, Cláudia S.; Alves, André A.

    2016-01-01

    Higher education accreditation frameworks typically consider academic staff quality a key element. This article embarks on an empirical study of what academic staff quality means, how it is measured, and how different aspects of staff quality relate to each other. It draws on the relatively nascent Portuguese experience with study programme…

  8. Student Motivations, Quality and Status in Adult Higher Education (AHE) in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Naixia; Morgan, W. John

    2009-01-01

    This article examines an important and yet neglected aspect of the relationship between higher education and the labour market in contemporary China. It does this through a detailed case study of student motivations, quality and status in adult higher education (AHE) in the city of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. This is a region which has seen major…

  9. Influence of Students’ Feedback on the Quality of Adult Higher Distance Education Service Delivery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akpovire ODUARAN

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The evaluation of a program’s compliance with service delivery and features necessary for the attainment of the programs educational objectives, student outcomes and continuous improvement is an important element in program accreditation and continuous improvement process. The study reported in this paper investigated the possible effects of students’ feedback on the improvement of adult higher education distance learning service quality in a South African rural-based university. The study interrogated the service provision factors that seemingly helped in improving the delivery of the program. Such information are vital for planning, good governance, policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation, and for decision-making. The study used a quantitative descriptive statistics analysis of data generated ranging from 2013-2014. It comprised of overall student satisfaction as the dependent variable and the explanatory variables were given by program management, facilitation, assessment, learner support, systems, resources, program outcomes and subject matter. Analytical results were obtained from the Mann Whitney Test. The population consisted of students enrolled in the Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE program by distance mode. The 313 respondents sampled were randomly selected from a total population of 916 students. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The results revealed that service qualities linked to effective management, facilitation, academic support and subject matter delivery were the main qualities that the students recommended for the improvement of the program. It is therefore recommended that adult higher education programs must have a documented systematically utilized and effective process involving program service delivery constituencies like assessment, academic support and resources provided, for the periodic review of the program educational objectives to ensure that the program remains consistent

  10. Eating School Lunch Is Associated with Higher Diet Quality among Elementary School Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Au, Lauren E; Rosen, Nila J; Fenton, Keenan; Hecht, Kenneth; Ritchie, Lorrene D

    2016-11-01

    Few studies have assessed the dietary quality of children who eat meals from home compared with school meals according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The objective of this study was to examine diet quality for elementary school students in relation to source of breakfast and lunch (whether school meal or from an outside source). An observational study was conducted of students in 43 schools in San Diego, CA, during the 2011-2012 school year. Fourth- and fifth-grade students (N=3,944) completed a diary-assisted 24-hour food recall. The Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010) scores of children who ate breakfast and lunch at school were compared with the HEI-2010 scores of children who obtained their meals from home and a combination of both school and home. Analysis of variance, χ 2 test, and generalized estimating equation models adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, grade, language, and school level clustering were performed. School lunch eaters had a higher mean±standard deviation overall diet quality score (HEI-2010=49.0±11.3) compared with students who ate a lunch obtained from home (46.1±12.2; P=0.02). There was no difference in overall diet quality score by breakfast groups. Students who ate school breakfast had higher total fruit (P=0.01) and whole fruit (P=0.0008) scores compared with students who only ate breakfast obtained from home. Students who ate school foods had higher scores for dairy (P=0.007 for breakfast and Pempty calories from solid fats and added sugars (P=0.01 for breakfast and P=0.007 for lunch). Eating school lunch was associated with higher overall diet quality compared with obtaining lunch from home. Future studies are needed that assess the influence of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act on children's diet quality. Copyright © 2016 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. The Need for Context-Sensitive Measures of Educational Quality in Transnational Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pyvis, David

    2011-01-01

    This paper argues that the current approach to educational quality formation in transnational higher education promotes educational imperialism, and that guidelines and practices should be altered to embrace context-sensitive measures of quality. The claims are sustained by findings from a study that investigated how academics understood and…

  12. Positive attitude toward healthy eating predicts higher diet quality at all cost levels of supermarkets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aggarwal, Anju; Monsivais, Pablo; Cook, Andrea J; Drewnowski, Adam

    2014-02-01

    Shopping at low-cost supermarkets has been associated with higher obesity rates. This study examined whether attitudes toward healthy eating are independently associated with diet quality among shoppers at low-cost, medium-cost, and high-cost supermarkets. Data on socioeconomic status (SES), attitudes toward healthy eating, and supermarket choice were collected using a telephone survey of a representative sample of adult residents of King County, WA. Dietary intake data were based on a food frequency questionnaire. Thirteen supermarket chains were stratified into three categories: low, medium, and high cost, based on a market basket of 100 commonly eaten foods. Diet-quality measures were energy density, mean adequacy ratio, and total servings of fruits and vegetables. The analytical sample consisted of 963 adults. Multivariable regressions with robust standard error examined relations between diet quality, supermarket type, attitudes, and SES. Shopping at higher-cost supermarkets was associated with higher-quality diets. These associations persisted after adjusting for SES, but were eliminated after taking attitudinal measures into account. Supermarket shoppers with positive attitudes toward healthy eating had equally higher-quality diets, even if they shopped at low-, medium-, or high-cost supermarkets, independent of SES and other covariates. These findings imply that shopping at low-cost supermarkets does not prevent consumers from having high-quality diets, as long as they attach importance to good nutrition. Promoting nutrition-education strategies among supermarkets, particularly those catering to low-income groups, can help to improve diet quality. Copyright © 2014 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Do public nursing home care providers deliver higher quality than private providers? Evidence from Sweden.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winblad, Ulrika; Blomqvist, Paula; Karlsson, Andreas

    2017-07-14

    Swedish nursing home care has undergone a transformation, where the previous virtual public monopoly on providing such services has been replaced by a system of mixed provision. This has led to a rapidly growing share of private actors, the majority of which are large, for-profit firms. In the wake of this development, concerns have been voiced regarding the implications for care quality. In this article, we investigate the relationship between ownership and care quality in nursing homes for the elderly by comparing quality levels between public, for-profit, and non-profit nursing home care providers. We also look at a special category of for-profit providers; private equity companies. The source of data is a national survey conducted by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare in 2011 at 2710 nursing homes. Data from 14 quality indicators are analyzed, including structure and process measures such as staff levels, staff competence, resident participation, and screening for pressure ulcers, nutrition status, and risk of falling. The main statistical method employed is multiple OLS regression analysis. We differentiate in the analysis between structural and processual quality measures. The results indicate that public nursing homes have higher quality than privately operated homes with regard to two structural quality measures: staffing levels and individual accommodation. Privately operated nursing homes, on the other hand, tend to score higher on process-based quality indicators such as medication review and screening for falls and malnutrition. No significant differences were found between different ownership categories of privately operated nursing homes. Ownership does appear to be related to quality outcomes in Swedish nursing home care, but the results are mixed and inconclusive. That staffing levels, which has been regarded as a key quality indicator in previous research, are higher in publicly operated homes than private is consistent with earlier

  14. Assessing Quality and Evaluating Performance in Higher Education: Worlds Apart or Complementary Views?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarrico, Claudia S.; Rosa, Maria J.; Teixeira, Pedro N.; Cardoso, Margarida F.

    2010-01-01

    This paper reflects on quality assessment and performance evaluation in higher education, namely by analysing the insufficient link between those two aspects. We start by reviewing the current state of the art regarding different processes and mechanisms of quality assessment and performance evaluation and discuss some of the major issues…

  15. Quality Differences of Higher Education and Its Determinants in a Less-Developed Country

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarmiento Espinel, Jaime Andrés; Silva Arias, Adriana Carolina; Van Gameren, Edwin

    2015-01-01

    Two key measures to determine the quality of higher education are the performance of students and the accreditation of a programme's quality. We analyse the difference in the distributions of the student's scores in a standardised test of economics knowledge between accredited and non-accredited undergraduate economics programmes in a…

  16. Does higher quality early child care promote low-income children's math and reading achievement in middle childhood?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dearing, Eric; McCartney, Kathleen; Taylor, Beck A

    2009-01-01

    Higher quality child care during infancy and early childhood (6-54 months of age) was examined as a moderator of associations between family economic status and children's (N = 1,364) math and reading achievement in middle childhood (4.5-11 years of age). Low income was less strongly predictive of underachievement for children who had been in higher quality care than for those who had not. Consistent with a cognitive advantage hypothesis, higher quality care appeared to promote achievement indirectly via early school readiness skills. Family characteristics associated with selection into child care also appeared to promote the achievement of low-income children, but the moderating effect of higher quality care per se remained evident when controlling for selection using covariates and propensity scores.

  17. The Operation Mechanisms of External Quality Assurance Frameworks of Foreign Higher Education and Implications for Graduate Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Mengquan; Chang, Kai; Gong, Le

    2016-01-01

    The higher education quality evaluation and assurance frameworks and their operating mechanisms of countries such as the United Kingdom, France, and the United States show that higher education systems, traditional culture, and social background all impact quality assurance operating mechanisms. A model analysis of these higher education quality…

  18. Reinterpreting Higher Education Quality in Response to Policies of Mass Education: The Australian Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pitman, Tim

    2014-01-01

    This article explores the relationship between mass education, higher education quality and policy development in Australia in the period 2008-2014, during which access to higher education was significantly increased. Over this time, which included a change of national government, the discursive relationship between mass higher education and…

  19. Online self-assessment as a quality assurance tool in higher professional education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Prof. Rene Butter

    2014-01-01

    Theme: Quality Assurance in Higher Education An online tool was developed for (potential) students to assess the congruence between the characteristics of an educational program and student preferences (Butter & Van Raalten, 2010)

  20. Trance, Transparency and Transformation: The Impact of External Quality Monitoring on Higher Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stensaker, Bjorn

    2003-01-01

    Discusses the impact of external quality monitoring (EQM) on higher education and identifies areas in which changes have taken place as a result of such external initiatives. Suggests that the lack of effects related directly to quality improvement should not be conceived as an EQM design error, but rather as a misconception of how organizational…

  1. The Contribution of Professional Accreditation to Quality Assurance in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Paor, Cathal

    2016-01-01

    This article examines the extent to which the professional accreditation of professional higher education programmes can complement other quality assurance endeavours being carried out. An analysis of a sample of professional accreditation reports for pharmacy education programmes in Ireland provides insight into the priorities of the regulatory…

  2. APPRAISAL OF STUDENT RATING AS A MEASURE TO MANAGE THE QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA: AN INSTITUTIONAL STUDY USING SIX SIGMA MODEL APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arun Vijay

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Students' rating of teaching is one of the most widely accepted methods of measuring the quality in Higher Education worldwide. The overall experience gained by the students during their academic journey in their respective college is a key factor to determine the Institutional Quality. This study was conducted among the Physical Therapy students with an objective to capture the overall experience related to various aspects of their Academic environment including teaching and learning process adopted in their college. To facilitate that, a unique questionnaire called,"Academic Environment Evaluation Questionnaire (AEEQ was developed covering all the important teaching elements of the Higher Education Institutions. The students' opinion was captured and analyzed through six sigma analytical tool using Poisson distribution model. From the non-conformance level captured through the responses from the students about the various categories of teaching and learning elements, the corresponding Sigma rating for each teaching element was measured. Accordingly, a six point Quality rating system was developed customizing to each sigma values. This study brings a new, innovative student driven Quality rating system for the Higher Education Institutions in India.

  3. Specific Remedy for Specific Problem: Measuring Service Quality in South African Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Jager, Johan; Gbadamosi, Gbolahan

    2010-01-01

    This study commences a process of developing a scale for the measurement of service quality in higher education in South Africa and also examines the relationship between the measures of service quality on the one hand and some other related variables such as intention to leave the university, trust in management of the university and the overall…

  4. Balanced Scorecard in Higher Education Institutions: Congruence and Roles to Quality Assurance Practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reda, Nigusse W.

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to highlight the congruence and roles of the balanced scorecard in the quality assurance practices in higher education institutions, and second, to propose a balanced scorecard model for higher education institutions. Design/methodology/approach: A descriptive literature review was used to…

  5. Higher prices, higher quality? Evidence from German nursing homes

    OpenAIRE

    Herr, Annika; Hottenrott, Hanna

    2016-01-01

    Objectives: This study investigates the relationship between prices and quality of 7,400 German nursing homes controlling for income, nursing home density, demographics, labour market characteristics, and infrastructure at the regional level. Method: We use a cross section of public quality reports for all German nursing homes, which had been evaluated between 2010 and 2013 by external institutions. Our analysis is based on multivariate regressions in a two stage least squares framework, wher...

  6. The Student as Customer: The Discourse of "Quality" in Higher Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldwin, Gabrielle

    1994-01-01

    It is argued that bringing the cultures of business, industry and advertising into higher education, in the form of quality assurance systems, goes beyond a healthy challenge to be destructive of many traditional values of university culture. Imposition, and acceptance, of the language of management reflects this phenomenon. (MSE)

  7. Do Men Produce Higher Quality Ejaculates When Primed With Thoughts of Partner Infidelity?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pham, Michael N; Barbaro, Nicole; Holub, Andrew M; Holden, Christopher J; Mogilski, Justin K; Lopes, Guilherme S; Nicolas, Sylis C A; Sela, Yael; Shackelford, Todd K; Zeigler-Hill, Virgil; Welling, Lisa L M

    2018-01-01

    Sperm competition theory can be used to generate the hypothesis that men alter the quality of their ejaculates as a function of sperm competition risk. Using a repeated measures experimental design, we investigated whether men produce a higher quality ejaculate when primed with cues to sperm competition (i.e., imagined partner infidelity) relative to a control prime. Men ( n = 45) submitted two masturbatory ejaculates-one ejaculate sample for each condition (i.e., sperm competition and control conditions). Ejaculates were assessed on 17 clinical parameters. The results did not support the hypothesis: Men did not produce higher quality ejaculates in the sperm competition condition relative to the control condition. Despite the null results of the current research, there is evidence for psychological and physiological adaptations to sperm competition in humans. We discuss methodological limitations that may have produced the null results and present methodological suggestions for research on human sperm competition.

  8. A Proposed Framework for Applying the National Standards of Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Sudan from the Teaching Staff’s Perspective - Faculties of Business Administration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alfatih Alamin Elfaki

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to clarify the importance of having national standards and their role in achieving quality, as well as establishing a framework for the actual application of national standards in quality assurance so as to achieve quality in higher education institutions. The researchers  followed a descriptive analytical method to achieve the objectives of the study and developed a questionnaire covering primary and secondary variables that have a role in the design of specific models to help in applying the national standards by the Sudanese universities. The questionnaire included one dependent variable; the effective application of national standards of quality assurance in higher education institutions, and the four main variables (independent are: the national standards of quality assurance in higher education in Sudan, the standard of quality assurance, the standard of teaching and learning and the standard of scientific research and publication. The study revealed a number of conclusions: there were statistically significant differences in the extent of familiarity with the  national quality assurance standards in Sudan according to the academic rank of the  faculty members; there were also significant differences in the extent of compliance with the  national quality assurance standards in Sudan according to the academic rank of the faculty members; there was full agreement between the national standards for quality assurance in Sudan and the international standards for quality assurance; and  there were statistically significant differences in that the absence of specific models would have a negative impact on effective application of national standards of quality assurance in higher education in Sudan, according to the academic rank of the faculty members. Keywords: Quality, The program, Standards, University, Total quality management.

  9. Supplementary effects of higher levels of various disaccharides on processing yield, quality properties and sensory attributes of Chinese - style pork jerky

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chih-Ming Chen

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective This study evaluated the supplementary effect of higher concentrations of various disaccharides on processing yield, major physicochemical properties, and sensory attributes of Chinese-style pork jerky (CSPJ. Methods CSPJ samples were prepared by marinating sliced ham (4 mm with three dissaccharides, including sucrose, lactose, and maltose, at 0%, 15%, 18%, 21%, and 24%. Subsequently, the CSPJ samples were dried and roasted. The moisture content, water activity, crude protein, moisture-to-protein ratio, pH, processing yield, shear force, color, and sensory attributes of the CSPJ samples were evaluated. Results The quality characteristics of CSPJ samples prepared with sucrose were more acceptable. By contrast, CSPJ samples prepared with lactose showed the lowest scores. However, the processing yield and moisture content were the highest for CSPJ samples prepared with lactose, which may be associated with improved benefits for cost reduction. Furthermore, sucrose and lactose supplementation resulted in contrasting quality characteristics; for example, CSPJ samples with sucrose and maltose supplementation had higher sensory scores for color than samples with lactose supplementation. Additionally, most quality characteristics of CSPJ samples with sucrose supplementation contrasted with those of the samples with lactose supplementation; for example, the samples with sucrose supplementation had higher scores for sensory attributes than those with lactose supplementation. Conclusion Sucrose supplementation up to 21% to 24% was associated with the highest overall acceptability scores (5.19 to 5.80, enhanced quality characteristics, increased processing yield, and reduced production cost.

  10. Quality Assurance and the Shift Towards Private Governance in Higher Education

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hartmann, Eva

    2017-01-01

    This contribution focuses on quality assurance (QA) agencies in the sphere of higher education. It develops a theoretical framework that interrelates systems theory with Gramsci's theory of hegemony with a view to situating this new control of universities in the broader context of a further...... differentiation of society and emerging heterarchical modes of governance. A closer study of the emerging European market of QA agencies highlights the European dimension of this differentiation and the role of the market in advancing a variable geometry in the context of the European Higher Education Area....

  11. APPROACHES TO DEFINING THE ROLE OF INFORMATIZATION IN THE SYSTEM OF QUALITY INDICATORS HIGHER EDUCATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    В Ю Григорьев

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The article highlights the main objectives of Informatization of higher education institutions, including the requirements of normative documents stipulating the creation of an electronic University environment, including an electronic library, an information database and organisation of students to access the necessary learning electronic resources. Analyzed regulatory documents, to make demands for distance and online education, as well as the form of its implementation; the documents governing the form of assessment of students using remote methods and requirements for organizations conducting such assessments. On the basis of the analysis the selected indicators of Informatization, which can be further used in the evaluation of the effectiveness of it development and its impact on the quality of education in universities.

  12. Total Quality Management in Higher Education: Clearing the Hurdles. A Survey on Strategies for Implementing Quality Management Practices in Higher Education. A GOAL/QPC Application Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seymour, Daniel

    Based on a survey of Quality Management (QM) practitioners at 21 colleges, this study presents the 10 most difficult implementation hurdles to QM in higher education and a set of hurdle-clearing strategies. The hurdles are: (1) lack of time to implement QM; (2) perception that QM is something for janitorial and housing staffs but not applicable to…

  13. Quality Assurance Strategies of Higher Education in Iraq and Kurdistan: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaghed, Nabeel; Dezaye, Ahmed

    2009-01-01

    This paper reports on two different strategies that have been implemented in Iraq to improve quality assurance in the higher education sector in Iraq. One strategy has been developed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Baghdad. It involved conducting a pilot study at the University of Babylon. This pilot included…

  14. Specific psychological variables predict quality of diet in women of lower, but not higher, educational attainment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawrence, Wendy; Schlotz, Wolff; Crozier, Sarah; Skinner, Timothy C; Haslam, Cheryl; Robinson, Sian; Inskip, Hazel; Cooper, Cyrus; Barker, Mary

    2011-02-01

    Our previous work found that perceived control over life was a significant predictor of the quality of diet of women of lower educational attainment. In this paper, we explore the influence on quality of diet of a range of psychological and social factors identified during focus group discussions, and specify the way this differs in women of lower and higher educational attainment. We assessed educational attainment, quality of diet, and psycho-social factors in 378 women attending Sure Start Children's Centres and baby clinics in Southampton, UK. Multiple-group path analysis showed that in women of lower educational attainment, the effect of general self-efficacy on quality of diet was mediated through perceptions of control and through food involvement, but that there were also direct effects of social support for healthy eating and having positive outcome expectancies. There was no effect of self-efficacy, perceived control or outcome expectancies on the quality of diet of women of higher educational attainment, though having more social support and food involvement were associated with improved quality of diet in these women. Our analysis confirms our hypothesis that control-related factors are more important in determining dietary quality in women of lower educational attainment than in women of higher educational attainment. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Influence of graphic design of the text on reading quality of pupils with dyslexia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zikl Pavel

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The contribution contains research results focused on reading quality of pupils with dyslexia according to the graphic design of the text. Our aim was to prove if commonly recommended graphic text editing has a certain influence on reading speed and occurrence of mistakes of children with dyslexia. The research sample consisted of pupils with dyslexia and a control group then selected in pairs of intact pupils of 4th and 5th class of primary school (in total 150 pupils. For the purpose of data collection there had been a text used in an unfamiliar language (a nonsensical text, which corresponds to the Czech language in its structure; is a part of standardized reading test. There were four text versions prepared for the research which had been modified into frequently recommended modifications for dyslexics (increased font size, a use of bigger gaps between words and also rows, syllables highlight in words and a standard text corresponding to common reading-books. Conclusion depicts a presentation of impacts of individual texts modifications and also subjective opinions of pupils about these texts.

  16. Building Collegiate E-Loyalty: The Role of Perceived Value in the Quality-Loyalty Linkage in Online Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kilburn, Brandon; Kilburn, Ashley; Davis, Dexter

    2016-01-01

    E-service quality of online higher education reflects the student's perception of quality of online exchanges across four dimensions: fulfillment, efficiency, system availability and privacy. This study links e-service quality to intentions to remain loyal as mediated by perceived value in an online higher education environment. AMOS is used to…

  17. Governance of Higher Education--The Role of Proximity in Teaching Quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macheridis, Nikos; Paulsson, Alexander

    2016-01-01

    The starting point of this article is the relation between teaching quality and expectations by different governance actors in higher education. Managing a department in a public university is, to a large extent, about the coordination of governance actors, involving government authorities as well as the university and the faculty. Internally, the…

  18. Defining the Quality of Higher Education around Ethics and Moral Values

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prisacariu, Anca; Shah, Mahsood

    2016-01-01

    The context of higher education across the world currently presents evidence of university failures. These failures are evident in areas such as governance, financial and risk management, conduct of senior leaders and quality assurance issues surrounding international education. Having this in mind, the present paper argues the need to add a new…

  19. Benchmarks and Quality Assurance for Online Course Development in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Hong

    2008-01-01

    As online education has entered the main stream of the U.S. higher education, quality assurance in online course development has become a critical topic in distance education. This short article summarizes the major benchmarks related to online course development, listing and comparing the benchmarks of the National Education Association (NEA),…

  20. Assessing the Students' Evaluations of Educational Quality (SEEQ) Questionnaire in Greek Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grammatikopoulos, Vasilis; Linardakis, M.; Gregoriadis, A.; Oikonomidis, V.

    2015-01-01

    The aim of the current study was to provide a valid and reliable instrument for the evaluation of the teaching effectiveness in the Greek higher education system. Other objectives of the study were (a) the examination of the dimensionality and the higher-order structure of the Greek version of Students' Evaluation of Educational Quality (SEEQ)…

  1. The Work-Related Quality of Life Scale for Higher Education Employees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Julian A.; Van Laar, Darren; Easton, Simon; Kinman, Gail

    2009-01-01

    Previous research suggests that higher education employees experience comparatively high levels of job stress. A range of instruments, both generic and job-specific, has been used to measure stressors and strains in this occupational context. The Work-related Quality of Life (WRQoL) scale is a measure designed to capture perceptions of the working…

  2. Fast words boundaries localization in text fields for low quality document images

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ilin, Dmitry; Novikov, Dmitriy; Polevoy, Dmitry; Nikolaev, Dmitry

    2018-04-01

    The paper examines the problem of word boundaries precise localization in document text zones. Document processing on a mobile device consists of document localization, perspective correction, localization of individual fields, finding words in separate zones, segmentation and recognition. While capturing an image with a mobile digital camera under uncontrolled capturing conditions, digital noise, perspective distortions or glares may occur. Further document processing gets complicated because of its specifics: layout elements, complex background, static text, document security elements, variety of text fonts. However, the problem of word boundaries localization has to be solved at runtime on mobile CPU with limited computing capabilities under specified restrictions. At the moment, there are several groups of methods optimized for different conditions. Methods for the scanned printed text are quick but limited only for images of high quality. Methods for text in the wild have an excessively high computational complexity, thus, are hardly suitable for running on mobile devices as part of the mobile document recognition system. The method presented in this paper solves a more specialized problem than the task of finding text on natural images. It uses local features, a sliding window and a lightweight neural network in order to achieve an optimal algorithm speed-precision ratio. The duration of the algorithm is 12 ms per field running on an ARM processor of a mobile device. The error rate for boundaries localization on a test sample of 8000 fields is 0.3

  3. Student Perceptions of Service Quality in a Multi-Campus Higher Education System in Spain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallifa, Josep; Batalle, Pere

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to present an in-depth case study with student perceptions of service quality, discussing the relevance of these perceptions for the important issue of quality improvement in higher education. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents institutional research carried out in a multi-campus system in Spain made up of…

  4. Acceptability of the Conceptions of Higher Education Quality to First Year Students of the Study Field of Pedagogy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Žibeniene, Gintaute; Savickiene, Izabela

    2014-01-01

    The article presents which conceptions of higher education quality are most acceptable to first-year students of the study field of pedagogy. It is significant to analyse students' opinions as more than 10 years ago the EU member states agreed that higher education institutions bear responsibility for the quality of higher education. Being members…

  5. Quality Circles in Higher Education: Quality, Satisfaction, and Climate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kay, Carol; Healy, Margaret

    The effect of quality circles at Iowa State University on absenteeism, performance evaluation, perceptions of the organization climate, job satisfaction, and perceived opportunities for professional and personal growth was measured in this study. The process of quality circles is designed to promote job fulfillment and organizational productivity…

  6. Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Which Pasts to Build On, What Futures to Contemplate?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Mala

    2010-01-01

    The paper is a reflection on the pasts and futures of quality assurance in higher education. It poses questions about the correlation between the geographical and political spread of quality assurance on the one hand and the resulting educational benefits on the other; about the divergences between critics and practitioners on the likely impacts…

  7. "How to Strike the Right Balance between Quality Assurance and Quality Control in the Perceptions of Individual Lecturers": A Comparison of UK and Dutch Higher Education Institutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teelken, Christine; Lomas, Laurie

    2009-01-01

    This paper focuses on the way lecturers observe, feel restrained by and cope with quality management systems that have been implemented in the higher education systems of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. As two sides of the same coin, quality enhancement and quality control are of increased significance in European Higher Education…

  8. Specific psychological variables predict quality of diet in women of lower, but not higher, educational attainment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lawrence, Wendy; Schlotz, Wolff; Crozier, Sarah

    2011-01-01

    Our previous work found that perceived control over life was a significant predictor of the quality of diet of women of lower educational attainment. In this paper, we explore the influence on quality of diet of a range of psychological and social factors identified during focus group discussions......, and specify the way this differs in women of lower and higher educational attainment. We assessed educational attainment, quality of diet, and psycho-social factors in 378 women attending Sure Start Children's Centres and baby clinics in Southampton, UK. Multiple-group path analysis showed that in women...... of self-efficacy, perceived control or outcome expectancies on the quality of diet of women of higher educational attainment, though having more social support and food involvement were associated with improved quality of diet in these women. Our analysis confirms our hypothesis that control...

  9. Investment Management in Higher Education Institutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jelena Stankevičienė

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Recently, the higher education sector faces a series of changes, such as increased competition, globalization, limited funding. Limited funding does not reveal the full potential of the higher education, too little funding restricts research performance, diminishes the quality of higher education, worsen the conditions for learning and this has important implications for sustainable value creation. The article explores relationship between education, sustainability and financial indicators in order to evaluate the situation and advancement in the European countries, applied multi-criteria evaluation method MULTIMOORA. This method aims to prove that the more encourage investment in higher education and research, the more sustainable the state is and creates sustainable value. The results revealed that the more financially stronger and stable country is, the better position by assessing both the scientific and the sustainability indicators. Financially stable country can give higher investment in education, to promote the conduct of research, create conditions for the formation of high-quality R&D, to prepare highly qualified specialists.

  10. Measuring Teaching Quality in Higher Education: Assessing Selection Bias in Course Evaluations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goos, Maarten; Salomons, Anna

    2017-01-01

    Student evaluations of teaching (SETs) are widely used to measure teaching quality in higher education and compare it across different courses, teachers, departments and institutions. Indeed, SETs are of increasing importance for teacher promotion decisions, student course selection, as well as for auditing practices demonstrating institutional…

  11. The Status of Quality Assurance and Accreditation Systems within Higher Education Institutions in the Republic of Yemen

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anaam, Mahyoub Ali; Alhammadi, Abdullah Othman; Kwairan, Abdulwahab Awadh

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the status of quality assurance and accreditation systems within higher education institutions in Yemen. The paper initially describes the stages of development and changes that have occurred in the field of quality and accreditation in Yemeni higher education. The paper shows that no formal…

  12. External Quality Assurance in Higher Education: How Can It Address Corruption and Other Malpractices?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Michaela

    2016-01-01

    Corruption and malpractices in higher education are today a major concern in nearly all higher education systems worldwide. It is a multifaceted phenomenon and has become particularly visible in the academic domain. This paper represents an exploration of the possible role that quality assurance can play in addressing corruption and malpractices.…

  13. Policy training teachers of higher education and training quality: a study on the pedagogy university program as qualifying the possibility of teachers in educational-teaching perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isabel Cristina de Almeida Mantovani

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The reflections presented in this article are by theme pedagogical-didactic training policies for higher education teachers and quality of education and result of a research developed a Community University interior of Rio Grande do Sul, involving teachers, graduates who sought to answer : "You can establish relationships between the absence of pedagogical-didactic training of teachers and defining policies of training and the quality of teaching in higher education" To answer the research question, we sought to investigate whether the university pedagogy program, service developed can be considered as a space, which meets the lack of didactic-educational training, and is a positive factor as regards the possibility to supply the deficiency in this field.

  14. Quality Assurance and Its Impact from Higher Education Institutions' Perspectives: Methodological Approaches, Experiences and Expectations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bejan, Stelian Andrei; Janatuinen, Tero; Jurvelin, Jouni; Klöpping, Susanne; Malinen, Heikki; Minke, Bernhard; Vacareanu, Radu

    2015-01-01

    This paper reports on methodological approaches, experiences and expectations referring to impact analysis of quality assurance from the perspective of three higher education institutions (students, teaching staff, quality managers) from Germany, Finland and Romania. The presentations of the three sample institutions focus on discussing the core…

  15. Measuring Service Quality in Higher Education: Development of a Hierarchical Model (HESQUAL)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teeroovengadum, Viraiyan; Kamalanabhan, T. J.; Seebaluck, Ashley Keshwar

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to develop and empirically test a hierarchical model for measuring service quality in higher education. Design/methodology/approach: The first phase of the study consisted of qualitative research methods and a comprehensive literature review, which allowed the development of a conceptual model comprising 53 service quality…

  16. The Incorporation of Quality Attributes into Online Course Design in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lenert, Kathleen Anne; Diane P. Janes

    2017-01-01

    A survey was designed incorporating questions on 28 attributes (compiled through a literature review) and considered to be quality features in online academic courses in higher education. This study sought to investigate the ongoing practice of instructional designers and instructors in the United States with respect to their incorporation of…

  17. Relationship Quality in Higher Education Marketing: The Role of Social Media Engagement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Melissa; Fine, Monica B.; Scheuer, Cara-Lynn

    2017-01-01

    The landscape in consumer marketing is changing due to the rise in popularity of social media. This shift has also affected how higher education institutions build relationships with their stakeholders. This study explores how social media engagement impacts relationship quality between the university and one of its key stakeholder groups,…

  18. Quality Administration and Management in Higher Education in Nigeria: Implications for Human Resource Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akinyemi, Gbenga M.; Abiddin, Norhasni Zainal

    2013-01-01

    The dynamic changes in today's world have made countries of the world masters of their own destinies. In this light, it has become noted today that "the affluence or penury of nations depends largely on the quality of higher education". This is informed by the fact that higher education systems of a nation is the "machinery of…

  19. The UNIQUe Label: Supporting a Culture of Innovation and Quality in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boonen, Annemie; Bijnens, Helena

    European higher education institutions will need significant reforms, in order to guarantee their leading role in a globalized knowledge economy. These reforms can be enhanced by improving the way in which traditional universities integrate new technologies both in their educational activities and throughout their strategic and operational processes. The UNIQUe institutional accreditation scheme, analyzed and described in this chapter, intends to support this process of integrating the use of new technologies in higher education. With its specific open approach to quality in e-Learning, UNIQUe emphasizes innovation and creativity in a process that includes self-assessment and constructive dialog with peers and stakeholders involved. UNIQUe intends to use the institutional quality label as a catalyst for continuous improvement and change while setting up collaborative bench learning processes among universities for the adoption and integration of e-Learning.

  20. Quality Procedures in the European Higher Education Area and Beyond--Visions for the Future: Third ENQA Survey. ENQA Occasional Papers 18

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grifoll, Josep; Hopbach, Achim; Kekalainen, Helka; Lugano, Nathalie; Rozsnyai, Christina; Shopov, Todor

    2012-01-01

    Higher education reforms over the last decade, resulting in the establishment of the European Higher Education Area, with new social demands and expectations, have greatly impacted quality assurance in higher education. As a follow-up activity to two previous surveys on external quality procedures, the European Association for Quality Assurance in…

  1. Evaluating Higher Education Institutions through Agency and Resources-Capabilities Theories. A Model for Measuring the Perceived Quality of Service

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Guadalupe Vargas-hernández

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to explain through the agency theory and theory of resources and capacities as is the process of assessment in higher education institutions. The actors that are involved in the decision-making and the use that is giving the resources derived from repeatedly to practices that opportunistic diminishing the value that is given to the evaluation, in addition to the decrease in team work. A model is presented to measure the perception of service quality by students of the Technological Institute of Celaya, as part of the system of quality control, based on the theoretical support of several authors who have developed this topic (SERVQUAL and SERPERF an instrument adapted to the student area of the institution called SERQUALITC is generated. The paper presents the areas or departments to assess and the convenient size, the number of items used by size and Likert scale, the validation study instrument is mentioned. Finally, it is presented the model that poses a global vision of quality measurement process including corrective action services that enable continuous improvement.

  2. Evaluating Higher Education Institutions through Agency and Resources-Capabilities Theories. A Model for Measuring the Perceived Quality of Service

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José G. Vargas-Hernández

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to explain through the agency theory and theory of resources and capacities as is the process of assessment in higher education institutions. The actors that are involved in the decision-making and the use that is giving the resources derived from repeatedly to practices that opportunistic diminishing the value that is given to the evaluation, in addition to the decrease in team work. A model is presented to measure the perception of service quality by students of the Technological Institute of Celaya, as part of the system of quality control, based on the theoretical support of several authors who have developed this topic (SERVQUAL and SERPERF an instrument adapted to the student area of the institution called SERQUALITC is generated. The paper presents the areas or departments to assess and the convenient size, the number of items used by size and Likert scale, the validation study instrument is mentioned. Finally, it is presented the model that poses a global vision of quality measurement process including corrective action services that enable continuous improvement.

  3. Measuring complexity with multifractals in texts. Translation effects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ausloos, M.

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Two texts in English and one in Esperanto are transformed into 6 time series. ► D(q) and f(alpha) of such (and shuffled) time series are obtained. ► A model for text construction is presented based on a parametrized Cantor set. ► The model parameters can also be used when examining machine translated texts. ► Suggested extensions to higher dimensions: in 2D image analysis and on hypertexts. - Abstract: Should quality be almost a synonymous of complexity? To measure quality appears to be audacious, even very subjective. It is hereby proposed to use a multifractal approach in order to quantify quality, thus through complexity measures. A one-dimensional system is examined. It is known that (all) written texts can be one-dimensional nonlinear maps. Thus, several written texts by the same author are considered, together with their translation, into an unusual language, Esperanto, and asa baseline their corresponding shuffled versions. Different one-dimensional time series can be used: e.g. (i) one based on word lengths, (ii) the other based on word frequencies; both are used for studying, comparing and discussing the map structure. It is shown that a variety in style can be measured through the D(q) and f(α) curves characterizing multifractal objects. This allows to observe on the one hand whether natural and artificial languages significantly influence the writing and the translation, and whether one author’s texts differ technically from each other. In fact, the f(α) curves of the original texts are similar to each other, but the translated text shows marked differences. However in each case, the f(α) curves are far from being parabolic, – in contrast to the shuffled texts. Moreover, the Esperanto text has more extreme values. Criteria are thereby suggested for estimating a text quality, as if it is a time series only. A model is introduced in order to substantiate the findings: it consists in considering a text as a random Cantor set

  4. A MODEL OF MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR A QUALITY LEARNING IN ISLAMIC HIGHER EDUCATION (IHE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ara Hidayat

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The quality of Islamic education is generally influenced by several factors, among other things: leadership, organizational culture, lecturercompetence versus faculty student ratio, dynamic curriculum, library collections and learning facilities. The factors above are most likely to influence and impact the quality of education process in general. Developing a model of management strategy for quality learning is a minimal effort to improve quality graduates of a university. The model was developed on the basis of the following theories: (1 transformative leadership (Tichy and Devana (1997, (2 strategy of learning organization, (Peter (2002, and (3 a quality-based management (Griffin, 2004. Furthermore, the model shares the following characteristics: (1 a quality learning emerges from an effective and efficient management of academic service; (2 developing management of a quality learning is continuous lecture development; (3 lecture plays an important role in developing a quality learning; (4 a quality learning stipulates that a leader be loyal and committed to their job, wise and have a sense of democracy.

  5. Critical hermeneutics and higher education: a perspective on texts ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper is a discussion of critical hermeneutics as a research methodology employed in a conceptual analytic study of the concept 'institutional culture' within the context of higher education. The research was undertaken to develop an understanding of the concept and to explore its construction in university policy ...

  6. Zen and the Art of Higher Education Maintenance: Bridging Classic and Romantic Notions of Quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shields, Patricia M.

    Uses Robert Pirsig's ideas in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" to explore two ways of viewing quality in higher education: the romantic and the classic. Analyzes historical and contemporary literature on quality using insights of Alfred Whitehead, Pirsig, and John Dewey, urging a vision that is honest and that incorporates…

  7. Total Quality Management in Higher Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sherr, Lawrence A.; Lozier, G. Gredgory

    1991-01-01

    Total Quality Management, based on theories of W. Edward Deming and others, is a style of management using continuous process improvement characterized by mission and customer focus, a systematic approach to operations, vigorous development of human resources, long-term thinking, and a commitment to ensuring quality. The values espoused by this…

  8. The Impacts of Bologna Process on European Higher Education Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zafer ÇELİK

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to examine the impact of Bologna Process on European higher education systems. It focuses on the influences of the main components of Bologna Process (i.e., implementing two-cycle system, increasing the student and academic staffs' mobility, European Credit Transfer System, quality assurance and qualification framework on the transformation of higher education systems. Although Bologna Process is perceived as a move to increase the quality of higher education system in Turkey, there are very serious criticisms from academics, students, and businessmen to the Bologna Process in various European countries. This study claims that the Process did not achieve its goals, more importantly the main instruments of the Process (qualifications, quality assurance agency etc. brought about hyper-bureaucratization, hierarchization and standardization of European higher education systems.

  9. Between Efficiency and Transformation: The Opinion of Deans on the Meaning of Quality in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olaskoaga-Larrauri, Jon; Barrenetxea-Ayesta, Miren; Cardona-Rodríguez, Antonio; Mijangos-Del Campo, Juan José; Barandiaran-Galdós, Marta

    2016-01-01

    The literature on quality management at higher education institutions has for some time been working on the basis of two issues: a) the diversity of ideas as to what "quality" means, which makes it harder to apply the principles of quality management in this context; and b) the idea that this diversity is in some way a response to the…

  10. Playing language games: higher education quality dynamics in Dutch national policies since 1985

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Weenink, Kasja; Aarts, Noelle; Jacobs, Sandra

    2017-01-01

    Higher education quality is a vague, ambiguous, multiple, and essentially contested concept. Quality’s contested character involves endless disputes about its proper use which makes it problematic to handle in governmental policies. Wittgenstein’s notion of language games is used to understand how,

  11. A Phenomenographic Study of Students' Conceptions of Quality in Learning in Higher Education in Rwanda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mbabazi Bamwesiga, Penelope; Fejes, Andreas; Dahlgren, Lars-Owe

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this study is to understand the different ways that university students conceptualise quality in learning by drawing on a phenomenographic approach. A total of 20 students in higher education in Rwanda were interviewed and analysis of the interviews generated an outcome space of conceptions of quality in learning as transformation,…

  12. GLOBALIZATION’S ASPECTS OF HIGHER EDUCATION COMMERCIALIZATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. Zhylinska

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available The article is devoted to higher education current trends in the context of commercialization under globalization. The paper analyzes dynamics of the global education market, identifies factors that influence the choice of university and educational programs abroad. The importance of world universities rankings as information products that reflect the quality of education is shown. The study characterizes Ukrainian realities of globalization’s activation in higher education.

  13. Efficient Text Encryption and Hiding with Double-Random Phase-Encoding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad S. Alam

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a double-random phase-encoding technique-based text encryption and hiding method is proposed. First, the secret text is transformed into a 2-dimensional array and the higher bits of the elements in the transformed array are used to store the bit stream of the secret text, while the lower bits are filled with specific values. Then, the transformed array is encoded with double-random phase-encoding technique. Finally, the encoded array is superimposed on an expanded host image to obtain the image embedded with hidden data. The performance of the proposed technique, including the hiding capacity, the recovery accuracy of the secret text, and the quality of the image embedded with hidden data, is tested via analytical modeling and test data stream. Experimental results show that the secret text can be recovered either accurately or almost accurately, while maintaining the quality of the host image embedded with hidden data by properly selecting the method of transforming the secret text into an array and the superimposition coefficient. By using optical information processing techniques, the proposed method has been found to significantly improve the security of text information transmission, while ensuring hiding capacity at a prescribed level.

  14. Productivity as an Indication of Quality in Higher Education: The Views of Employed Graduates in Greece

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eliophotou Menon, Maria

    2016-01-01

    The paper investigates the views of Greek university graduates on the link between higher education and productivity in order to determine the extent to which productivity can be considered to be an indication of quality in higher education. It also investigates the perceived effect of the type and content of higher education on productivity;…

  15. Nurturing Quality of Higher Education through National Ranking: A Potential Empowerment Model for Developing Countries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kusumastuti, Dyah; Idrus, Nirwan

    2017-01-01

    This paper reviews the recently introduced National Higher Education ranking system in Indonesia in order to evaluate its potential as a sustainable model to improve the quality of higher education in the country. It is a scaffold towards an established world-universities ranking system that may prove formidable for a developing country. This…

  16. Greater Independence in Activities of Daily Living is Associated with Higher Health-Related Quality of Life Scores in Nursing Home Residents with Dementia

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    Charice S. Chan

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Health-related quality of life (HRQL for nursing home residents is important, however, the concept of quality of life is broad, encompasses many domains and is difficult to assess in people with dementia. Basic activities of daily living (ADL are measured routinely in nursing homes using the Resident Assessment Instrument-Minimum Data Set Version 2.0 (RAI-MDS and Functional Independence Measure (FIM instrument. We examined the relationship between HRQL and ADL to assess the future possibility of ADL dependency level serving as a surrogate measure of HRQL in residents with dementia. To assess ADL, measures derived from the RAI-MDS and FIM data were gathered for 111 residents at the beginning of our study and at 6-month follow-up. Higher scores for independence in ADL were correlated with higher scores for a disease-specific HRQL measure, the Quality of Life—Alzheimer’s Disease Scale. Preliminary evidence suggests that FIM-assessed ADL is associated with HRQL for these residents. The associations of the dressing and toileting items with HRQL were particularly strong. This finding suggests the importance of ADL function in HRQL. The RAI-MDS ADL scales should be used with caution to evaluate HRQL.

  17. A World of Brands: Higher Education and the Emergence of Multinational Quality Franchises

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanco Ramírez, Gerardo

    2014-01-01

    This article explores the concepts of "brand" and "franchise" in the development of international quality assurance. The impact of corporate language and culture on higher education is evident and has been extensively analysed. Recent attention given to branding of universities reflects the ever-growing influence of corporate…

  18. Self-Assessment Methods in the Higher Education Quality Improvement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jitka SMUTNÁ

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Organizational performance is maximized when it is based on the management and sharing of knowledge within a culture of continuous learning, innovation and improvement. The methodology embodies the principle of self-evaluation or self-assessment. The higher education institutions would learn from feedback by reviewing impact of strategies and actions, trends in results and by comparing through benchmarking. The focus of this paper is the implementation of EFQM excellence model in the higher education (HE sector. This paper describes the specific issues in implementing the model in HE institutions, with a particular focus on the choice of self-assessment methodology. The early signs are that EFQM excellence model self-assessment can help to produce a more customer-oriented culture in HE institutions, providing that the lessons learned from the wider public sector are put into practice.

  19. Example of the contribution of text processing by machine for establishing quality assurance report dossiers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Didierlaurent, Maryvonne; Meurgues, J.P.

    1981-03-01

    When safety requirements are imposed, quality assurance report dossiers (term consecrated by the IAEA in Vienna) must be established for all realizations and, in particular, for mechanical realizations connected with nuclear facilities. Supply dossiers are envisaged in the context of these dossiers. This present text treats the material aspects of the constitution of these dossiers [fr

  20. Quality of Higher Education: Organisational or Educational? A Content Analysis of Chinese University Self-Evaluation Reports

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Yihuan; Du, Xiangyun; Rasmussen, Palle

    2012-01-01

    Based on a study of Chinese university self-evaluation reports, this paper argues that higher education institutions are trying to manage the tensions between educational and organisational quality and the increasing and worldwide concerns about quality assurance. After 30 years of dramatic educational reform, China has established a nationwide…

  1. Framing and Enhancing Distributed Leadership in the Quality Management of Online Learning Environments in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holt, Dale; Palmer, Stuart; Gosper, Maree; Sankey, Michael; Allan, Garry

    2014-01-01

    This article reports on the findings of senior leadership interviews in a nationally funded project on distributed leadership in the quality management of online learning environments (OLEs) in higher education. Questions were framed around the development of an OLE quality management framework and the situation of the characteristics of…

  2. ENQA: 10 Years (2000-2010): A Decade of European Co-Operation in Quality Assurance in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crozier, Fiona, Ed.; Costes, Nathalie, Ed.; Ranne, Paula, Ed.; Stalter, Maria, Ed.

    2010-01-01

    The history of ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) arises in the late 1990s when the first formal procedures for quality assurance begun to stabilize on a national level. As a result of the European Pilot Projects in the field of external quality assurance during the nineties, participants felt the need for…

  3. RULE-BASE METHOD FOR ANALYSIS OF QUALITY E-LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    darsih darsih darsih

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Assessing the quality of e-learning courses to measure the success of e-learning systems in online learning is essential. The system can be used to improve education. The study analyzes the quality of e-learning course on the web site www.kulon.undip.ac.id used a questionnaire with questions based on the variables of ISO 9126. Penilaiann Likert scale was used with a web app. Rule-base reasoning method is used to subject the quality of e-learningyang assessed. A case study conducted in four e-learning courses with 133 sample / respondents as users of the e-learning course. From the obtained results of research conducted both for the value of e-learning from each subject tested. In addition, each e-learning courses have different advantages depending on certain variables. Keywords : E-Learning, Rule-Base, Questionnaire, Likert, Measuring.

  4. Total Quality Management Elements and Results in Higher Education Institutions: The Greek Case

    Science.gov (United States)

    Psomas, Evangelos; Antony, Jiju

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the main total quality management (TQM) elements adopted and the respective results achieved by higher education institutions (HEIs) in Greece. Design/methodology/approach: A research study was designed and carried out in private sector Greek HEIs. Fifteen HEIs were approached through interviews…

  5. Development of a dissertation quality value-added model for humanities and social sciences programs for private higher education institutions in Thailand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thanyasinee Laosum

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The purposes of this study were: (1 to evaluate the quality of dissertations in the humanities and social sciences of private higher education institutions, (2 to analyze factors affecting the quality at the student, advisor, and institute levels, and (3 to develop a quality, value-added model of the dissertations. Samples consisted of: (1 750 student dissertations in the humanities and social sciences and (2 753 questionnaire responses consisting of 633 students, 108 dissertation advisors, and 12 senior administrators in the participating institutions. A 5-point rating dissertation evaluation scale was developed for use by the researcher and her assistants. Three sets of a dissertation attribution questionnaire used by the students, advisors, and senior administrators were also developed and administered. Descriptive statistics were used with the 5-point rating data. The 3-level HLM package was used to analyze the quality, value-added model of the dissertations. The findings of the study were: (1 the overall quality of the 750 dissertations was at the standard level; (2 there were 5 factors at 3 different levels influencing the dissertation quality with 1 student factor (favorable characteristics in conducting research, 3 advisor factors (experience in research, up-to-date knowledge in research, and the advisor-student ratio, 1 institutional factor (close monitoring and management system; and (3 the quality value-added model was able to predict the variance of the dissertation quality at 36 percent.

  6. Investigating IELTS Academic Writing Task 2 : Relationships between cognitive writing processes, text quality, and working memory

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Révész, Andrea; Michel, Marije; Lee, MinJin

    2017-01-01

    This project examined the cognitive processes and online behaviours of second language writers while performing IELTS Academic Writing Test Task 2, and the ways in which the online behaviours of test-takers relate to the quality of the text produced. An additional aim was to assess whether writing

  7. SERVQUAL Application and Adaptation for Educational Service Quality Assessments in Russian Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galeeva, Railya B.

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate an adaptation of the SERVQUAL survey method for measuring the quality of higher educational services in a Russian university context. We use a new analysis and a graphical technique for presentation of results. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology of this research follows the classic…

  8. Challenges and prospects of using information technologies in higher education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frolov Alexander

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The considerable attention is paid to information technologies in system of the higher education now. Using the latest technology, software and hardware in the learning process allows achieving high outcomes quality of study. The article deals with modern teaching technologies, including distance learning technology, case-technology, which is already used in practice in higher education. There remain unresolved issues of effective use of new learning technologies, the quality of the used software and hardware. The perspective directions of development of informatization of education are defined.

  9. Unfreezing Higher Education Institutions? Understanding the Introduction of Quality Management in Teaching and Learning in Germany

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seyfried, Markus; Ansmann, Moritz

    2018-01-01

    Quality management (QM) in teaching and learning has strongly "infected" the higher education sector and spread around the world. It has almost everywhere become an integral part of higher education reforms. While existing research on QM mainly focuses on the national level from a macro-perspective, its introduction at the institutional…

  10. Performance evaluation of services quality in higher education institutions using modified SERVQUAL approach with grey analytic hierarchy process (G-AHP and multilevel grey evaluation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohsen Zareinejad

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available In today’s climate of fierce competition, there is a necessity to pay especial attention on customer demands either in manufacturing or service sector. Managers in service sector are under pressure in terms of environmental factors, they focus on customers’ satisfaction and this has led to the continuous improvement in the performance of service organizations. Meanwhile, customers’ expectations should be properly understood and measured. There have been various efforts to measure the quality of services using the SERVQUAL model. In this study, we try to investigate the concepts and factors influencing the quality of services according to modified SERVQUAL model and then utilize the proposed model of Grey Analytic Hierarchy Process (G-AHP and Multilevel Grey Evaluation in order to evaluate the quality of services in the framework of Grey Systems Theory (GST. In order to propose our method, we will conduct a case study of the performance of service quality in higher education institutions of Isfahan-Iran.

  11. Encouraging Medicare Advantage Enrollees to Switch to Higher Quality Plans: Assessing the Effectiveness of a “Nudge” Letter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benjamin L. Howell PhD

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available There are considerable quality differences across private Medicare Advantage insurance plans, so it is important that beneficiaries make informed choices. During open enrollment for the 2013 coverage year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sent letters to beneficiaries enrolled in low-quality Medicare Advantage plans (i.e., plans rated less than 3 stars for at least 3 consecutive years by Medicare explaining the stars and encouraging them to reexamine their choices. To understand the effectiveness of these low-cost, behavioral “nudge” letters, we used a beneficiary-level national retrospective cohort and performed multivariate regression analysis of plan selection during the 2013 open enrollment period among those enrolled in plans rated less than 3 stars. Our analysis controls for beneficiary demographic characteristics, health and health care spending risks, the availability of alternative higher rated plan options in their local market, and historical disenrollment rates from the plans. We compared the behaviors of those beneficiaries who received the nudge letters with those who enrolled in similar poorly rated plans but did not receive such letters. We found that beneficiaries who received the nudge letter were almost twice as likely (28.0% [95% confidence interval = 27.7%, 28.2%] vs. 15.3% [95% confidence interval = 15.1%, 15.5%] to switch to a higher rated plan compared with those who did not receive the letter. White beneficiaries, healthier beneficiaries, and those residing in areas with more high-performing plan choices were more likely to switch plans in response to the nudge. Our findings highlight both the importance and efficacy of providing timely and actionable information to beneficiaries about quality in the insurance marketplace to facilitate informed and value-based coverage decisions.

  12. Implementing a Quality Management Framework in a Higher Education Organisation: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Mahony, Kim; Garavan, Thomas N.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to report and analyse the lessons learned from a case study on the implementation of a quality management system within an IT Division in a higher education (HE) organisation. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a review of the relevant literatures and the use of primary sources such as document analysis,…

  13. Effects of Funding Sources on Access to Quality Higher Education in Public Universities in Kenya: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Mutinda Mutiso

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available In the last two decades, Kenya has witnessed an exponential growth of students’ enrolment in its public universities and an oscillatory government funding in these institutions precipitating quality concerns by employers on the skills of the graduates to meet industry needs. In education finance, the sources of funds and the size of the resources are key determinants of quality education. The objective of the study was to determine the relationship between various funding sources and access to quality education in Kenya public universities using a case approach. The data collection instruments used were an interview guide, a focus group discussion guide, a student’s survey questionnaire and secondary document analysis. Data was collected from October to December 2014 in the case university from a sample population of 10 top university management staff, 36 heads of department (HoDs and 400 undergraduate students. The study employed the education production function as a basic model of the study. The validity of the data collection instruments was established through scrutiny by thesis supervisors and the reliability test of the students’ questionnaire returned a cronbach alpha of 0.88. F-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA methods were used with aid of the statistical package for social science (SPSS version 2.0.The conclusion of the study was that, the sources of funds had a positive effect on quality though the results were not significant, while government capitation, tuition and other sources of funds were significantly important for the access of quality of education in the institution (P =0.30, P = 0.018, P = 0.000. The study recommended the adoption of performance based funding to enhance quality in higher education.

  14. Librarian co-authors correlated with higher quality reported search strategies in general internal medicine systematic reviews.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rethlefsen, Melissa L; Farrell, Ann M; Osterhaus Trzasko, Leah C; Brigham, Tara J

    2015-06-01

    To determine whether librarian and information specialist authorship was associated with better reported systematic review (SR) search quality. SRs from high-impact general internal medicine journals were reviewed for search quality characteristics and reporting quality by independent reviewers using three instruments, including a checklist of Institute of Medicine Recommended Standards for the Search Process and a scored modification of the Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies instrument. The level of librarian and information specialist participation was significantly associated with search reproducibility from reported search strategies (Χ(2) = 23.5; P Librarian co-authored SRs had significantly higher odds of meeting 8 of 13 analyzed search standards than those with no librarian participation and six more than those with mentioned librarian participation. One-way ANOVA showed that differences in total search quality scores between all three groups were statistically significant (F2,267 = 10.1233; P librarian or information specialist co-authors are correlated with significantly higher quality reported search strategies. To minimize bias in SRs, authors and editors could encourage librarian engagement in SRs including authorship as a potential way to help improve documentation of the search strategy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. STRATEGIES FOR HIGHER SATISFACTION OF THE ROMANIAN BANKING CUSTOMERS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Danciu Victor

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available A bank must identify, assesses and clearly and fully understands customers’ values and expectations if it’s target is their higher satisfaction. The banking customers are expecting to receive individual attention and support and good quality banking prod

  16. Review of the Research Literature on Defining and Demonstrating Quality Teaching and Impact in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strang, Lucy; Bélanger, Julie; Manville, Catriona; Meads, Catherine

    2016-01-01

    In March 2016, the Higher Education Academy (HEA) commissioned RAND Europe to conduct a literature review of research published since 2012, with the aim of identifying and summarising the key trends and issues in the literature on how "quality teaching" and its impact are currently being defined and demonstrated at higher education…

  17. Analysis of education conditions in higher educational institutions of Ukraine

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    Олександр Петрович Бурмістенков

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with some issues related to higher technical education conditions in Ukraine, namely, training and certification of graduates of schools, training of students in higher educational institutions and motivation of students to study and teachers to improve teaching methods and deep research within the walls of institution. The causes of education level reduction are expressed. The propositions are made for improving the higher education quality

  18. Brewing Service Quality in Higher Education: Characteristics of Ingredients that Make up the Recipe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeo, Roland K.

    2008-01-01

    Purpose: The paper seeks to explore the influences of service quality in higher education and the perceptions associated with the implementation of a Singapore tertiary institution. It draws on the underpinnings of SERVQUAL, and discusses the dichotomy and interrelation between customer perception and expectation. Design/methodology/approach:…

  19. Does Internal Quality Management Contribute to More Control or to Improvement of Higher Education?: A Survey on Faculty's Perceptions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kleijnen, Jan; Dolmans, Diana; Willems, Jos; van Hout, Hans

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore faculty's perceptions of quality management activities (QMA) within their departments, attention being paid to relevant quality aspects and whether quality management contributes to control or improvement of higher education. Furthermore, it examines differences between departments and relationships…

  20. An interpretive Proposal for Evaluating Teaching in Higher Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edith J. Cisneros-Cohernour

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available This article examines the limitations of the traditional positivist paradigm in the assessment of teaching quality in higher education and proposes the use of an Interpretivist perspective as an evaluative alternative. A case study of a novice college instructor is used for illustrating the limitations of the traditional paradigm and identifying critical issues that take place when the evaluation bases only on student ratings as the only source for determining teaching quality.

  1. The Long Road--How Evolving Institutional Governance Mechanisms Are Changing the Face of Quality in Portuguese Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarrico, Cláudia S.; Veiga, Amélia; Amaral, Alberto

    2013-01-01

    While a lot has been written regarding the changing management and governance arrangements in higher education, less is known about how this progression relates to quality in higher education. The purpose of this article is to describe the context of governance in Portuguese higher education institutions and how institutional governance…

  2. The power of management in medical services. Can we manage better for higher quality and more productive medical services?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Magdalena BARBU

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Medical services are the most important services of all since we all depend on them. Their quality and productivity can assure a wealthy nation and therefore good economical results. The offer of medical services depends on medical personnel and more than this, on the management in the medical field since any resource not managed well or not managed at all is only a lost one, regardless its value. Management is therefore the key, the “how to” method of obtaining the desired result. The same approach can be applied into our study in order to reach more productive medical services which to prove high quality to all patients. We need to use and to squeeze the entire force of management tools in order to reach our goal: accessible medical services full of quality. The current worldwide crisis situation makes us think that after job and food, even medical services (also a basic thing after all can become a “luxury” although this should never happen. Therefore we must do whatever needed to improve the way medical organizations are driven so that the quality of their medical services will be better and better and the productivity will be at a higher level. Medical management should have as a goal making it possible for patients to be able to solve their health problems as soon as possible and as good as possible.

  3. Mentoring Professors: A Model for Developing Quality Online Instructors and Courses in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barczyk, Casimir; Buckenmeyer, Janet; Feldman, Lori

    2010-01-01

    This article presents a four-stage model for mentoring faculty in higher education to deliver high quality online instruction. It provides a timeline that shows the stages of program implementation. Known as the Distance Education Mentoring Program, its major outcomes include certified instructors, student achievement, and the attainment of a…

  4. Strategies of Raising the Quality of Higher Education and Attaining Equality of Educational Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petrovskiy, Igor V.; Agapova, Elena N.

    2016-01-01

    The aim of the research is to develop the policy and strategy recommendations to increase the quality of higher education in Russian Federation. The study examines the significance of equal educational opportunities and the influence of this factor on the educational systems of developing countries. Transformational processes in the domain of…

  5. Why Sketching May Aid Learning From Science Texts: Contrasting Sketching With Written Explanations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheiter, Katharina; Schleinschok, Katrin; Ainsworth, Shaaron

    2017-10-01

    The goal of this study was to explore two accounts for why sketching during learning from text is helpful: (1) sketching acts like other constructive strategies such as self-explanation because it helps learners to identify relevant information and generate inferences; or (2) that in addition to these general effects, sketching has more specific benefits due to the pictorial representation that is constructed. Seventy-three seventh-graders (32 girls, M = 12.82 years) were first taught how to either create sketches or self-explain while studying science texts. During a subsequent learning phase, all students were asked to read an expository text about the greenhouse effect. Finally, they were asked to write down everything they remembered and then answer transfer questions. Strategy quality during learning was assessed as the number of key concepts that had either been sketched or mentioned in the self-explanations. The results showed that at an overall performance level there were only marginal group differences. However, a more in-depth analysis revealed that whereas no group differences emerged for students implementing either strategy poorly, the sketching group clearly outperformed the self-explanation group for students who applied the strategies with higher quality. Furthermore, higher sketching quality was strongly related to better learning outcomes. Thus, the study's results are more in line with the second account: Sketching can have a beneficial effect on learning above and beyond generating written explanations; at least, if well deployed. Copyright © 2017 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  6. Text Messaging Interventions on Cancer Screening Rates: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uy, Catherine; Lopez, Jennifer; Trinh-Shevrin, Chau; Kwon, Simona C; Sherman, Scott E; Liang, Peter S

    2017-08-24

    Despite high-quality evidence demonstrating that screening reduces mortality from breast, cervical, colorectal, and lung cancers, a substantial portion of the population remains inadequately screened. There is a critical need to identify interventions that increase the uptake and adoption of evidence-based screening guidelines for preventable cancers at the community practice level. Text messaging (short message service, SMS) has been effective in promoting behavioral change in various clinical settings, but the overall impact and reach of text messaging interventions on cancer screening are unknown. The objective of this systematic review was to assess the effect of text messaging interventions on screening for breast, cervical, colorectal, and lung cancers. We searched multiple databases for studies published between the years 2000 and 2017, including PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library, to identify controlled trials that measured the effect of text messaging on screening for breast, cervical, colorectal, or lung cancers. Study quality was evaluated using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Our search yielded 2238 citations, of which 31 underwent full review and 9 met inclusion criteria. Five studies examined screening for breast cancer, one for cervical cancer, and three for colorectal cancer. No studies were found for lung cancer screening. Absolute screening rates for individuals who received text message interventions were 0.6% to 15.0% higher than for controls. Unadjusted relative screening rates for text message recipients were 4% to 63% higher compared with controls. Text messaging interventions appear to moderately increase screening rates for breast and cervical cancer and may have a small effect on colorectal cancer screening. Benefit was observed in various countries, including resource-poor and non-English-speaking populations. Given the paucity of data, additional research is needed to better quantify the effectiveness of this promising intervention

  7. Monitoring interaction and collective text production through text mining

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Macedo, Alexandra Lorandi

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available This article presents the Concepts Network tool, developed using text mining technology. The main objective of this tool is to extract and relate terms of greatest incidence from a text and exhibit the results in the form of a graph. The Network was implemented in the Collective Text Editor (CTE which is an online tool that allows the production of texts in synchronized or non-synchronized forms. This article describes the application of the Network both in texts produced collectively and texts produced in a forum. The purpose of the tool is to offer support to the teacher in managing the high volume of data generated in the process of interaction amongst students and in the construction of the text. Specifically, the aim is to facilitate the teacher’s job by allowing him/her to process data in a shorter time than is currently demanded. The results suggest that the Concepts Network can aid the teacher, as it provides indicators of the quality of the text produced. Moreover, messages posted in forums can be analyzed without their content necessarily having to be pre-read.

  8. DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY OF PARTNERSHIP OF HIGHER EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND BUSINESS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. Mazur

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In the article the cooperation of higher education, science and business is analysed. A conflict of civilizations wave development in the confrontation of two forces: the "factory of Education" and force change is disclosed. European and Ukrainian higher education quality estimation is analysed. The effect of unsynchronization in time is educed between the necessities of business and possibilities of education and science. Reasons of bribery are exposed at higher school. The development strategy of partnership of higher education, science and business is proposed.

  9. Emerging Adults' Text Message Use and Sleep Characteristics: A Multimethod, Naturalistic Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murdock, Karla Klein; Horissian, Mikael; Crichlow-Ball, Caroline

    2017-01-01

    Emerging adults use text messaging as a principal form of social communication, day and night, and this may compromise their sleep. In this study, a hypothetical model was tested linking daytime and nighttime text message use with multiple sleep characteristics. Subjective and objective measures of texting and sleep were utilized to assess 83 college students over a seven-day period during an academic term. Greater number of daily texts, awareness of nighttime cell phone notifications, and compulsion to check nighttime notifications were significantly associated with poorer subjective sleep quality. Awareness of nighttime notifications was significantly associated with higher self-reported global sleep problems and more sleep disruptions. Results suggest potential benefits of targeting nighttime texting habits in health promotion efforts for emerging adults.

  10. Academics\\' perceptions of `quality in higher education\\' and quality ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    academics. The article discusses various perceptions of QHE as well as the concern for quality nationally and internationally and distils out some general QP, QA, QC and QM strategies. This research was a case study. The sample consisted of 28 academics from the Faculty of Science. Data were gathered mainly through

  11. Expansion vs. Quality: Emerging Issues of For-Profit Private Higher Education Institutions in Ethiopia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alemu, Daniel S.

    2010-02-01

    Private for-profit higher education has been rapidly expanding in developing countries worldwide since the early 1990s. This global trend has been particularly evident in Ethiopia, where only three public universities existed until 1996. By 2005, about 60 private for-profit higher education institutions had been founded in Ethiopia. This has led to mixed feelings among the Ethiopian public. While some laud the opportunities and advantages these new institutions bring, others are apprehensive that the quality of education might be compromised by an expansion motivated by monetary gain. This article sheds light on these paradoxes and provides suggestions for policy and practices.

  12. INTERNATIONALIZATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Catalina Crisan-Mitra

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Internationalization of higher education is one of the key trends of development. There are several approaches on how to achieve competitiveness and performance in higher education and international academic mobility; students’ exchange programs, partnerships are some of the aspects that can play a significant role in this process. This paper wants to point out the student’s perception regarding two main directions: one about the master students’ expectation regarding how an internationalized master should be organized and should function, and second the degree of satisfaction of the beneficiaries of internationalized master programs from Babe-Bolyai University. This article is based on an empirical qualitative research that was implemented to students of an internationalized master from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. This research can be considered a useful example for those preoccupied to increase the quality of higher education and conclusions drawn have relevance both theoretically and especially practically.

  13. Do Electronic Technologies Increase or Narrow Differences in Higher Education Quality between Low- and High-Income Countries?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Capshaw, Norman Clark

    2008-01-01

    The disruptive technologies of the Internet and computers are changing our world in myriad ways. These technologies are also increasingly being employed in higher education but to what effect? Are the effects on higher education quality measurable, and if so, what is the effect on the traditional gap between high-income and low- to middle-income…

  14. Longer guts and higher food quality increase energy intake in migratory swans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Gils, Jan A; Beekman, Jan H; Coehoorn, Pieter; Corporaal, Els; Dekkers, Ten; Klaassen, Marcel; van Kraaij, Rik; de Leeuw, Rinze; de Vries, Peter P

    2008-11-01

    1. Within the broad field of optimal foraging, it is increasingly acknowledged that animals often face digestive constraints rather than constraints on rates of food collection. This therefore calls for a formalization of how animals could optimize food absorption rates. 2. Here we generate predictions from a simple graphical optimal digestion model for foragers that aim to maximize their (true) metabolizable food intake over total time (i.e. including nonforaging bouts) under a digestive constraint. 3. The model predicts that such foragers should maintain a constant food retention time, even if gut length or food quality changes. For phenotypically flexible foragers, which are able to change the size of their digestive machinery, this means that an increase in gut length should go hand in hand with an increase in gross intake rate. It also means that better quality food should be digested more efficiently. 4. These latter two predictions are tested in a large avian long-distance migrant, the Bewick's swan (Cygnus columbianus bewickii), feeding on grasslands in its Dutch wintering quarters. 5. Throughout winter, free-ranging Bewick's swans, growing a longer gut and experiencing improved food quality, increased their gross intake rate (i.e. bite rate) and showed a higher digestive efficiency. These responses were in accordance with the model and suggest maintenance of a constant food retention time. 6. These changes doubled the birds' absorption rate. Had only food quality changed (and not gut length), then absorption rate would have increased by only 67%; absorption rate would have increased by only 17% had only gut length changed (and not food quality). 7. The prediction that gross intake rate should go up with gut length parallels the mechanism included in some proximate models of foraging that feeding motivation scales inversely to gut fullness. We plea for a tighter integration between ultimate and proximate foraging models.

  15. A model for analysing factors which may influence quality management procedures in higher education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cătălin MAICAN

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In all universities, the Office for Quality Assurance defines the procedure for assessing the performance of the teaching staff, with a view to establishing students’ perception as regards the teachers’ activity from the point of view of the quality of the teaching process, of the relationship with the students and of the assistance provided for learning. The present paper aims at creating a combined model for evaluation, based on Data Mining statistical methods: starting from the findings revealed by the evaluations teachers performed to students, using the cluster analysis and the discriminant analysis, we identified the subjects which produced significant differences between students’ grades, subjects which were subsequently subjected to an evaluation by students. The results of these analyses allowed the formulation of certain measures for enhancing the quality of the evaluation process.

  16. QUALITY ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION: ARE RUSSIAN UNIVERSITIES FOCUSED ON THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF STUDENTS?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergey Trapitsin

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The article touches on the issue of meeting the students' educational needs as a crucial point in the quality of education improvement. The main consumers of educational services are students whose perceptions of the educational quality is analyzed. According to the research the primary attention of the administration have be paid to the dissatisfaction of the consumer and only then to ensure the satisfaction. The focus on the factors causing negative evaluation and dissatisfaction of students, using tactics quick fix ("quick patch" is recommended.

  17. Precision and Disclosure in Text and Voice Interviews on Smartphones.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael F Schober

    Full Text Available As people increasingly communicate via asynchronous non-spoken modes on mobile devices, particularly text messaging (e.g., SMS, longstanding assumptions and practices of social measurement via telephone survey interviewing are being challenged. In the study reported here, 634 people who had agreed to participate in an interview on their iPhone were randomly assigned to answer 32 questions from US social surveys via text messaging or speech, administered either by a human interviewer or by an automated interviewing system. 10 interviewers from the University of Michigan Survey Research Center administered voice and text interviews; automated systems launched parallel text and voice interviews at the same time as the human interviews were launched. The key question was how the interview mode affected the quality of the response data, in particular the precision of numerical answers (how many were not rounded, variation in answers to multiple questions with the same response scale (differentiation, and disclosure of socially undesirable information. Texting led to higher quality data-fewer rounded numerical answers, more differentiated answers to a battery of questions, and more disclosure of sensitive information-than voice interviews, both with human and automated interviewers. Text respondents also reported a strong preference for future interviews by text. The findings suggest that people interviewed on mobile devices at a time and place that is convenient for them, even when they are multitasking, can give more trustworthy and accurate answers than those in more traditional spoken interviews. The findings also suggest that answers from text interviews, when aggregated across a sample, can tell a different story about a population than answers from voice interviews, potentially altering the policy implications from a survey.

  18. Determining Perceptual Gaps of Service Quality and Value in Higher Education: A Midwestern Bible College

    Science.gov (United States)

    McIntosh, Benjamin T.

    2017-01-01

    This doctoral research project examined perceptual gaps of service quality and value in the context of higher education. The researcher performed quantitative analysis of survey data gathered from students at a small, Midwestern Bible college. Students self-selected to participate in this research project and, using class status as an independent…

  19. Quality Practices: An Open Distance Learning Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kemlall RAMDASS

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Global transformation in higher education over the past two decades has led to the implementation of national policies in order to measure the performance of institutions in South Africa. The Higher Education Quality Council (HEQC adopted the quality assurance (QA model for the purposes of accountability and governance in South African Higher Education. The first Council of Higher Education (CHE audit, encouraged a compliance mentality through a ‘tick box’ mentality, thereby encouraging compliance of minimum standards. Thus, quality assurance audits became a ‘feared’ phenomenon in all higher education institutions in South Africa. The complete lack of stewardship in addressing the culture of quality and its’ implications for continuous improvement has led to inefficiencies in the entire higher education landscape. In this paper the ‘fuzzy’ and perhaps ‘slippery’ nature of quality is addressed through a critical analysis of the concepts of development, enhancement and assurance in relation to the quality of teaching and learning in higher education through a case study methodology using qualitative analysis in an open distance learning institution (ODL. The key argument is that although quality is important for improvement, practices at the institution are not changing in the way they should because of a quality culture that is determined by the Department of Higher Education and Training. Hence the research question is to determine the status of quality with a view of recommending total quality management as a strategy that would enhance the practice of quality in the organization. Therefore, this paper explores the current quality practices with the intent to improve the delivery of teaching and learning in an ODL environment.

  20. ACCOUNTING OF THE SETTLEMENTS WITH STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    HOLT GHEORGHE

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The mission of universities and their public recognition as a provider of quality education has changed significantly over the centuries. Making a real quality of education in universities has made legislative basis. This stage requires a strong, accurate knowledge and their application by universities, students and executives factors ministry. In this context, correct information to all stakeholders and decision-makers with a set of standards and recommendations to really contribute to quality assurance becomes an immediate need. It is mandatory to take the constructive decisions in all academic structures designed to ensure and assess the quality and conservation values and experience to date of the institution empowered to ensure this fundamental parameter of education and its financing. The diversity of higher education pathways that facilitate insertion of the graduate labor market is a recognized value of the European Higher Education Area, but the understanding of how to implement / manage this diversity, in terms of socially recognized needs to be commonly accepted quality standards the content of education, still remains to be a concern for many academic communities collateral or an enigma. Public higher education institutions are established in order to produce public services (education, research quality (which can be measured by various indicators. To achieve this, they use limited public financial resources, subject to strict rules, especially when it comes to the budget.

  1. Precision and Disclosure in Text and Voice Interviews on Smartphones

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antoun, Christopher; Ehlen, Patrick; Fail, Stefanie; Hupp, Andrew L.; Johnston, Michael; Vickers, Lucas; Yan, H. Yanna; Zhang, Chan

    2015-01-01

    As people increasingly communicate via asynchronous non-spoken modes on mobile devices, particularly text messaging (e.g., SMS), longstanding assumptions and practices of social measurement via telephone survey interviewing are being challenged. In the study reported here, 634 people who had agreed to participate in an interview on their iPhone were randomly assigned to answer 32 questions from US social surveys via text messaging or speech, administered either by a human interviewer or by an automated interviewing system. 10 interviewers from the University of Michigan Survey Research Center administered voice and text interviews; automated systems launched parallel text and voice interviews at the same time as the human interviews were launched. The key question was how the interview mode affected the quality of the response data, in particular the precision of numerical answers (how many were not rounded), variation in answers to multiple questions with the same response scale (differentiation), and disclosure of socially undesirable information. Texting led to higher quality data—fewer rounded numerical answers, more differentiated answers to a battery of questions, and more disclosure of sensitive information—than voice interviews, both with human and automated interviewers. Text respondents also reported a strong preference for future interviews by text. The findings suggest that people interviewed on mobile devices at a time and place that is convenient for them, even when they are multitasking, can give more trustworthy and accurate answers than those in more traditional spoken interviews. The findings also suggest that answers from text interviews, when aggregated across a sample, can tell a different story about a population than answers from voice interviews, potentially altering the policy implications from a survey. PMID:26060991

  2. Precision and Disclosure in Text and Voice Interviews on Smartphones.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schober, Michael F; Conrad, Frederick G; Antoun, Christopher; Ehlen, Patrick; Fail, Stefanie; Hupp, Andrew L; Johnston, Michael; Vickers, Lucas; Yan, H Yanna; Zhang, Chan

    2015-01-01

    As people increasingly communicate via asynchronous non-spoken modes on mobile devices, particularly text messaging (e.g., SMS), longstanding assumptions and practices of social measurement via telephone survey interviewing are being challenged. In the study reported here, 634 people who had agreed to participate in an interview on their iPhone were randomly assigned to answer 32 questions from US social surveys via text messaging or speech, administered either by a human interviewer or by an automated interviewing system. 10 interviewers from the University of Michigan Survey Research Center administered voice and text interviews; automated systems launched parallel text and voice interviews at the same time as the human interviews were launched. The key question was how the interview mode affected the quality of the response data, in particular the precision of numerical answers (how many were not rounded), variation in answers to multiple questions with the same response scale (differentiation), and disclosure of socially undesirable information. Texting led to higher quality data-fewer rounded numerical answers, more differentiated answers to a battery of questions, and more disclosure of sensitive information-than voice interviews, both with human and automated interviewers. Text respondents also reported a strong preference for future interviews by text. The findings suggest that people interviewed on mobile devices at a time and place that is convenient for them, even when they are multitasking, can give more trustworthy and accurate answers than those in more traditional spoken interviews. The findings also suggest that answers from text interviews, when aggregated across a sample, can tell a different story about a population than answers from voice interviews, potentially altering the policy implications from a survey.

  3. SparkText: Biomedical Text Mining on Big Data Framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Zhan; Tafti, Ahmad P; He, Karen Y; Wang, Kai; He, Max M

    Many new biomedical research articles are published every day, accumulating rich information, such as genetic variants, genes, diseases, and treatments. Rapid yet accurate text mining on large-scale scientific literature can discover novel knowledge to better understand human diseases and to improve the quality of disease diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. In this study, we designed and developed an efficient text mining framework called SparkText on a Big Data infrastructure, which is composed of Apache Spark data streaming and machine learning methods, combined with a Cassandra NoSQL database. To demonstrate its performance for classifying cancer types, we extracted information (e.g., breast, prostate, and lung cancers) from tens of thousands of articles downloaded from PubMed, and then employed Naïve Bayes, Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Logistic Regression to build prediction models to mine the articles. The accuracy of predicting a cancer type by SVM using the 29,437 full-text articles was 93.81%. While competing text-mining tools took more than 11 hours, SparkText mined the dataset in approximately 6 minutes. This study demonstrates the potential for mining large-scale scientific articles on a Big Data infrastructure, with real-time update from new articles published daily. SparkText can be extended to other areas of biomedical research.

  4. Text Version of the Indoor Air Quality House Tour

    Science.gov (United States)

    Get a quick glimpse of some of the most important ways to protect the air in your home by touring the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) House. Room-by-room, you'll learn about the key pollutants and how to address them.

  5. What is the empirical evidence that hospitals with higher-risk adjusted mortality rates provide poorer quality care? A systematic review of the literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammed Mohammed A

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Despite increasing interest and publication of risk-adjusted hospital mortality rates, the relationship with underlying quality of care remains unclear. We undertook a systematic review to ascertain the extent to which variations in risk-adjusted mortality rates were associated with differences in quality of care. Methods We identified studies in which risk-adjusted mortality and quality of care had been reported in more than one hospital. We adopted an iterative search strategy using three databases – Medline, HealthSTAR and CINAHL from 1966, 1975 and 1982 respectively. We identified potentially relevant studies on the basis of the title or abstract. We obtained these papers and included those which met our inclusion criteria. Results From an initial yield of 6,456 papers, 36 studies met the inclusion criteria. Several of these studies considered more than one process-versus-risk-adjusted mortality relationship. In total we found 51 such relationships in a widen range of clinical conditions using a variety of methods. A positive correlation between better quality of care and risk-adjusted mortality was found in under half the relationships (26/51 51% but the remainder showed no correlation (16/51 31% or a paradoxical correlation (9/51 18%. Conclusion The general notion that hospitals with higher risk-adjusted mortality have poorer quality of care is neither consistent nor reliable.

  6. SparkText: Biomedical Text Mining on Big Data Framework.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhan Ye

    Full Text Available Many new biomedical research articles are published every day, accumulating rich information, such as genetic variants, genes, diseases, and treatments. Rapid yet accurate text mining on large-scale scientific literature can discover novel knowledge to better understand human diseases and to improve the quality of disease diagnosis, prevention, and treatment.In this study, we designed and developed an efficient text mining framework called SparkText on a Big Data infrastructure, which is composed of Apache Spark data streaming and machine learning methods, combined with a Cassandra NoSQL database. To demonstrate its performance for classifying cancer types, we extracted information (e.g., breast, prostate, and lung cancers from tens of thousands of articles downloaded from PubMed, and then employed Naïve Bayes, Support Vector Machine (SVM, and Logistic Regression to build prediction models to mine the articles. The accuracy of predicting a cancer type by SVM using the 29,437 full-text articles was 93.81%. While competing text-mining tools took more than 11 hours, SparkText mined the dataset in approximately 6 minutes.This study demonstrates the potential for mining large-scale scientific articles on a Big Data infrastructure, with real-time update from new articles published daily. SparkText can be extended to other areas of biomedical research.

  7. The health-related quality of life was not improved by targeting higher hemoglobin in the Normal Hematocrit Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coyne, Daniel W

    2012-07-01

    The Normal Hematocrit Trial (NHT) was the largest trial of epoetin randomizing 1265 hemodialysis patients with cardiac disease to lower (9-11 g/dl) or higher (13-15 g/dl) hemoglobin (Hgb), hypothesizing that higher Hgb would reduce mortality, and improve survival and quality of life. The trial was terminated early, and a 1998 publication reported that targeting higher hematocrit levels led to an insignificant increase in the primary end points (death or myocardial infarct), or risk ratio 1.3, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.9-1.90, but the P-value was not given, and all-cause death risk was not reported. A higher target reportedly did not increase hospitalization rates, but did significantly improve the 'physical function' domain of quality of life. Comparing the 1996 Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-filed clinical trial report to the 1998 publication, however, found several discrepancies. Among these, the 1998 article reported interim trial results with only the adjusted CI but did not state that the unadjusted CIs were 99.912th percentile, and despite being a secondary end point, reported only the association of achieved Hgb with higher quality of life score. Randomization to the higher target had actually increased the risk for the primary end point (risk ratio 1.28, 95% CI=1.06-1.56; P=0.0112; 99.92% CI=0.92-1.78), the risk of death (risk ratio 1.27, 95% CI=1.04-1.54), non-access thrombotic events (P=0.041), and hospitalization rate (P=0.04), while 'physical function' did not improve (P=0.88). Hence, disclosure of these results in the 1998 publication or access to the FDA-filed report on the NHT in the late 1990s would likely have led to earlier concerns about epoetin safety and greater doubts about its benefits.

  8. Achievements and Lessons Learned from Vietnam's Higher Education Quality Assurance System after a Decade of Establishment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Huu Cuong; Ta, Thi Thu Hien; Nguyen, Thi Thu Huong

    2017-01-01

    Higher education quality assurance and accreditation were officially implemented in Vietnam over twelve years ago. From a totally centralized model, Vietnam's accreditation system has been becoming more independent, especially with the establishment of accrediting agencies. The first accreditation certificates were also awarded to universities…

  9. The role of higher education in transforming the quality of dementia care: dementia studies at the University of Bradford.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Downs, M; Capstick, A; Baldwin, P C; Surr, C; Bruce, E

    2009-04-01

    There is now widespread concern about the inadequate care and support provided to people with dementia from diagnosis to death. It is acknowledged that while there is a range of effective ways to care for and support people with dementia and their families from diagnosis to death, these have yet to become integral to practice. In England, for example, the National Dementia Strategy seeks to transform the quality of dementia care. One of the key components to transforming the quality of care is to ensure we have an informed and effective workforce. We argue here that in order to transform the quality of care we need to distinguish between the aims of training and education. Whilst there is a place for skills-based workplace training, Higher Education in dementia studies has a key role to play in the provision of specialist knowledge and skills in dementia care emphasizing as it does the development of critical thinking, reflection and action. In this paper we describe dementia studies at Bradford University available at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. We outline their aims and learning outcomes, curricula, approach to teaching, learning and assessment. We describe the nature of students who study with us, noting their fit with the Higher Education Funding Council in England's agenda for widening participation in higher education. Higher Education in dementia studies has a unique role to play in equipping practitioners and professionals with the information, skills and attitudes to realize the potential for quality of life for people with dementia and their families.

  10. Lower neighborhood quality in adolescence predicts higher mesolimbic sensitivity to reward anticipation in adulthood

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marlen Z. Gonzalez

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Life history theory suggests that adult reward sensitivity should be best explained by childhood, but not current, socioeconomic conditions. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI study, 83 participants from a larger longitudinal sample completed the monetary incentive delay (MID task in adulthood (∼25 years old. Parent-reports of neighborhood quality and parental SES were collected when participants were 13 years of age. Current income level was collected concurrently with scanning. Lower adolescent neighborhood quality, but neither lower current income nor parental SES, was associated with heightened sensitivity to the anticipation of monetary gain in putative mesolimbic reward areas. Lower adolescent neighborhood quality was also associated with heightened sensitivity to the anticipation of monetary loss activation in visuo-motor areas. Lower current income was associated with heightened sensitivity to anticipated loss in occipital areas and the operculum. We tested whether externalizing behaviors in childhood or adulthood could better account for neighborhood quality findings, but they did not. Findings suggest that neighborhood ecology in adolescence is associated with greater neural reward sensitivity in adulthood above the influence of parental SES or current income and not mediated through impulsivity and externalizing behaviors.

  11. FACTORES PARA LA NO NEUTRALIDAD DE LA EVALUACIÓN DE LA CALIDAD DE LA EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR (FACTORS FOR NON-NEUTRALITY OF THE EVALUATION OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION QUALITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vizcarra Herles Nina Eleonor

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Resumen:En el presente ensayo, los autores con base en la revisión de fuentes bibliográficas, abordan el tema de la no neutralidad de la evaluación de la calidad de la educación superior, se identifican factores de la no neutralidad en la evaluación y en la calidad relacionados con: el referente (modelo de referencia utilizado para la evaluación, las dimensiones explicativo-relacionales de la calidad y las demandas de calidad formuladas por actores sociales; estos factores expresan el propósito del evaluador, componente ideológico que determina la no neutralidad de la evaluación de la calidad. Se infiere que para los sistemas nacionales de evaluación la definición y la mejora de la calidad de la educación superior compromete la participación multisectorial.Abstract: In this essay, the authors based on a review of literature sources, address the issue of non-neutrality of the evaluation of the quality of higher education, identify factors of non-neutrality in the evaluation and quality related to: the reference model used for evaluation, the explanatory-relational dimensions of quality and quality demands made by social actors; these factors express the purpose of evaluator, ideological component that determines the non-neutrality of quality assessment. It is inferred that for the national assessment systems; the definition and the improving of the quality of higher education undertake multi-stakeholder participation.

  12. SparkText: Biomedical Text Mining on Big Data Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Karen Y.; Wang, Kai

    2016-01-01

    Background Many new biomedical research articles are published every day, accumulating rich information, such as genetic variants, genes, diseases, and treatments. Rapid yet accurate text mining on large-scale scientific literature can discover novel knowledge to better understand human diseases and to improve the quality of disease diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. Results In this study, we designed and developed an efficient text mining framework called SparkText on a Big Data infrastructure, which is composed of Apache Spark data streaming and machine learning methods, combined with a Cassandra NoSQL database. To demonstrate its performance for classifying cancer types, we extracted information (e.g., breast, prostate, and lung cancers) from tens of thousands of articles downloaded from PubMed, and then employed Naïve Bayes, Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Logistic Regression to build prediction models to mine the articles. The accuracy of predicting a cancer type by SVM using the 29,437 full-text articles was 93.81%. While competing text-mining tools took more than 11 hours, SparkText mined the dataset in approximately 6 minutes. Conclusions This study demonstrates the potential for mining large-scale scientific articles on a Big Data infrastructure, with real-time update from new articles published daily. SparkText can be extended to other areas of biomedical research. PMID:27685652

  13. Gender/ed Discourses and Emotional Sub-Texts: Theorising Emotion in UK Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leathwood, Carole; Hey, Valerie

    2009-01-01

    This article engages with contemporary debates about the absence/presence of emotion in higher education. UK higher education has traditionally been constructed as an emotion-free zone, reflecting the dominance of Cartesian dualism with its rational/emotional, mind/body, male/female split. This construction has been challenged in recent years by…

  14. CONVERSATIONS -- AND NEGOTIATED INTERACTION -- IN TEXT AND VOICE CHAT ROOMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kevin Jepson

    2005-09-01

    Full Text Available Despite the expanded use of the Internet for language learning and practice, little attention if any has been given to the quality of interaction among English L2 speakers in conversational text or voice chat rooms. This study explored the patterns of repair moves in synchronous non-native speaker (NNS text chat rooms in comparison to voice chat rooms on the Internet. The following questions were posed: (a Which types of repair moves occur in text and voice chats; and (b what are the differences, if any, between the repair moves in text chats and voice chats when time is held constant? Repair moves made by anonymous NNSs in 10, 5-minute, synchronous chat room sessions (5 text-chat sessions, 5 voice-chat sessions were counted and analyzed using chi-square with alpha set at .05. Significant differences were found between the higher number of total repair moves made in voice chats and the smaller number in text chats. Qualitative data analysis showed that repair work in voice chats was often pronunciation-related. The study includes discussion that may affect teachers' and learners' considerations of the value of NNS chat room interaction for second language development.

  15. Country Competitiveness Relationship with Higher Education Indicators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Santos Lopez-Leyva

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper reports the performance of global competitiveness and higher education competitiveness between two groups of countries. The first group is formed by four Asian countries; the second one by four Latin American countries. Indicators from the World Economic Forum 2007-2015 are compared. The indicators with the nearest proximity were found in the management quality of the universities, where there was only a five-point difference in favor of the Asian group. The indicator with the widest gap came from the quality of math and sciences education where we found a difference of 104 points. This is congruent with the results of PISA 2012, which showed a difference of 152 points in math.

  16. Variations in Student Perceptions of Service Quality of Higher Education Institutions in Brazil: A Longitudinal Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campos, Domingos Fernandes; dos Santos, Guido Salvi; Castro, Felipe Nalon

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine, through a longitudinal study, undergraduate student perceptions of service expectations, priorities and quality of the higher education institution that they attend, using an importance-performance rating matrix. Design/methodology/approach: This research was carried out with students exposed to a…

  17. Students as Stakeholders in the Policy Context of the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education Institutions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Logermann, Frauke; Leisyte, Liudvika; Curaj, Adrian; Matei, Liviu; Pricopie, Remus; Salmi, Jamil; Scott, Peter

    2015-01-01

    The European Standard and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG) of 2005 can be defined as one of the major Bologna documents aimed at furthering the role of students as stakeholders in internal quality assurance processes at higher education institutions (HEIs). Still little is known about

  18. Adopting Self-Accreditation in Response to the Diversity of Higher Education: Quality Assurance in Taiwan and Its Impact on Institutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Karen Hui-Jung; Hou, Angela Yung-Chi

    2016-01-01

    In 2012, Taiwan implemented a dual-track quality assurance system comprising accreditation and self-accreditation in higher education institutions. Self-accrediting institutions can accredit their programs without requiring approval from external quality assurance agencies. In contrast to other countries, the Ministry of Education of Taiwan…

  19. Software requirements elicitation to support internal monitoring of quality assurance system for higher education in Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amalia, A.; Gunawan, D.; Hardi, S. M.; Rachmawati, D.

    2018-02-01

    The Internal Quality Assurance System (in Indonesian: SPMI (Sistem Penjaminan Mutu Internal) is a systemic activity of quality assurance of higher education in Indonesia. SPMI should be done by all higher education or universities in Indonesia based on the Regulation of the Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia Number 62 of 2016. Implementation of SPMI must refer to the principle of SPMI that is independent, standardize, accurate, well planned and sustainable, documented and systematic. To assist the SPMI cycle properly, universities need a supporting software to monitor all the activities of SPMI. But in reality, many universities are not optimal in building this SPMI monitoring system. One of the obstacles is the determination of system requirements in support of SPMI principles is difficult to achieve. In this paper, we observe the initial phase of the engineering requirements elicitation. Unlike other methods that collect system requirements from users and stakeholders, we find the system requirements of the SPMI principles from SPMI guideline book. The result of this paper can be used as a choice in determining SPMI software requirements. This paper can also be used by developers and users to understand the scenario of SPMI so that could overcome the problems of understanding between this two parties.

  20. An Evaluation of Service Quality in Higher Education: Marmara and Nigde Omer Halisdemir Universities' Department of Education Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ada, Sefer; Baysal, Z. Nurdan; Erkan, Senem Seda Sahenk

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this research is to evaluate the quality service in higher education in Marmara and Nigde Omer Halisdemir Universities' department of education students. This study was prepared using a screening model from quantitative research methods. The sample of this research comprised 886 university students attending the higher education…

  1. Higher Education Leadership: Challenge of the 21st Century

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sutjipto Sutjipto

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available In the 21 st century, higher education (HE will play a very crucial role; in spite of its limited resources, HE should be able to respond to the challenges caused by the very fast advancement of technology. For this purpose managers of HE should be professional, those who are prepared to become the managers, so that they reflect wide perspectives, good attitudes, and quality skills in managing the HE in such a competitive era. Higher education leadership is expected to make use of the system and opportunity to improve its performance

  2. THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION: AN EMERGING POLITICAL AGENDA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Malcolm McVicar

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Given growing importance of education as a factor of internal development and in the context of globalization universities can be considered to be international economic actors playing an increasingly significant role in economic and political agenda. Universities face a lot of challenges, to wit: quality control, further privatization of higher education and for-profit education, the problem of innovations and advanced technologies, the emergence of international labour market etc. Therefore internationalization of higher education determines the necessity to reform and adapt universities around the globe.

  3. Relationship Quality Time: The Validation of a Relationship Quality Scale in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snijders, Ingrid; Rikers, Remy M. J. P.; Wijnia, Lisette; Loyens, Sofie M. M.

    2018-01-01

    This study investigated the overall "quality" of the interpersonal relationship students have with faculty and staff, that is, relationship quality (RQ). In relationship management research, RQ is paramount for the creation of bonds with customers, which in turn is necessary for the sustainability of organizations, that is, continuity…

  4. Breeding for wood quality - a perspective for the future

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Verryn, SD

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available A challenge for breeders and wood quality researchers of today is to appropriately respond to a complex environment demanding more productivity, higher quality, and a quicker adaptation of their crops to rapid changes. This is mirrored...

  5. Implementation of a Quality Improvement Process Aimed to Deliver Higher-Value Physical Therapy for Patients With Low Back Pain: Case Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karlen, Emily; McCathie, Becky

    2015-12-01

    The current state of health care demands higher-value care. Due to many barriers, clinicians routinely do not implement evidence-based care even though it is known to improve quality and reduce cost of care. The purpose of this case report is to describe a theory-based, multitactic implementation of a quality improvement process aimed to deliver higher-value physical therapy for patients with low back pain. Patients were treated from January 2010 through December 2014 in 1 of 32 outpatient physical therapy clinics within an academic health care system. Data were examined from 47,755 patients (mean age=50.3 years) entering outpatient physical therapy for management of nonspecific low back pain, with or without radicular pain. Development and implementation tactics were constructed from adult learning and change management theory to enhance adherence to best practice care among 130 physical therapists. A quality improvement team implemented 4 tactics: establish care delivery expectations, facilitate peer-led clinical and operational teams, foster a learning environment focused on meeting a population's needs, and continuously collect and analyze outcomes data. Physical therapy utilization and change in functional disability were measured to assess relative cost and quality of care. Secondarily, charge data assessed change in physical therapists' application of evidence-based care. Implementation of a quality improvement process was measured by year-over-year improved clinical outcomes, decreased utilization, and increased adherence to evidence-based physical therapy, which was associated with higher-value care. When adult learning and change management theory are combined in quality improvement efforts, common barriers to implementing evidence-based care can be overcome, creating an environment supportive of delivering higher-value physical therapy for patients with low back pain. © 2015 American Physical Therapy Association.

  6. Measurement of Perceived Service Quality in Higher Education Institutions: A Review of HEdPERF Scale Use

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, Danilo Soares; de Morales, Gustavo Hermínio Salati Marcondes; Makiya, Ieda Kanashiro; Cesar, Francisco Ignácio Giocondo

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: This study aims to find evidence of the HEdPERF scale use for measuring the perceived service quality from the perspective of students in higher education institutions (HEIs) worldwide. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic review of the literature was conducted to find evidence of the scale use in articles published between January…

  7. Quality in Cross-Border Higher Education and Challenges for the Internationalization of National Quality Assurance Agencies in the Asia-Pacific Region: The Taiwanese Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Angela Yung-chi

    2014-01-01

    Cross-border higher education has created a need to build capacity -- particularly in the internationalization dimension -- for national quality assurance agencies to evaluate cross-border education provided by foreign educational providers, or jointly by local and foreign institutions. This is quickly becoming a key issue in the Asia-Pacific…

  8. Quality Improvement Processes in Obesity Surgery Lead to Higher Quality and Value, Lower Costs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brousseau, Holli; Pohl, Dieter

    2017-03-01

    In the era of changes in the evaluation of medical services and performance, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has determined that the key components are quality, value, and clinical practice improvement (MACRA). Weight Loss Surgery, also called Bariatric or Obesity Surgery, has been at the forefront of quality improvement and quality reporting through the Center of Excellence Program since 2005. As a result, weight loss surgery is now as safe as gallbladder surgery.1 Even within this culture of quality and safety, improvements are still possible, as described in this article. [Full article available at http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2017-03.asp].

  9. Active Learning for Text Classification

    OpenAIRE

    Hu, Rong

    2011-01-01

    Text classification approaches are used extensively to solve real-world challenges. The success or failure of text classification systems hangs on the datasets used to train them, without a good dataset it is impossible to build a quality system. This thesis examines the applicability of active learning in text classification for the rapid and economical creation of labelled training data. Four main contributions are made in this thesis. First, we present two novel selection strategies to cho...

  10. Peer Review and Reflective Teaching Practices: An Effective Mechanism for Quality Enhancement in Higher Education

    OpenAIRE

    Raj, Sony Jalarajan; Massey, Susan R.; Jose, Soumya

    2017-01-01

    Quality education and teacher accountability are predominant issues generating apprehension in higher education. Traditional methods of evaluation are giving way to more contemporary methods. One technique that is being implemented in many universities throughout the world that provides feedback and improves pedagogical approaches is a formative and collaborative process known as peer review of teaching (PRT). Review of the literature included 34 studies which identified five themes that offe...

  11. BRAZILIAN HIGHER EDUCATION - considerations for policy evaluation in health

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudia Maffini Griboski

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on the front of the Brazilian higher education practices of evaluation, highlighting the importance of its use in academic management and institutional guarantee for the permanent monitoring of the quality of supply. With this objective discusses the trajectory of the evaluation policy of higher education with an emphasis on construction of the current National Assessment of Higher Education (Sinaes. From this perspective, conducts exploratory research with a descriptive analysis of the constituent elements of Sinaes, instruments and indicators, and evaluation results of the cycle in 2004, 2007 and 2010 in order to characterize and compare the evolution of courses in health and design improvements in its development. Finally, the comparison of these results, especially the nursing courses, the remarkable expansion in the period, shows its importance as an inducer of changing personal and professional attitudes of teachers and others involved in the educational process. It also enables the IES, proposing changes to the curriculum to meet the prospect of improving the training of students, contributing to the establishment of the evaluation culture in higher education to society to ensure reliable results on the quality and credibility of the courses offered.

  12. Conceptual approaches to international cooperation between higher education institutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tetiana Obolenska

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The existing conceptual and technological approaches to the organization and implementation of international cooperation between higher education institutions with the performance of international accreditation based on education quality system have been characterized in complex, considering the key trends of internationalization of higher education. Priority strategies of higher education internationalization and types of international academic cooperation between universities regarding education services were defined. It has been substantiated that the most important manifestation of higher education internationalization is international cooperation between universities regarding rendering education services, while the highest level of internationalization of this service is joint educational programs. A complex analysis of international accreditation requirements to joint education programs was made on the basis of the system of education quality improvement, its advantages were proven and its distinct features that influence the choice and substantiation of international cooperation, marketing and branding of individual programs were characterized. Technology of international accreditation for joint programs was detailed. Special attention was paid to the practical component of launching joint degree programs between Ukrainian and foreign higher education institutions. The experience of joint master’s degree programs of Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman and the University of Redlands Business School (California, USA was analyzed.

  13. Modeling E-learning quality assurance benchmarking in higher education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Alsaif, Fatimah; Clementking, Arockisamy

    2014-01-01

    Online education programs have been growing rapidly. While it is somehow difficult to specifically quantify quality, many recommendations have been suggested to specify and demonstrate quality of online education touching on common areas of program enhancement and administration. To design a model

  14. Logistics case study based research: Towards higher quality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedrosa, Alex; Näslund, Dag; Jasmand, Claudia

    2012-01-01

    analysis of 134 case study based articles published in six leading logistics and supply chain management (SCM) journals between 1998 and 2010 is used to assess and evaluate the quality of the case study based research approach as documented in these publications. Findings – This research provides...... to address to ensure high quality of the case study based research approach in published articles. Research limitations/implications – This study is limited to the analysis of published articles in six logistics and SCM journals. Further research should investigate different journals in logistics and other...

  15. Faster Defect Resolution with Higher Technical Quality of Software

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Luijten, B.; Visser, J.

    2010-01-01

    We performed an empirical study of the relation between technical quality of software products and the defect resolution performance of their maintainers. In particular, we tested the hypothesis that ratings for source code maintainability, as employed by the SIG quality model, are correlated with

  16. A Study of the Interrelationships among Service Recovery, Relationship Quality, and Brand Image in Higher Education Industries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yu-Chuan

    2015-01-01

    This study aims to investigate the direction and strength of the relationships among service recovery, relationship quality, and brand image in higher education industries. This research provides a framework for school managers to understand service recovery from an operations perspective. Structural equation models were used to test the proposed…

  17. A Guide Text or Many Texts? "That is the Question”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Delgado de Valencia Sonia

    2001-08-01

    Full Text Available The use of supplementary materials in the classroom has always been an essential part of the teaching and learning process. To restrict our teaching to the scope of one single textbook means to stand behind the advances of knowledge, in any area and context. Young learners appreciate any new and varied support that expands their knowledge of the world: diaries, letters, panels, free texts, magazines, short stories, poems or literary excerpts, and articles taken from Internet are materials that will allow learnersto share more and work more collaboratively. In this article we are going to deal with some of these materials, with the criteria to select, adapt, and create them that may be of interest to the learner and that may promote reading and writing processes. Since no text can entirely satisfy the needs of students and teachers, the creativity of both parties will be necessary to improve the quality of teaching through the adequate use and adaptation of supplementary materials.

  18. Text of Vatican's Draft Statement on the Role of Catholic Higher Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chronicle of Higher Education, 1986

    1986-01-01

    The Vatican's statement on Catholic universities outlines the objective of strengthening Catholic higher education worldwide and discusses the ecclesiastical and pastoral functions of the institutions, their role in society and in the church, Catholic university types, the environment and curriculum orientations, and planning and cooperation. (MSE)

  19. Quantity versus Quality in Turkish Higher Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arslan, Hasan

    This paper asserts that there have not been adequate studies about the comparative quality of Turkish universities to provide information and data for prospective students, advisors, university administrators, and policymakers. Turkey has more than 70 state and private universities. Most of these are relatively new, although Turkish higher…

  20. Processing quality of NS soybean varieties

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Đorđević Vuk

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Current NS soybean varieties are of satisfactory technological quality, and also significant technological diversity. Varieties Triumf and Venera possess higher oil content. Variety Sava has a balanced oil and protein content, and can be used for obtaining different soy products. Variety Rubin has the highest protein content and is suitable for new high protein products. Estimated processing value is a good parameter to describe the processing quality of soybeans. Based on several years and spatial analysis, it is possible to separate the geographic regions with prevailing favourable conditions for obtaining higher protein or oil content.

  1. Reasoning with Annotations of Texts

    OpenAIRE

    Ma , Yue; Lévy , François; Ghimire , Sudeep

    2011-01-01

    International audience; Linguistic and semantic annotations are important features for text-based applications. However, achieving and maintaining a good quality of a set of annotations is known to be a complex task. Many ad hoc approaches have been developed to produce various types of annotations, while comparing those annotations to improve their quality is still rare. In this paper, we propose a framework in which both linguistic and domain information can cooperate to reason with annotat...

  2. Higher educational status, staying in joint family and early treatment initiation improves quality of life in leprosy: Experiences from and observational study at a tertiary centre in Eastern India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arup Chakraborty

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease with various risks of permanent and progressive disabilities as well as deformities. This can lead to social stigma and discrimination. Methodology A cross sectional institution based study was conducted among the patient of a leprosy clinic in a tertiary care center. WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was used after taking consent from each study individual. Results Majority (69.8% of the patients was male and 41.3% of the study population belonged to below poverty line. Majority (85.7% of the study population were suffering from multi-bacillary type of leprosy. Though Majority (96.8% of the patients was receiving MDT (multi drug therapy regularly but still 33.33% of them were leading a poor quality of life. It has been seen that literacy, family type and time gap between starting of symptoms and initiation of treatment were significantly associated with quality of life. Discussion Different previous studies showed QOL (quality of life was associated with factors like SES (socio economic status, literacy and male gender, the present study revealed higher literacy, staying in the joint family and early treatment initiation helped to improve the QOL. Conclusion Better QOL was associated with higher educational status, good family support and early initiation of treatment among the leprosy patients.

  3. Structure, Content, Delivery, Service, and Outcomes: Quality e-Learning in higher education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Colla J. MacDonald

    2005-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper addresses the need for quality e-Learning experiences. We used the Demand-Driven Learning Model (MacDonald, Stodel, Farres, Breithaupt, and Gabriel, 2001 to evaluate an online Masters in Education course. Multiple data collection methods were used to understand the experiences of stakeholders in this case study: the learners, design team, and facilitators. We found that all five dimensions of the model (structure, content, delivery, service, and outcomes must work in concert to implement a quality e-Learning course. Key themes include evolving learner needs, the search for connection, becoming an able e-participant, valued interactions, social construction of content, integration of delivery partners, and mindful weighing of benefits and trade-offs. By sharing insights into what is needed to design and deliver an e-Learning experience, our findings add to the growing knowledge of online learning. Using this model to evaluate perceptions of quality by key stakeholders has led to insights and recommendations on the Demand Driven Learning Model itself which may be useful for researchers in this area and strengthen the model. Quality has been defined in terms of the design of the e-Learning experience, the contextualized experience of learners, and evidence of learning outcomes (Carr and Carr, 2000; Jung 2000; Salmon, 2000. Quality and design of e-Learning courses, however, are sometimes compromised in an “ . . . effort to simply get something up and running��� in response to pressing consumer demands (Dick, 1996, p. 59. Educators and researchers have voiced concern over the lack of rigorous evaluation studies of e-Learning programs (e.g., Arbaugh, 2000; Howell, Saba, Lindsay, and Williams, 2004; Lockyer, Patterson, and Harper, 1999; Robinson, 2001. McGorry (2003 adds, “although the number of courses being delivered via the Internet is increasing rapidly, our knowledge of what makes these courses effective learning experiences

  4. Identifying Predictors of Student Satisfaction and Student Motivation in the Framework of Assuring Quality in the Delivery of Higher Education Services

    OpenAIRE

    Yulia Stukalina

    2014-01-01

    Nowadays, the quality of educational services provided by a university is a crucial aspect of the education managers’ strategy in the customer-driven education context, quality assurance in education being an essential issue to be promoted in European higher education institutions. Students’ evaluation of the educational services (that is consumer-oriented assessment) can be regarded as one of the most significant educational management tools used for stimulating quality enhancement in a univ...

  5. OPTIMIZATION OF FINANCING PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN UKRAINE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Z. Varnaliy

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The paper considers the ways to optimize financing public higher education institutions of Ukraine. Public higher education institutions acutely feel the lack of financial resources. The study describes that it is necessary to reform the models, methods and forms of financing higher education institutions. The paper explains the impact of autonomy of higher education institutions on their development. The autonomy level of university determines the possibilities for diversification from additional sources. The results found that more autonomy of higher education institutions will allow them effectively generate and use financial resources. The review outlines the diversification of financial resources public universities. One of the key factors of the university success is to implement the diversification strategy into the overall academic strategy and mission of the higher education institution. The analysis recommends the performance-based funding system and public higher education institutions achieve certain performance indicators. The performance-based funding system will promote higher competitiveness of education institutions and improve the quality of higher education in general. The conclusions suggest the development trends of financing public higher education institutions of Ukraine.

  6. MEAT QUALITY OF LOCAL AND HYBRID RABBITS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Paci

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available pH, colour and oxidative status were evaluated to study the effect of rabbit genotype on meat quality. Commercial Hybrids, selected for high growth rate and a local population, characterized by slow growing, were used. Meat quality characteristics of L. lumborum and B. femoris muscles showed significant differences between genotypes. Local population had higher pHu values but lower pH fall values than Hybrids. Hybrids showed higher lightness values and TBARS contents than local population. Meat quality parameters were influenced by genotype. The differences between genotypes could be related to the different degree of maturity because the rabbits, in relation to the different growth rate, were slaughtered at the same weight but at different age.

  7. Basic Test Framework for the Evaluation of Text Line Segmentation and Text Parameter Extraction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Darko Brodić

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Text line segmentation is an essential stage in off-line optical character recognition (OCR systems. It is a key because inaccurately segmented text lines will lead to OCR failure. Text line segmentation of handwritten documents is a complex and diverse problem, complicated by the nature of handwriting. Hence, text line segmentation is a leading challenge in handwritten document image processing. Due to inconsistencies in measurement and evaluation of text segmentation algorithm quality, some basic set of measurement methods is required. Currently, there is no commonly accepted one and all algorithm evaluation is custom oriented. In this paper, a basic test framework for the evaluation of text feature extraction algorithms is proposed. This test framework consists of a few experiments primarily linked to text line segmentation, skew rate and reference text line evaluation. Although they are mutually independent, the results obtained are strongly cross linked. In the end, its suitability for different types of letters and languages as well as its adaptability are its main advantages. Thus, the paper presents an efficient evaluation method for text analysis algorithms.

  8. The Balance Between Higher Education Autonomy and Public Quality Assurance:Development of the Portuguese System for Teacher Education Accreditation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bártolo Campos

    2004-12-01

    Full Text Available The accreditation systems of higher education institutions and/or programs are becoming a policy measure used to find a balance between their autonomy and public assurance concerning the quality of the qualifications they award. This article analyses, from the point of view of this balance of power, the process of development of the Portuguese accreditation system aimed at providing public assurance that initial teacher education programs are more driven by social demand, namely by the changing school education needs. This was a political and cultural process rather than a merely rational and technical one. Thus the emergence of the need for, and possibility of, external pressure upon higher education institutions is related to the evolution of several social factors. On the other hand, the implementation of the accreditation system means a significant change for these institutions which implies new practices and comes into conflict with some of their values and with power sharing within and among them and with society. For these reasons a strategy of wide participation of significant stakeholders was deemed more suitable for the formulation, adoption and implementation of this new public policy. The way in which government, the accreditation body, and the significant stakeholders exercised their power in this process influenced the characteristics of the system, the rhythm of its implementation, and the abrupt governmental decision to put it on stand-by, until now.

  9. Does higher severity really correlate with a worse quality of life in obsessive–compulsive disorder? A meta-regression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pozza A

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Andrea Pozza,1 Christine Lochner,2 Fabio Ferretti,1 Alessandro Cuomo,3 Anna Coluccia1 1Department of Medical Sciences, Surgery and Neurosciences, Santa Maria alle Scotte University Hospital of Siena, Siena, Italy; 2SU/UCT MRC Unit on Anxiety and Stress Disorders, Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa; 3Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Siena School of Medicine and Department of Mental Health, University of Siena Medical Center (AOUS, Siena, Italy Background: Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD is one of the leading causes of disability and reduced quality of life (QOL, with impairment in a number of domains. However, there is a paucity of literature on the association between severity of OCD symptoms and QOL, and the data that do exist are inconsistent. In addition, the role of severity in QOL has not been summarized as yet from a cross-generational perspective (ie, across childhood/adolescence and adulthood. Through meta-regression techniques, the current study summarized evidence about the moderator role of severity of OCD symptoms on differences in global QOL between individuals with OCD and controls. Methods: Online databases were searched, and cross-sectional case–control studies comparing participants of all ages with OCD with controls on self-report QOL measures were included. Random-effect meta-regression techniques were used to comment on the role of illness severity in global QOL in individuals with OCD. Results: Thirteen studies were included. A positive significant association emerged between OCD severity and effect sizes on global QOL: in samples with higher severity, there were narrower differences in QOL between patients with OCD and controls than in samples with lower severity. Such positive association was confirmed by a sensitivity analysis conducted on studies including only adults, where the difference in QOL ratings between patients and controls was significantly narrower

  10. Hybrid Model for e-Learning Quality Evaluation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suzana M. Savic

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available E-learning is becoming increasingly important for the competitive advantage of economic organizations and higher education institutions. Therefore, it is becoming a significant aspect of quality which has to be integrated into the management system of every organization or institution. The paper examines e-learning quality characteristics, standards, criteria and indicators and presents a multi-criteria hybrid model for e-learning quality evaluation based on the method of Analytic Hierarchy Process, trend analysis, and data comparison.

  11. A Way of Policy Bricolage or Translation: The Case of Taiwan's Higher Education Reform of Quality Assurance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsieh, Chuo-Chun

    2016-01-01

    This paper focuses on the process and mechanism of higher education policy change related to quality assurance in a globalized world. In particular, the purpose of the study was to identify the impact of globalization on domestic policy change in Taiwan, characterized as a peripheral country. Taiwan's experience in terms of developing a national…

  12. Racism, Equity, and Quality of Education for International Students in South Korean Higher Education Institutes

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Jin-Hee KIM

    2016-01-01

    This study aims to understand equity issues of international students' learning in Korean higher education institutions by engaging with the issue of racism and identifies how international students in Korea reshape their learning trajectory and how we could provide equitable and quality education for international students.Espousing a qualitative case study design,six students from different background were interviewed to examine features of perceived institutional racism based on their learning experience in Korea.Major findings showed that internationalization has not been fulfilled in terms of engaging with international students although Korean government and higher education institutions have developed relevant policy to attract international students.This study indicates that Korean universities need to reconstruct their social,cultural,and institutional systems to embrace equity,diversity and inclusiveness to empower international students' capacity.

  13. Global Issues of Higher Education with Special Reference to Latin America and the Caribbean

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco Lopez Segrera

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Higher education in Latin America has deep roots back to the Spanish colonisation in the Hispanic countries. In Brazil, a former Portuguese colony, this sector did not emerge until the nineteenth century and in the Anglophone Caribbean, not until the twentieth. Now in the twenty-first century throughout the region it is subject to the global reach of the neoliberal era with marketisation, quality assurance and international rankings playing very strong roles. The number of private higher education institutions has increased dramatically with problems attached for quality, which is extremely variable. New types of institution have emerged, for example the community colleges in the Anglophone Caribbean offering the first few years of undergraduate study even in small island nations. At the top of the scale there are still quality institutions, but they are locked into the global convention and competition of the international rankings and league tables. So the overall picture is of a higher education sector of unusual variety and variability.

  14. Quality Assurance Management in Private Higher Education Institutions in Ghana. A Case Study of All Nations University College, Koforidua.

    OpenAIRE

    Tetteh, Abigail

    2014-01-01

    The increasing rate of private higher education institutions in Ghana has called for the need to research into the quality management methods for their credibility. The government is giving out less funding and thus losing steering capacity. Public universities are unable to provide placements for all qualifying students in the institutions and therefore private universities have come to the aid of the public universities. The aim of the research is to find out the quality management methods ...

  15. Market Entry, Product Quality And Price Competition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mathur Sameer

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available We study an entrant firm’s product quality choice and the price competition arising between the entrant and the incumbent firm. We show that the entrant firm should introduce a relatively higher (lower quality than the incumbent firm when the consumers’ valuation for quality is sufficiently large (small. We also study how the incumbent firm modifies its price in response to the ensuing price competition. We find that the incumbent firm should decrease its price. We also profile how the incumbent firm’s price non-linearly depends on consumers’ valuation for quality.

  16. Making Sense of Quality Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in Ethiopia: Unfolding Existing Realities for Future Promises

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tadesse, Tefera; Manathynga, Catherine E.; Gillies, Robyn M.

    2018-01-01

    Current approaches for assessing the quality of teaching and learning in higher education focus solely on compliance and accountability, and use quantitative measures that serve as indicators of institutional effectiveness and efficiency, yet whether such approaches have linked to instructional activities or students learning in universities are…

  17. Factors associated with diet quality of older adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatiana Império de FREITAS

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective Evaluate the factors associated with diet quality of older adults from the city of São Caetano do Sul, São Paulo, Brazil. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 295 older adults receiving care in health care units in São Caetano do Sul. Diet quality was assessed using the Brazilian Healthy Eating Index. The associations between the diet quality mean score and the socio-demographic, economic, and anthropometric characteristics and lifestyle and health conditions were verified using multiple linear regression. Results Lower diet quality mean score were associated with the variables: marital status (widowed or separated (β=-2.02; p=0.047, retired (β=-4.24; p=0.034, and smoking (β=-8.06; p=0.001; whereas higher diet quality mean score were associated with higher education level (9 years or more (β=3.49; p=0.013. Conclusion Individuals with higher education level had better diet quality, and those who were widowed or separated, retired, and smokers had worse diet quality indicating that socio-demographic, economic, and lifestyle are factors that can influence food choice of older adults.

  18. Interdependence of life insurance service quality and premium

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dragan Benazić

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available Insurance companies in Croatia feel the need to find new sources of competitive advantage on the Croatian life insurance market amid increasing competition and a poorly profiled offer of life insurance services. Lately, both marketing literature and practice seem to point to the shaping of a relationship between service quality and price as a possible solution to improving the position of insurance companies on the Croatian market. In providing life insurance services, the insurance companies should focus on the quality elements that offer certain benefits a client is willing to pay for. Changes in individual quality features have been evaluated differently by clients. Such differences in their evaluation of changes in the individual elements of service quality also reflect the willingness of clients to pay a suitable increase on their insurance premium. Improvements in the service quality features that are subjectively evaluated as important should lead to the client’s acceptance of a higher life insurance premium. The paper considers the interdependence between the quality of life insurance services and the premium from the aspect of the client’s willingness to pay a higher life insurance premium for a higher service quality.

  19. Higher Dietary Cost Is Associated with Higher Diet Quality: A Cross-Sectional Study among Selected Malaysian Adults

    OpenAIRE

    Ibnteesam Pondor; Wan Ying Gan; Geeta Appannah

    2017-01-01

    Food price is a determining factor of food choices; however its relationship with diet quality is unclear in Malaysia. This study aimed to examine socio-economic characteristics and daily dietary cost (DDC) in relation to diet quality in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Dietary intake was assessed using a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) and diet quality was estimated using a Malaysian Healthy Eating Index (M-HEI). DDC in Malaysian Ringgit (RM) was calculated from dietary intake and nationa...

  20. Quality management in higher education between desiderate and reality

    OpenAIRE

    Turturean, Monica

    2007-01-01

    The universities have to assure the highest level of quality management, to help teachers and students to acquire the European knowledge. The universities must be encouraged to develop better for the promotion of academic and civic values. However, the reality is often quite different: we find that the phrase "quality management" is understood differently, having different connotations ,depending on the beliefs and values of the institutional managers, but also depending on the financial reso...

  1. Supplementary effects of higher levels of various disaccharides on processing yield, quality properties and sensory attributes of Chinese - style pork jerky.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chih-Ming; Lin, Hsien-Tang

    2017-12-01

    This study evaluated the supplementary effect of higher concentrations of various disaccharides on processing yield, major physicochemical properties, and sensory attributes of Chinese-style pork jerky (CSPJ). CSPJ samples were prepared by marinating sliced ham (4 mm) with three dissaccharides, including sucrose, lactose, and maltose, at 0%, 15%, 18%, 21%, and 24%. Subsequently, the CSPJ samples were dried and roasted. The moisture content, water activity, crude protein, moisture-to-protein ratio, pH, processing yield, shear force, color, and sensory attributes of the CSPJ samples were evaluated. The quality characteristics of CSPJ samples prepared with sucrose were more acceptable. By contrast, CSPJ samples prepared with lactose showed the lowest scores. However, the processing yield and moisture content were the highest for CSPJ samples prepared with lactose, which may be associated with improved benefits for cost reduction. Furthermore, sucrose and lactose supplementation resulted in contrasting quality characteristics; for example, CSPJ samples with sucrose and maltose supplementation had higher sensory scores for color than samples with lactose supplementation. Additionally, most quality characteristics of CSPJ samples with sucrose supplementation contrasted with those of the samples with lactose supplementation; for example, the samples with sucrose supplementation had higher scores for sensory attributes than those with lactose supplementation. Sucrose supplementation up to 21% to 24% was associated with the highest overall acceptability scores (5.19 to 5.80), enhanced quality characteristics, increased processing yield, and reduced production cost.

  2. Higher cortisol is associated with poorer executive functioning in preschool children: The role of parenting stress, parent coping and quality of daycare

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wagner, Shannon L.; Cepeda, Ivan; Krieger, Dena; Maggi, Stefania; D’Angiulli, Amedeo; Weinberg, Joanne; Grunau, Ruth E.

    2016-01-01

    Child executive functions (cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, working memory) are key to success in school. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, is known to affect cognition; however, there is limited information about how child cortisol levels, parenting factors and child care context relate to executive functions in young children. The aim of this study was to examine relationships between child cortisol, parenting stress, parent coping, and daycare quality in relation to executive functions in children aged 3–5 years. We hypothesized that (1) poorer executive functioning would be related to higher child cortisol and higher parenting stress, and (2) positive daycare quality and positive parent coping style would buffer the effects of child cortisol and parenting stress on executive functions. A total of 101 children (53 girls, 48 boys, mean age 4.24 years ±0.74) with complete data on all measures were included. Three saliva samples to measure cortisol were collected at the child’s daycare/preschool in one morning. Parents completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function – Preschool Version (BRIEF-P), Parenting Stress Index (PSI), and Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ). The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ECERS-R) was used to measure the quality of daycare. It was found that children with poorer executive functioning had higher levels of salivary cortisol, and their parents reported higher parenting stress. However, parent coping style and quality of daycare did not modulate these relationships. Identifying ways to promote child executive functioning is an important direction for improving school readiness. PMID:26335047

  3. Analysis of Influence of Different Relations Types on the Quality of Thesaurus Application to Text Classification Problems

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    Nadezhda S. Lagutina

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The main purpose of the article is to analyze how effectively different types of thesaurus relations can be used for solutions of text classification tasks. The basis of the study is an automatically generated thesaurus of a subject area, that contains three types of relations: synonymous, hierarchical and associative. To generate the thesaurus the authors use a hybrid method based on several linguistic and statistical algorithms for extraction of semantic relations. The method allows to create a thesaurus with a sufficiently large number of terms and relations among them. The authors consider two problems: topical text classification and sentiment classification of large newspaper articles. To solve them, the authors developed two approaches that complement standard algorithms with a procedure that take into account thesaurus relations to determine semantic features of texts. The approach to topical classification includes the standard unsupervised BM25 algorithm and the procedure, that take into account synonymous and hierarchical relations of the thesaurus of the subject area. The approach to sentiment classification consists of two steps. At the first step, a thesaurus is created, whose terms weight polarities are calculated depending on the term occurrences in the training set or on the weights of related thesaurus terms. At the second step, the thesaurus is used to compute the features of words from texts and to classify texts by the algorithm SVM or Naive Bayes. In experiments with text corpora BBCSport, Reuters, PubMed and the corpus of articles about American immigrants, the authors varied the types of thesaurus relations that are involved in the classification and the degree of their use. The results of the experiments make it possible to evaluate the efficiency of the application of thesaurus relations for classification of raw texts and to determine under what conditions certain relationships affect more or less. In particular, the

  4. Effect of Telecollaboration on Translation of Culture-Bound Texts

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    Vahid Rafieyan

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available One of the most problematic perspectives of translation phenomenon is the cultural gap between the source language and the target language (Yang, 2010. This gap can be ideally filled through telecollaboration which provides internationally dispersed language learners in parallel language classes with cost-effective access to, and engagement with, peers who are expert speakers of the language under study (Belz, 2005. To investigate the effect of telecollaboration on the quality of translation of culture-bound texts, the current study was conducted on 64 Iranian undergraduate students of English translation at a university in Iran. Instruments used in the study consisted of three texts containing news excerpts from Voice of America (VOA. The study consisted of three phases: 1 assessing quality of translation of culture-bound texts, 2 random assignment of participants to two groups: one merely receiving cultural instruction while the other being linked to native English speakers through LinkedIn alongside receiving cultural instruction, and 3 assessing quality of translation of culture-bound texts immediately and two months following treatment. The results of mixed between-within subjects analysis of variance revealed the significant positive effect of telecollaboration on developing quality of translation of culture-bound texts and sustaining the attained knowledge. The pedagogical implications of the findings suggested incorporation of cultural components of source language society into translation courses and providing opportunities for translation students to be exposed to authentic and intensive source language culture through telecollaboration.

  5. Testing a Personal Narrative for Persuading People to Value and Use Comparative Physician Quality of Care Information: An Experimental Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greene, Jessica; Hibbard, Judith H; Sacks, Rebecca M

    2017-09-01

    This study tests whether a personal narrative can persuade people to value comparative data on physician quality. We conducted an online experiment with 850 adults. One group viewed a cartoon narrative on physician quality variation, another saw text on physician quality variation, and there was a control group. Study participants hypothetically selected a physician from a display of four physicians. The top-quality physician was furthest away and most expensive. We conducted multivariate models examining the relationship between experimental group and choice of the top-quality physician. There was no overall relationship between narrative or text information and choice of the highest quality physician. Among higher numerate participants, however, those who viewed the narrative had odds 2.7 times higher of selecting the top-quality physician compared with the control group. Personal narratives can persuade higher numerate people to consider quality when selecting physicians.

  6. The Impact Discounts and the Price-Quality Effect Have on the Choice of an Institution of Higher Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quigley, Charles J., Jr.; Bingham, Frank G., Jr.; Notarantonio, Elaine M.; Murray, Keith

    1999-01-01

    A survey of 303 potential college students and their parents found that high price and low price institutions are evaluated higher on quality attributes than are moderately priced institutions. Further, discounts (such as financial aid) were found to have little effect on the attendance decision. Implications for the pricing strategies used by…

  7. Higher Education Evaluation in Germany

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmidt, Bernhard; von Hippel, Aiga; Tippelt, Rudolf

    2010-01-01

    Quality assurance in the area of higher education has become a central issue among both politicians and scientists. University evaluations which refer to both research and teaching are an important element of quality assurance. The present contribution starts out by determining the different components of quality at universities according to…

  8. Consumption of grapefruit is associated with higher nutrient intakes and diet quality among adults, and more favorable anthropometrics in women, NHANES 2003–2008

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    Mary M. Murphy

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Background: Dietary guidance recommends consumption of a nutrient-dense diet containing a variety of fruits. The purpose of this study was to estimate usual nutrient intakes and adequacy of nutrient intakes among adult grapefruit consumers and non-consumers, and to examine associations between grapefruit consumption and select health parameters. Methods: The analysis was conducted with data collected in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 2003–2008. Respondents reporting consumption of any amount of grapefruit or 100% grapefruit juice at least once during the 2 days of dietary recall were classified as grapefruit consumers. Results: Among adults aged 19+ years with 2 days of dietary recall (n=12,789, 2.5% of males and 2.7% of females reported consumption of 100% grapefruit juice or fresh, canned, or frozen grapefruit during the recalls. Grapefruit consumers were less likely to have usual intakes of vitamin C (males: 0% vs. 47%; females: 0% vs. 43%; P<0.001 and magnesium (P<0.05 below the estimated average requirement (EAR compared to non-consumers, and they were more likely to meet adequate intake levels for dietary fiber (P<0.05. Potassium and β-carotene intakes were significantly higher among grapefruit consumers (P<0.001. Diet quality as assessed by the Healthy Eating Index-2005 (HEI-2005 was higher in grapefruit consumers (males: 66.2 [95% CI: 61.0–71.5] vs. 55.4 [95% CI: 54.4–56.4]; females: 71.4 [95% CI: 65.1–77.6] vs. 61.2 [95% CI: 59.8–62.6]. Among women, grapefruit consumption was associated with lower body weight, waist circumference, body mass index (BMI, triglycerides, C-reactive protein (CRP, and higher high-density lipoprotein (HDL cholesterol (P<0.05, However, risk of being overweight/obese was not associated with grapefruit consumption. Conclusion: Consumption of grapefruit was associated with higher intakes of vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, dietary fiber, and improved diet quality

  9. Effects of Sleep Quality on Quality of Life in Patients with Osteoporosis

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    Şule Şahin Onat

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Aim: The purpose of the study was to evaluate sleep quality in osteoporotic individuals, and to determine the associated factors with sleep quality and to investigate the relationship between quality of life and sleep quality Material and Methods: 154 patients with osteoporosis admitted to our outpatient clinic included in the study. A questionnaire that was including patients age, sex, marital status, education level, occupation, height, weight, alcohol use, smoking, physical activity level, milk consumption and previous fragility fracture was completed. DXA was used to determine bone mineral density of the lumbar spine and femoral neck. Thoracal and lumbar compression fractures were evaulated with thoracal and lumbar radiography.Visual analog scale was used to evaluate back pain. Pittsburgh sleep quality index was used to determine sleep quality and QUALEFFO was used to evaluate quality of life in the individuals. Results: A total of 154 individuals included in the study. 65 patients (42.2% had a sleep disorder and 89 patients (57.8% hadn’t a sleep disorder. Mean age, female gender, not being married, not working actively, illiteracy rates were higher; the mean of weekly consumption of milk were lower in patients with sleep disorders than without sleep disorders. Vertebral compression fracture was more in patients with sleep disorders than without sleep disorders. Both lumbar and femoral T and Z values, VAS values were significantly higher in patients with sleep disorders than without sleep disorders (p<0.05. The value of all sub-parameters of quality of life scale QUALEFFO and total value were significantly higher in patients with sleep disorders than without sleep disorders (p<0.05. Conclusion: Sleep disorders in patients with osteoporosis are releated to factors such as age, sex, marital status, education level and diet. Sleep disorders cause a further decrease in the quality of life of patients with osteoporosis. (Turkish Journal of

  10. Use of Quality Models and Indicators for Evaluating Test Quality in an ESP Course

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    IEVA RUDZINSKA

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Qualitative methods of assessment play a decisive role in education in general and in language learning in particular. The necessity to perform a qualitative assessment comes from both increased student competition in higher education institutions (HEIs, and hence higher demands for fair assessment, and a growing public awareness on higher education issues, and therefore the need to account for a wider circle of stakeholders, including society as a whole. The aim of the present paper is to study the regulations and laws pertaining to the issue of assessment in Latvian HEIs, as well as to carry out literature sources analysis about assessment in language testing, seeking to select criteria characterizing the quality of English for Specific Purposes (ESP tests and to apply the model of evaluating the quality of a language test on an example of a test in sport English, developed in a Latvian higher education institution. An analysis of the regulations and laws about assessment in higher education and literature sources about tests in language courses has enabled the development of a test quality model, consisting of seven intrinsic quality criteria: clarity, adequacy, deep approach, attractiveness, originality/similarity, orientation towards student learning result/process, test scoring objectivity/subjectivity. Quality criteria comprise eleven indicators. The reliability of the given model is evaluated by means of the whole model, its criteria and indicator Cronbach’s alphas and point-biserial (item-total correlations or discrimination indexes DI. The test was taken by 63 participants, all of them 2nd year full time students attending a Latvian higher education institution. A statistical data analysis was performed with SPSS 17.0. The results show that, although test adequacy and clarity is sufficiently high, attractiveness and deep approach should be improved. Also the reliability of one version of the test is higher than that of the other one

  11. Improving Quality Higher Education in Nigeria: The Roles of Stakeholders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asiyai, Romina Ifeoma

    2015-01-01

    This paper discusses the roles of stakeholders in improving quality of university education in Nigeria. Internal and external stakeholders are identified and the various roles they could play in improving the quality of university education are discussed. The paper contends that continuous and holistic improvement in university education system…

  12. Rethinking Teacher Quality at the Higher Education Level: Need For ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Quality has been a controversial issue in education generally and Business Education in particular. Business Education is aimed at equipping the recipients with the relevant knowledge, skills, attitude and values that will enable them function effectively as citizens. The quality of Business Teachers is paramount to the ...

  13. Un modelo para el control de calidad academica de los textos de instruccion a distancia (A Model for Controlling the Academic Quality of Distance Education Texts).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolanos-Mora, Guiselle; And Others

    1992-01-01

    In response to the need for a system of control over the academic quality of distance education texts, this article proposes a methodological model based on criteria that evaluate written materials based on their instructional quality, design, and production. A discussion and figures evaluate educational aspects of content, communication,…

  14. Knowledge Transfer in Romanian Higher Education

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    Mariana NICOLAE

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to explore the process of knowledge transfer in Romanian Higher Education Organizations by focusing on aspects of leadership. The current economic and social contexts are under a process of transformation. Educational institutions make no exception, as they must adapt to the changing demands of the market if they want to survive. Concepts such as education massification, competitive advantage of universities, quality assurance, university performance are widely discussed nowadays. All in all, universities are knowlege organizations that are one of the key drivers of innovation, development, leadership and research, as they create and transfer knowledge. An organization’s ability to communicate, share and innovate is critical in order to meet the challenges of the knowledge society. Starting from this general background, the present paper explores the characteristics and behaviors necessary for an ellective leadership in Higher Education Organizations through a series of interviews with leaders in the academia.

  15. Learning history by composing synthesis texts: Effects of an instructional programme on learning, reading and writing processes, and text quality

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Martínez, I.; Mateos, M.; Martín, E.; Rijlaarsdam, G.

    2015-01-01

    The aim of the present study was to improve learning from texts via strategies that train students how to process synthesis texts. Processing such texts requires goal-oriented interaction between reading and writing activities. The participants were 62 sixth-grade students, 33 in the experimental

  16. ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO EFFICIENCY EVALUATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

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    Furková, Andrea

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Evaluation of efficiency and ranking of higher education institutions is very popular and important topic of public policy. The assessment of the quality of higher education institutions can stimulate positive changes in higher education. In this study we focus on assessment and ranking of Slovak economic faculties. We try to apply two different quantitative approaches for evaluation Slovak economic faculties - Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA as an econometric approach and PROMETHEE II as multicriteria decision making method. Via SFA we examine faculties’ success from scientific point of view, i.e. their success in area of publications and citations. Next part of analysis deals with assessing of Slovak economic sciences faculties from overall point of view through the multicriteria decision making method. In the analysis we employ panel data covering 11 economic faculties observed over the period of 5 years. Our main aim is to point out other quantitative approaches to efficiency estimation of higher education institutions.

  17. E-Learning as a Means to Improve the Quality of Higher Education

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    Kuimova Marina

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The use of e-learning has become an important part of higher education. It expands the pedagogical resources, assists students in their learning, develops learners’ skills, motivation and knowledge, prepares them for being productive in their workplaces of today’s society. The paper provides the literature review regarding the use of e-learning, its advantages and disadvantages. The authors examine students’ perception of e-learning courses based on the Moodle platform at National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University. The findings from a survey of 67 students reveal that the respondents highlighted the following advantages of e-learning courses: convenience, combination of theoretical and practical material, on-line testing and apprehensibility of the assessment criteria.

  18. Comparison of Document Index Graph Using TextRank and HITS Weighting Method in Automatic Text Summarization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hadyan, Fadhlil; Shaufiah; Arif Bijaksana, Moch.

    2017-01-01

    Automatic summarization is a system that can help someone to take the core information of a long text instantly. The system can help by summarizing text automatically. there’s Already many summarization systems that have been developed at this time but there are still many problems in those system. In this final task proposed summarization method using document index graph. This method utilizes the PageRank and HITS formula used to assess the web page, adapted to make an assessment of words in the sentences in a text document. The expected outcome of this final task is a system that can do summarization of a single document, by utilizing document index graph with TextRank and HITS to improve the quality of the summary results automatically.

  19. Stakeholders and quality assurance in higher education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Leisyte, Liudvika; Westerheijden, Donald F.; Eggins, Heather

    2014-01-01

    The various changes in post-bureaucratic organising, which are moving towards network approaches, coupled with the managerial agenda of corporate governance, have redefined the roles of various internal and external stakeholders in the governance of higher education institutions (Leisyte and Dee,

  20. Considering the Marketing of Higher Education: The Role of Student Learning Gain as a Potential Indicator of Teaching Quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polkinghorne, Martyn; Roushan, Gelareh; Taylor, Julia

    2017-01-01

    The marketization of higher education has ensured that students have become consumers. As a result, students are demanding increased levels of information regarding potential university courses so that they can make informed decisions regarding how best to invest their money, time and opportunity. A comparison of the teaching quality delivered on…

  1. Arts in Higher Education: an evaluation of Fine Arts research activity in Spain through quality indicators

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    Raquel Caerols Mateo

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The long-standing conflict between research evaluation standards and the fine arts dates from the transformation of the former schools of fine arts into bachelor’s degree programs. The origin of the conflict is epistemological in nature and has consequences at both the academic and curricular level. The quality indicators for evaluating professors are the central issue of this problem still to be solved. Although current systems of evaluation cover both the production of scientific publications as part of traditional research and the artistic creation itself, academics in the fine arts note that deficiencies exist in the assessment of both these aspects.The focus of this paper is primarily on the study of the main national and international databases in the arts, in order to assess their validity as quality indicators for the scholarly output of academics.

  2. The Concepts of Quality, Quality Assurance and Quality Enhancement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elassy, Noha

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to critically review and discuss different definitions of the concepts of quality, quality assurance (QA) and quality enhancement (QE) in higher education (HE) with presenting critical perspectives of the literature. Design/methodology/approach: The paper looks at literature concerns with the meaning of quality, QA and QE,…

  3. The Main Directions of Improving the Management of the Higher Education System

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    Terovanesov Mykhajlo R.

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The article is aimed at determining the mechanisms of improving the management of the system of higher education in the context of the current regulatory support, which will be the means to solve the problem of inefficient functioning, lack of financing, and low quality of higher education. The factors, causing negative impact on development of the higher education system were analyzed, the most important of which are the lack of financing and the shortcomings of the legal support of the education sector. It has been determined that a shortage of funds and lack of communication between the education sphere and employers reduces the efficiency of management of the system of higher education. The legal support of the educational activities requires improvement due to the declarative nature of individual provisions on the management of the system of higher education. Consideration of the legal factor is necessary for regulating the decentralization of management in the education sphere, improvement of financing, perfection of the system of control of the education quality. Ways for decentralizing the management of the education sphere, increasing its effectiveness, and improving the economic status of higher education institutions, have been suggested. The scientific-practical recommendations have been formulated to attract potential consumers of educational services to reforming the higher education system and increasing its effectiveness.

  4. Quality Assurance VS. Quality Culture into the Higher Education Services Sector. Points of Convergence to Performance

    OpenAIRE

    Popa Simona; Constantinescu Lucreþia Mariana; Ionescu Romaniþa Valentina

    2013-01-01

    Our paper focus to approch an analitical analysis between the quality assurance process and the organizational quality culture. The main but was to demonstrate that, the both process are providing together to Romanian universities performance.

  5. Higher Education: Reputational Effects, Distorted Signaling and Propitious Selection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena V. Savitskaya

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available In the paper the authors attempt to underpin the hypothesis that under certain conditions a propitious selection may take place on the higher education market. It is a phenomenon when brand universities automatically reproduce their positive reputation without improving the quality of teaching due to influx of talented entrants. The authors apply econometric modelling and regression analysis based on survey of first-year students from Moscow to demonstrate that graduates with high USE marks really prefer to choose among brand universities; moreover, they appreciate a possibility to obtain a prestigious diploma even more than that of acquiring a particular profession. However, entrants do not possess full information about the quality of teaching in a particular university. The analysis presented in the paper shows that university rankings do not contribute to overcoming of this information asymmetry, since they transmit distorted signals caused by the methodology of ranking. The rankings, first of all, accentuate academic activity of teachers rather than educational process and interaction with students. For this reason, higher schools often adopt such a strategy to meet the ranking criteria as much as possible; they also tend to improve namely these indicators disregarding the other to become a leader. As a result, brand universities may surpass ordinary universities not due to rendering educational services of higher quality but due to selection of best entrants and peer-effects. These factors allow them to have excellent graduates, thus maintain positive reputation in employers’ opinion and simultaneously raise the brand value by advancing in a ranking.

  6. Fuzzy Failure Analysis: A New Approach to Service Quality Analysis in Higher Education Institutions (Case Study: Vali-e-asr University of Rafsanjan-Iran)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takalo, Salim Karimi; Abadi, Ali Reza Naser Sadr; Vesal, Seyed Mahdi; Mirzaei, Amir; Nawaser, Khaled

    2013-01-01

    In recent years, concurrent with steep increase in the growth of higher education institutions, improving of educational service quality with an emphasis on students' satisfaction has become an important issue. The present study is going to use the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) in order to evaluate the quality of educational services in…

  7. Service Quality in Higher Education--A Case Study of Universiti Brunei Darussalam

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alani, Farooq; Yaqoub, Yasir; Hamdan, Mahani

    2015-01-01

    No one doubts the value and importance of quality education, and quality assurance is one major driving force to achieve this. Measuring the performance of service quality of education services of Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), as part of the quality assessment, was assessed based on Parasuraman's five Servqual dimensions. The assessment was…

  8. Can Text Messages Mitigate Summer Melt?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castleman, Benjamin L.; Page, Lindsay C.

    2013-01-01

    Higher education officials have long been familiar with the concept of "summer melt," where students who have paid a deposit to attend one college or university instead matriculate at a different institution, usually presumed to be of comparable quality. In previous research, drawing on longitudinal data from various urban school…

  9. The impact of quality department on organizing quality in organizations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Franc Brcar

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Research Question: The existence of organizations in competitive markets depends on their ability to stay competitive. Quality departments play a key role in organizing and ensuring quality. Purpose: The survey tries to determine the correlation between the existence of quality departments and organization of quality in organizations; our hypothesis is that the correlation is very strong. Method: A survey was performed in 484 large and medium-sized organizations in Slovenia to examine the situation in this area. Pearson's χ2-test was used for data processing and results presented in a contingency table. Results: Organizations with quality departments more frequently also have certificate ISO 9001 in comparison with organizations without quality departments. Also these organizations more frequently have supplier-relations teams, monitoring system of suppliers' progress and excellence centers. In short, the quality in these organizations is organized on a higher level than in organizations without quality departments. Organization: The role of quality department is important for organizations. The findings of the research are important for decision making in organizations. Society: Each organization contributes to efficiency and effectiveness of a nation. The organizational level of the nation can be measured by number of certificates per capita. Originality: The research is unique because of the research model and method applied. Limitations/Future Research: The research is limited to large and medium-sized organizations in Slovenia.

  10. Quality Assurance in Asian Distance Education: Diverse Approaches and Common Culture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Insung Jung

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available With the phenomenal expansion of distance education in Asia during the past three decades, there has been growing public demand for quality and accountability in distance education. This study investigates the national quality assurance systems for distance education at the higher education level in Asia with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of the current level of development of quality assurance in Asian distance education and to offer potential directions for policy makers when developing and elaborating quality assurance systems for distance education. The analysis of the existing quality assurance frameworks in the 11 countries/territories selected reveals that the level of quality assurance policy integration in the overall national quality assurance in higher education policy framework varies considerably. The purpose of quality assurance, policy frameworks, methods, and instruments in place are generally tailored to each country’s particular circumstances. There are, however, obvious commonalities that underpin these different quality assurance efforts.

  11. Cleaning OCR'd text with Regular Expressions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Turner O'Hara

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Optical Character Recognition (OCR—the conversion of scanned images to machine-encoded text—has proven a godsend for historical research. This process allows texts to be searchable on one hand and more easily parsed and mined on the other. But we’ve all noticed that the OCR for historic texts is far from perfect. Old type faces and formats make for unique OCR. How might we improve poor quality OCR? The answer is Regular Expressions or “regex.”

  12. Chinese Cosmopolitanism and the System of Higher Education in 1970-2000

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A V Sidorova

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available The article defines cosmopolitanism in China through the prisms of nationalism, multiculturalism and consumerism. This definition makes it possible to better understand the proliferation of interactive, or high-quality, cosmopolitanism through the activity of state agencies in modern China. In this article the system of higher education is presented as one of the most significant state agency, which has a strong, though indirect, influence on accepting the principles of cosmopolitan approach for further self-advancement of individuals. It is substantiated that the quantitative limitations of the opportunities in the higher education system can be overcome by developing a collective level of cosmopolitanism.

  13. Quality Evaluation of the Hungarian Higher Education Based on the Opinion of the "Customers": An Application at Budapest University of Technology and Economics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kovesi, Janos; Szabo, Tibor; Bota, Gabor

    2004-01-01

    Quality is the central element of the results of changes happening in Hungarian higher education, which is serving an ever-increasing number of students. Following the transition to capitalism, as the number of students greatly increases, the direct control of higher education by the government ceases, and especially because of the "mass…

  14. Text Structure and Retention of Prose.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimmer, John W.

    1985-01-01

    The effects of text structure were studied using two kinds of reading materials: a standard text with headings and illustrations, as well as a nonstructured manuscript. The manuscript readers scored higher on delayed tests, generated more relevant ideas, and wrote better essays both immediately and after a delay. (Author/GDC)

  15. Quality Minus Junk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Asness, Clifford S.; Frazzini, Andrea; Heje Pedersen, Lasse

    We define a quality security as one that has characteristics that, all-else-equal, an investor should be willing to pay a higher price for: stocks that are safe, profitable, growing, and well managed. High-quality stocks do have higher prices on average, but not by a very large margin. Perhaps....... The price of quality – i.e., how much investors pay extra for higher quality stocks – varies over time, reaching a low during the internet bubble. Further, a low price of quality predicts a high future return of QMJ. Finally, controlling for quality resurrects the otherwise moribund size effect....

  16. Instructional Text: The Transition from Page to Screen.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerr, Stephen T.

    1986-01-01

    Discusses the types of problems that arise when text is presented in electronic form: (1) surface design, which involves typography, layout, graphics and illustrations, and the quality of language; and (2) interface design, which is manifested on the levels of immediate surface of the text, internal structure, and external structure. (SKC)

  17. The relationship between general practice characteristics and quality of care: a national survey of quality indicators used in the UK Quality and Outcomes Framework, 2004–5

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Armstrong David

    2006-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The descriptive information now available for primary care in the UK is unique in international terms. Under the 'Quality and Outcomes Framework' (QOF, data for 147 performance indicators are available for each general practice. We aimed to determine the relationship between the quality of primary care, as judged by the total QOF score, social deprivation and practice characteristics. Methods We obtained QOF data for each practice in England and linked these with census derived data (deprivation indices and proportion of patients born in a developing country. Characteristics of practices were also obtained. QOF and census data were available for 8480 practices. Results The median QOF score was 999.7 out of a possible maximum of 1050 points. Three characteristics were independently associated with higher QOF scores: training practices, group practices and practices in less socially deprived areas. In a regression model, these three factors explained 14.6% of the variation in QOF score. Higher list sizes per GP, turnover of registered patients, chronic disease prevalence, proportions of elderly patients or patients born in a developing country did not contribute to lower QOF scores in the final model. Conclusion Socially deprived areas experience a lower quality of primary care, as judged by QOF scores. Social deprivation itself is an independent predictor of lower quality. Training and group practices are independent predictors of higher quality but these types of practices are less well represented in socially deprived areas.

  18. SAW Classification Algorithm for Chinese Text Classification

    OpenAIRE

    Xiaoli Guo; Huiyu Sun; Tiehua Zhou; Ling Wang; Zhaoyang Qu; Jiannan Zang

    2015-01-01

    Considering the explosive growth of data, the increased amount of text data’s effect on the performance of text categorization forward the need for higher requirements, such that the existing classification method cannot be satisfied. Based on the study of existing text classification technology and semantics, this paper puts forward a kind of Chinese text classification oriented SAW (Structural Auxiliary Word) algorithm. The algorithm uses the special space effect of Chinese text where words...

  19. Exploring Diet Quality between Urban and Rural Dwelling Women of Reproductive Age

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julie C. Martin

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Health disparities, including weight gain and obesity exist between urban and rural dwelling women. The primary aim was to compare diet quality in urban and rural women of reproductive age, and secondary analyses of the difference in macronutrient and micronutrient intake in urban and rural women, and the predictors of diet quality. Diet quality was assessed in urban (n = 149 and rural (n = 394 women by a modified version of the Dietary Guideline Index (DGI energy, macronutrient and micronutrient intake from a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ and predictors of diet quality. Diet quality did not significantly differ between urban and rural women (mean ± standard deviation (SD, 84.8 ± 15.9 vs. 83.9 ± 16.5, p = 0.264. Rural women reported a significantly higher intake of protein, fat, saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, cholesterol and iron and a higher score in the meat and meat alternatives component of the diet quality tool in comparison to urban women. In all women, a higher diet quality was associated with higher annual household income (>$Australian dollar (AUD 80,000 vs. <$AUD80,000 p = 0.013 and working status (working fulltime/part-time vs. unemployed p = 0.043. Total diet quality did not differ in urban and rural women; however, a higher macronutrient consumption pattern was potentially related to a higher lean meat intake in rural women. Women who are unemployed and on a lower income are an important target group for future dietary interventions aiming to improve diet quality.

  20. Leader-Member Exchange Theory in Higher and Distance Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert Leo Power

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Unlike many other prominent leadership theories, leader-member exchange (LMX theory does not focus on the specific characteristics of an effective organizational leader. Rather, LMX focuses on the nature and quality of the relationships between a leader and his or her individual subordinates. The ideal is for a leader to develop as many high-quality relationships as possible. This will lead to increases in subordinates’ sense of job satisfaction and organizational citizenship, as well as to increased productivity and attainment of organizational goals. LMX has been criticized for its potential to alienate some subordinates, failing to account for the effects of group dynamics and social identity, and failing to provide specific advice on how leaders can develop high-quality relationships. However, LMX has been heralded as an important leadership theory in higher and distance educational contexts because of its emphasis on promoting autonomy and citizenship, as well as its ability to complement and mediate transformational leadership styles. Recent authors have attempted to provide specific advice for leaders who want to learn how to build and capitalize on the high-quality relationships described by LMX theory.

  1. Individual variation in children's reading comprehension across digital text types

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fesel, S.S.; Segers, P.C.J.; Verhoeven, L.T.W.

    2018-01-01

    The present study examined children's digital text comprehension of digital text types linear digital text vs hypertext, with or without graphical navigable overviews. We investigated to what extent individual variation in children's comprehension could be explained by lexical quality (word reading

  2. Educação a distância no ensino superior: expansão com qualidade?/Distance learning in higher education: expansion and quality?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco Paulo do Nascimento

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Este estudo objetivou investigar e analisar a necessidade de expansão da educação a distância no ensino superior, bem como a possibilidade de esse novo paradigma oferecer educação com a qualidade necessária para enfrentamento dos desafios de socialização do conhecimento. Foi elaborado por meio de pesquisa bibliográfica que alcançou contribuições teóricas sobre a relevância do conhecimento para o desenvolvimento mundial e de pessoas, educação, pesquisas sobre demanda e oferta de vagas no ensino superior, estudo comparativo entre ensino tradicional e ensino a distância, referenciais para educação a distância de qualidade, entrevistas em reportagens com professores e autoridades educacionais e relatos sobre experiências em aulas não presenciais. O trabalho indica que há demanda reprimida e crescente por vagas no ensino superior, que a infra-estrutura do País não é capaz de gerar a quantidade de vagas demandadas, e que o ensino a distância é capaz de ensejar educação de qualidade. The objective of this study was to examine and analyze the need to expanding distance learning in higher education, as well as the possibility of this new paradigm offering education with the necessary quality to face up the challenges of knowledge socialization. The study was developed through bibliographic research which reached theoretical contributions on the relevance of knowledge to world and people development, education, research on supply and demand of openings in higher education, comparative study between traditional and distance education, standards of distance education, interviews with professors and educational authorities and reports on docent experiences in non-presential classes. This study indicates that there is an unfulfilled and growing demand for openings in higher education, that our country’s infrastructure is not able to generate the urged amount of vacancies and that distance learning figures to be capable of

  3. Higher quality of life and lower depression for people on ART in Uganda as compared to a community control group.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Faith Martin

    Full Text Available Provision of antiretroviral treatment (ART to people living with HIV (PLWH has increased globally. Research measuring whether ART restores subjective well-being to "normal" levels is lacking, particularly in resource limited settings. The study objectives are to compare quality of life and depression symptoms for PLWH on ART to a general community population and to explore factors to explain these differences, including socio-economic status and the impact of urban or rural residence. PLWH on ART (n = 263 were recruited from ART delivery sites and participants not on ART (n = 160 were recruited from communities in Wakiso District, Uganda. Participants were interviewed using the translated World Health Organisation Quality of Life brief measure, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist depression section, and questions about socio-economic status, residence as urban or rural and, for PLWH on ART, self-reported adherence and use of HIV counselling. Compared to the community sample and controlling for location of residence, PLWH on ART had significantly higher quality of life (QOL for physical, psychological and environment domains, but not the social domain. These differences were not due to socio-economic status alone. Depression scores were significantly lower for PLWH on ART. Both comparisons controlled for the effect of location of residence. People on ART self-reported high adherence and the majority had used HIV counselling services. Our findings show better QOL amongst PLWH on ART compared to a general community sample, which cannot be explained solely by differences in socio-economic status nor location of residence. The general community sample results point towards the challenges of life in this setting. Access to health services may underpin this difference and further research should explore this finding, in addition to identification of psychological mechanisms that relate to better QOL. ART provision infrastructure has clear benefits

  4. Measuring Institutional Performance in Higher Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyerson, Joel W., Ed.; Massy, William F., Ed.

    This collection of seven essays from the Stanford Forum for Higher Education Futures focuses on how downsizing, quality management, and reengineering have are affecting higher education. An introductory paper, "Introduction: Change in Higher Education: Its Effect on Institutional Performance," (Joel W. Meyerson and Sandra L. Johnson)…

  5. THE WATER QUALITY FROM SAINT ANA LAKE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.VIGH

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Inside the Ciomad Massive appears a unique lake in Romania, with an exclusive precipitations alimentation regime. The lake’s origin and the morphometric elements, together with the touristic activity, determine the water’s quality and characteristics. Water status evaluation was realized using random samples taken between the years 2005 and 2010. Qualitative parameters indicate the existence of a clear water lake, belonging to ultra-oligotrophic faze. This is because the crater is covered with forest and the surface erosion is very poor. Also the aquatic vegetation is rare. From all analyzed indicators, only ammonium and total mineral nitrogen have higher values during last years. In the future, the lake needs a higher protection against water quality degradation.

  6. Quality Label as the Guarantee of Top Quality Agricultural and Food Products Produced in Slovak Republic – a Case Study of Slovak Food Market

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ingrida Košičiarová

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the present paper was to determine the Slovak consumer’s opinion about the purchase and quality level of agricultural and food products produced in the Slovak Republic, as well as to determine their knowledge and preference of the National Quality Label “Značka kvality SK”. As research methods, there have been used the methods of survey and structured questionnaire consisting of 22 questions. The total number of respondents was 2.808 randomly selected respondents from all over the Slovak Republic. For a deeper analysis of the obtained results, there have been set out nine hypothesis, which have been tested with the use of Pearson’s chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, Mann-Whitney U-Test and Cramer’s contingency coefficient. The results of the present paper show, that the knowledge and preference of higher quality food is between Slovak consumers on a pretty high level – more than 44 % respondents think that they buy higher quality products, more than 49 % of respondents think that the agricultural and food products produced in Slovak Republic are rather higher and higher quality, more than 58 % of respondents know the Quality Label “Značka kvality SK”, over 56 % of respondents could describe its logo, more than 60 % of them could spontaneously name five brands, respectively products labelled with this Quality Label and almost 50 % of respondents buy also the ecological products.

  7. A Research on Expectation and Perception of Service Quality in Tourism Education at University Level in Ankara

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gonca Güzel Şahin

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available To supply qualified manpower that is necessary in tourism sector, “quality of education” is one most important factor in higher education institutions. In this study, expectations on tourism education and level of satisfaction of the students that are the most important part of higher education institutions have been researched. In the research, service quality measurement models that are listed in the literature have been used to measure service quality in higher education institutions. By using the servqual model, the level of meeting the expectations of students about tourism education served by higher education institutions has been measured and important aspects of service quality according to students have been showed. The results of this study that is focused on tourism education and service quality show that the students, one of the major groups of higher education institutions, have a very low level of satisfaction about their education.

  8. UTILIZATION OF QUALITY TOOLS: DOES SECTOR AND SIZE MATTER?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luis Fonseca

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This research focuses on the influence of company sector and size on the level of utilization of Basic and Advanced Quality Tools. The paper starts with a literature review and then presents the methodology used for the survey. Based on the responses from 202 managers of Portuguese ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System certified organizations, statistical tests were performed. Results show, with 95% confidence level, that industry and services have a similar proportion of use of Basic and Advanced Quality Tools. Concerning size, bigger companies show a higher trend to use Advanced Quality Tools than smaller ones. For Basic Quality Tools, there was no statistical significant difference at a 95% confidence level for different company sizes. The three basic Quality tools with higher utilization were Check sheets, Flow charts and Histograms (for Services or Control Charts/ (for Industry, however 22% of the surveyed organizations reported not using Basic Quality Tools, which highlights a major improvement opportunity for these companies. Additional studies addressing motivations, benefits and barriers for Quality Tools application should be undertaken for further validation and understanding of these results.

  9. Competition with Variety Seeking and Habitual Consumption: Price Commitment or Quality Commitment?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liyang Xiong

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates price and quality competition in a market where consumers seek variety and habit formation. Variety seeking is modeled as a decrease in the willingness to pay for product purchased on the previous occasion while habitual consumption may increase future marginal utility. We compare two competing strategies: price commitment and quality commitment. With a three-stage Hotelling-type model, we show that variety seeking intensifies while habitual consumption softens the competition. With price commitment, firms supply lower quality levels in period 1 and higher quality levels in period 2, while, with quality commitment, firms charge higher prices in period 1 and lower prices in period 2. However, the habitual consumption brings the opposite effect. In addition, with quality commitment variety seeking leads to a lower profit and a higher consumer surplus, while habitual consumption leads to the opposite results. On the other side, with price commitment these behaviors have no effect on the consumer surplus, although they still lower down the firm profits. Finally, we also identify conditions under which one strategy outperforms the other.

  10. A Framework for Collaborative Networked Learning in Higher Education: Design & Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ghassan F. Issa

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a comprehensive framework for building collaborative learning networks within higher educational institutions. This framework focuses on systems design and implementation issues in addition to a complete set of evaluation, and analysis tools. The objective of this project is to improve the standards of higher education in Jordan through the implementation of transparent, collaborative, innovative, and modern quality educational programs. The framework highlights the major steps required to plan, design, and implement collaborative learning systems. Several issues are discussed such as unification of courses and program of studies, using appropriate learning management system, software design development using Agile methodology, infrastructure design, access issues, proprietary data storage, and social network analysis (SNA techniques.

  11. The Role of English in Present Day Higher Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eman Abdulsalam AL-Khalil

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available In today’s global world and with the help of modern technology, English has become the most common and dominant language spoken and used both at the national and international levels. It has been playing a major role in many sectors as medicine, engineering, politics, economics, international relations, and higher education in particular, the most important area where English is needed. It has also become a medium of instruction at universities in a large number of countries, a basic means of second language learning / teaching, an accessing source of modern knowledge and scientific research, and a means of global communication and earn living. It is realized nowadays at the level of Higher Education in many countries around the world, in addition to EU countries as Germany, Turkey, China, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Australian, India …, the significance of providing education in English side by side with their natives. Hence, serious steps have taken to improve the quality of instruction in English at the administrative, academic, students’, publications and research levels. And in order to prove English language international power, it goes beyond its tertiary. Many English language proficiency, training and degree programs are managed not only inside but also abroad for internationalization of higher education to keep it up to date. However, this paper signifies the role of English in modern education, particularly in higher education sector and the role of modern technology in promoting English language learning / teaching quality to meet the standards, communication needs and cultural exchange across the world.

  12. Between Cost Cheap Prices And Increasing High Quality Educational University In Pekanbaru City

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prama Widayat

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The need of higher education in the community has become the main thing for the future, not all can study at State Universities (PTN but some must enter in Private Universities (PTS. But the problem that arises is the problem of tuition fees in the PTS course higher than the state university, the tendency of prospective students in choosing Higher Education (PT based on cost and quality. While the problems from the PT side lies in the budget constraints in improving quality because of talk about the quality of course comprehensive from the means of lectures to the specialization of universities. Limitations of costs can at least be overcome by the synergy of universities, private companies and governments so it is not always student.

  13. The Pedagogy of Higher Education: How to Evaluate the Quality of Training in Morocco to Improve it

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sara Riahi

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper is devoted to the profession of higher education. It aims to characterize the profession of teaching and objectively draw the portrait of the Moroccan teacher to identify the business improvement routes, so the education system. This paper deals with the teaching profession in all cycles of education and training: a detailed analysis of the state of the trade is proposed for primary and secondary education, supplemented by the results of the survey, opinion on these cycles; for higher education and vocational training, a brief description of the state of business is provided in this paper.

  14. Effects of the Manipulation of Cognitive Processes on EFL Writers' Text Quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ong, Justina; Zhang, Lawrence Jun

    2013-01-01

    Little is known about the effects of various planning and revising conditions on composition quality in experimental or TESOL education research. This study examined the effects of planning conditions (planning, prolonged planning, free writing, and control), subplanning conditions (task-given, task-content-given, and…

  15. Measuring the Cost of Quality in Higher Education: A Faculty Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruhupatty, LeRoy; Maguad, Ben A.

    2015-01-01

    Most critical activities in colleges and universities are driven by financial considerations. It is thus important that revenues are found to support these activities or ways identified to streamline costs. One way to cut cost is to improve the efficiency of schools to address the issue of poor quality. In this paper, the cost of poor quality in…

  16. Mobile Message Services Using Text, Audio or Video for Improving the Learning Infrastructure in Higher Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Björn Olof Hedin

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available This study examines how media files sent to mobile phones can be used to improve education at universities, and describes a prototype implement of such a system using standard components. To accomplish this, university students were equipped with mobile phones and software that allowed teachers to send text-based, audio-based and video-based messages to the students. Data was collected using questionnaires, focus groups and log files. The conclusions were that students preferred to have information and learning content sent as text, rather than audio or video. Text messages sent to phones should be no longer than 2000 characters. The most appreciated services were notifications of changes in course schedules, short lecture introductions and reminders. The prototype showed that this functionality is easy to implement using standard components.

  17. Sustainability in the Higher Education System: An Opportunity to Improve Quality and Image

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniela M. Salvioni

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available In view of the increasing importance attributed to social responsibility and stakeholder relationship management, more universities have expanded their research topics and their educational programs through the years. High attention is dedicated to the dominant principles and values of internal and external relations, to the innovation processes designed to ensure an approach to sustainable development. However, less attention is dedicated to the sustainability governance orientation and to the development of a strong institutional culture of sustainability, which is a key success factor to improve the quality and the image. This article observes the sustainability governance orientation, through the analysis of the information on the websites of three fair groups of universities in the international Top 500-ARWU (Academic Ranking of World Universities 2015 ranking. The aim is to verify if there is a link between the degree of sustainability culture in the management and the positioning of the universities in the international ranking. In addition, the analysis is compared with self-assessment data carried out by the same universities in terms of performance sustainability through the STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System online platform. As principal consideration, we have noted that the best universities in the ranking have a management approach based on a shared vision of sustainability development of their university leaders, who play an essential role affirming and disseminating a sustainability culture. All this opens broader future implications intended to highlight the importance of management sustainability as a quality improvement factor of universities.

  18. Text mining improves prediction of protein functional sites.

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    Karin M Verspoor

    Full Text Available We present an approach that integrates protein structure analysis and text mining for protein functional site prediction, called LEAP-FS (Literature Enhanced Automated Prediction of Functional Sites. The structure analysis was carried out using Dynamics Perturbation Analysis (DPA, which predicts functional sites at control points where interactions greatly perturb protein vibrations. The text mining extracts mentions of residues in the literature, and predicts that residues mentioned are functionally important. We assessed the significance of each of these methods by analyzing their performance in finding known functional sites (specifically, small-molecule binding sites and catalytic sites in about 100,000 publicly available protein structures. The DPA predictions recapitulated many of the functional site annotations and preferentially recovered binding sites annotated as biologically relevant vs. those annotated as potentially spurious. The text-based predictions were also substantially supported by the functional site annotations: compared to other residues, residues mentioned in text were roughly six times more likely to be found in a functional site. The overlap of predictions with annotations improved when the text-based and structure-based methods agreed. Our analysis also yielded new high-quality predictions of many functional site residues that were not catalogued in the curated data sources we inspected. We conclude that both DPA and text mining independently provide valuable high-throughput protein functional site predictions, and that integrating the two methods using LEAP-FS further improves the quality of these predictions.

  19. EVALUATION OF SERVICES’ QUALITY IN UPPER SILESIA ACCOMMODATION FACILITIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iwona Cieślik

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the results of study about impact of accommodation services’ quality, particularly quality of work and qualifications of staff, on the guests’ opinion, and thus promoting the accommodation facilities, and making a choice of a hotel in the Upper Silesia. The study involved 200 people, taking into account their gender, age, place of residence, education and occupational status. The research tool was a survey questionnaire. The results indicate close correlation between the quality of staff services (individual approach, aesthetics, discretion, understanding and the customer is satisfaction. Particular attention was paid to the quality of service by the guests with high professional status, and higher education.

  20. The Paradigm of the Total Quality Management in the Portuguese Higher Education

    OpenAIRE

    Saraiva, Margarida; Reis, Elizabeth

    2006-01-01

    Total quality management is a process based on a “to do differently” strategy. This strategy implies trying to achieve continuous improvement by sharing responsibilities reducing misused resource and meeting customer’s expectations. Typically, Total Quality Management is implemented in industry and services using a group of principles. The implementation of such principles guides the organizations towards the improvement of quality standards. Deming contributed to the total qua...

  1. Teaching Evaluation Is Very Necessary at Institutions of Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daren, Huang

    2009-01-01

    Government supervision over the quality of higher education by means of evaluations, examinations and verifications, or accreditations is a common international practice in terms of monitoring and controlling the quality of higher education. Many countries stipulate by law that institutions of higher education must submit to evaluation by the…

  2. Cleaning OCR'd text with Regular Expressions

    OpenAIRE

    Laura Turner O'Hara

    2013-01-01

    Optical Character Recognition (OCR)—the conversion of scanned images to machine-encoded text—has proven a godsend for historical research. This process allows texts to be searchable on one hand and more easily parsed and mined on the other. But we’ve all noticed that the OCR for historic texts is far from perfect. Old type faces and formats make for unique OCR. How might we improve poor quality OCR? The answer is Regular Expressions or “regex.”

  3. Taxonomy-Based Approaches to Quality Assurance of Ontologies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Halper

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Ontologies are important components of health information management systems. As such, the quality of their content is of paramount importance. It has been proven to be practical to develop quality assurance (QA methodologies based on automated identification of sets of concepts expected to have higher likelihood of errors. Four kinds of such sets (called QA-sets organized around the themes of complex and uncommonly modeled concepts are introduced. A survey of different methodologies based on these QA-sets and the results of applying them to various ontologies are presented. Overall, following these approaches leads to higher QA yields and better utilization of QA personnel. The formulation of additional QA-set methodologies will further enhance the suite of available ontology QA tools.

  4. Spectral signature verification using statistical analysis and text mining

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeCoster, Mallory E.; Firpi, Alexe H.; Jacobs, Samantha K.; Cone, Shelli R.; Tzeng, Nigel H.; Rodriguez, Benjamin M.

    2016-05-01

    In the spectral science community, numerous spectral signatures are stored in databases representative of many sample materials collected from a variety of spectrometers and spectroscopists. Due to the variety and variability of the spectra that comprise many spectral databases, it is necessary to establish a metric for validating the quality of spectral signatures. This has been an area of great discussion and debate in the spectral science community. This paper discusses a method that independently validates two different aspects of a spectral signature to arrive at a final qualitative assessment; the textual meta-data and numerical spectral data. Results associated with the spectral data stored in the Signature Database1 (SigDB) are proposed. The numerical data comprising a sample material's spectrum is validated based on statistical properties derived from an ideal population set. The quality of the test spectrum is ranked based on a spectral angle mapper (SAM) comparison to the mean spectrum derived from the population set. Additionally, the contextual data of a test spectrum is qualitatively analyzed using lexical analysis text mining. This technique analyzes to understand the syntax of the meta-data to provide local learning patterns and trends within the spectral data, indicative of the test spectrum's quality. Text mining applications have successfully been implemented for security2 (text encryption/decryption), biomedical3 , and marketing4 applications. The text mining lexical analysis algorithm is trained on the meta-data patterns of a subset of high and low quality spectra, in order to have a model to apply to the entire SigDB data set. The statistical and textual methods combine to assess the quality of a test spectrum existing in a database without the need of an expert user. This method has been compared to other validation methods accepted by the spectral science community, and has provided promising results when a baseline spectral signature is

  5. Semen quality: variations among fathers and effects of moderate alcohol drinking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Trevor G Cooper

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Semen analysis results from over 750 fathers in the USA demonstrated marked differences in the quality of semen from men at different locations and of different ethnic groups. Another paper failed to demonstrate any effects of moderate alcohol consumption during the week before provision of an ejaculate on semen quality and few on serum hormones, of over 8300 men in Europe and the USA. While these observations are interesting, the reasons for regional and ethnic differences in semen quality of fathers are unclear. Although, there was no attempt to confirm the participant-provided level of alcohol consumption, an increase in serum testosterone in the men at the higher end of alcohol intake is compatible with an alcohol effect on liver metabolism, although whether alcohol intake was the cause of higher testosterone, or men with higher androgen levels consume more alcohol, is not known.

  6. A Review of the Contemporary International Literature on Student Retention in Higher Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Othman Aljohani

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available One of the major issues that concerns tertiary institutions around the world is the student retention rate. In general, higher rates of completion give more positive image about the academic, administrative and financial statues of these institutions. However, improving the student completion and retention rates can be a challenging task. One way toward this goal is utilising strategies and techniques that are informed by the findings of theoretical models and empirical studies. Therefore, this paper reviews some of the contemporary studies in the student retention literature from different higher educational contexts around the world followed by a list of the variables that are commonly linked to the student retention phenomenon in higher education and a discussion of the factors that are most frequently associated with student attrition as reported by these studies. A summary of the factors associated with the student attrition phenomenon suggested that, the central factors were the quality of students’ institutional experiences and their level of integration into the academic and social systems of their academic institutions. These factors relate to students’ experiences with the administrative system of their academic institution, including the admission, registration and disciplinary rules and policies and the availability and quality of student services and facilities. Keywords: Higher education, student retention, attrition, persistence

  7. The Cultivating Approach for Quality-ability Combincd Talents in Higher Vocational Education%浅析高职教育素能结合型人才的培养路径

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    修丽娟

    2012-01-01

    In order to prorate students' quality and ability, it cannot be lack of the cultivation of professional quality andprofessional ability, such as profcssional knowledge; professional idea profcssional personality and professional ethics. It alsocannot work without the cultivation of comprehensive quality and univevsal ability, sych as mind and body quality, and innovative quality, The talentsi culfivati6n with quality-ability combinatio in vocational education is good for training students' quality and ability. With body of higher vocational colleges employers and higher vocational students, it has the training content of professional ability, other profossional quality, universal ability and other comprehensive quality. It can promote higher vocational students'quality and ability from five ,approachesi including theory study, practical training, the second classroom and various a cringes, internship, and employment and startup business to figure: higher vocational quality-ability combined talents.%提高学生的素质和能力既离不开专业知识、职业理想、职业个性、职业道德等职业素质和职业能力方面的培养,也离不开身心素质、创新素质等综合素质和通用能力的培养。高职教育素能结合型人才培养能够提升学生的素质和能力,它以高职院校、用人单位、高职学生为主体,以职业能力和其他职业素质、通用能力和其他综合素质为培养内容,通过理论学习、实训、第二课堂和各类活动、实习、就业或创业五条路径来提高高职学生的素盾和能力.塑造高职素能结合型人才.

  8. Misdeeds in the US Higher Education: Illegality versus Corruption

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osipian, Ararat L.

    2008-01-01

    Corruption in higher education has long been neglected as an area of research in the US. The processes of decentralization, commoditization, and privatization in higher education rise questions of accountability, transparency, quality, and access. Every nation solves problems of access, quality, and equity differently. Thus, although prosecuting…

  9. EXPLORING MEDIATING ROLE OF INSTITUTIONAL IMAGE THROUGH A COMPLETE STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING (SEM: A PERSPECTVE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abu Osman

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available The prime objective of this study is to investigate the mediating role of institutional image between student satisfaction, program quality, and service quality in the context of higher education. To attain this aim, the Nordic model was used as theoretical foundation of the study. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM was used to analyze the influence of mediating variable and hypotheses testing. The population of this study was fourth-year business students of nine 'grade one' private universities in Bangladesh. Data (n=310 were gathered from students pursuing studies at different private universities in Bangladesh. The findings of this study revealed that image occupied full mediation role between student satisfaction and service quality. Furthermore, it also disclosed that the direct path of student satisfaction and service quality was not statistically significant. These exceptional findings indicate that academic experts should promote the institutional image, student satisfaction and program quality rigorously in order to enhance service quality of education. The outcomes of this study would provide substantial benefits to both practitioners and academics, especially in the context of private higher education. There is a deficiency of indirect link between student satisfaction, program quality and service quality. This study has integrated institutional image as a mediating variable to fulfill the deficiency between student satisfaction, program quality, and service quality.

  10. Employee quality, monitoring environment and internal control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chunli Liu

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available We investigate the effect of internal control employees (ICEs on internal control quality. Using special survey data from Chinese listed firms, we find that ICE quality has a significant positive influence on internal control quality. We examine the effect of monitoring on this result and find that the effect is more pronounced for firms with strict monitoring environments, especially when the firms implement the Chinese internal control regulation system (CSOX, have higher institutional ownership or attach greater importance to internal control. Our findings suggest that ICEs play an important role in the design and implementation of internal control systems. Our study should be of interest to both top managers who wish to improve corporate internal control quality and regulators who wish to understand the mechanisms of internal control monitoring.

  11. GPU-Accelerated Text Mining

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cui, X.; Mueller, F.; Zhang, Y.; Potok, Thomas E.

    2009-01-01

    Accelerating hardware devices represent a novel promise for improving the performance for many problem domains but it is not clear for which domains what accelerators are suitable. While there is no room in general-purpose processor design to significantly increase the processor frequency, developers are instead resorting to multi-core chips duplicating conventional computing capabilities on a single die. Yet, accelerators offer more radical designs with a much higher level of parallelism and novel programming environments. This present work assesses the viability of text mining on CUDA. Text mining is one of the key concepts that has become prominent as an effective means to index the Internet, but its applications range beyond this scope and extend to providing document similarity metrics, the subject of this work. We have developed and optimized text search algorithms for GPUs to exploit their potential for massive data processing. We discuss the algorithmic challenges of parallelization for text search problems on GPUs and demonstrate the potential of these devices in experiments by reporting significant speedups. Our study may be one of the first to assess more complex text search problems for suitability for GPU devices, and it may also be one of the first to exploit and report on atomic instruction usage that have recently become available in NVIDIA devices

  12. Language Skills in Classical Chinese Text Comprehension

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lau, Kit-ling

    2018-01-01

    This study used both quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the role of lower- and higher-level language skills in classical Chinese (CC) text comprehension. A CC word and sentence translation test, text comprehension test, and questionnaire were administered to 393 Secondary Four students; and 12 of these were randomly selected to…

  13. Text Mining Improves Prediction of Protein Functional Sites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohn, Judith D.; Ravikumar, Komandur E.

    2012-01-01

    We present an approach that integrates protein structure analysis and text mining for protein functional site prediction, called LEAP-FS (Literature Enhanced Automated Prediction of Functional Sites). The structure analysis was carried out using Dynamics Perturbation Analysis (DPA), which predicts functional sites at control points where interactions greatly perturb protein vibrations. The text mining extracts mentions of residues in the literature, and predicts that residues mentioned are functionally important. We assessed the significance of each of these methods by analyzing their performance in finding known functional sites (specifically, small-molecule binding sites and catalytic sites) in about 100,000 publicly available protein structures. The DPA predictions recapitulated many of the functional site annotations and preferentially recovered binding sites annotated as biologically relevant vs. those annotated as potentially spurious. The text-based predictions were also substantially supported by the functional site annotations: compared to other residues, residues mentioned in text were roughly six times more likely to be found in a functional site. The overlap of predictions with annotations improved when the text-based and structure-based methods agreed. Our analysis also yielded new high-quality predictions of many functional site residues that were not catalogued in the curated data sources we inspected. We conclude that both DPA and text mining independently provide valuable high-throughput protein functional site predictions, and that integrating the two methods using LEAP-FS further improves the quality of these predictions. PMID:22393388

  14. The impact of new translation technologies on specialized texts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthieu LeBlanc

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The introduction of translation technologies, especially translation memory software, has had a significant impact on both the translator’s professional practice and the target text itself. Apart from the fact that he or she must translate in a non-linear fashion due to the design of translation memory systems, the translator is now called upon to increase output and, in many cases, recycle what has already been translated by others. As a result, the translator, used to having full control over his or her text, is in some regards losing control over the translation process, which brings him or her to reflect on the quality of the final product and, in turn, on the transformations the field of specialized translation is undergoing. In this paper, I will present the results of an important ethnographic study conducted in three Canadian translation environments. I will focus mostly on the effects translation technologies and newly implemented practices have had on the quality of specialized texts destined for the Canadian market, where most of the specialized texts produced in French are in fact translations. Special attention will be given to the comments made by specialized translators during semi-directed interviews.

  15. Correlations among Stress Parameters, Meat and Carcass Quality Parameters in Pigs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marija Dokmanovic

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Relationships among different stress parameters (lairage time and blood level of lactate and cortisol, meat quality parameters (initial and ultimate pH value, temperature, drip loss, sensory and instrumental colour, marbling and carcass quality parameters (degree of rigor mortis and skin damages, hot carcass weight, carcass fat thickness, meatiness were determined in pigs (n = 100 using Pearson correlations. After longer lairage, blood lactate (p<0.05 and degree of injuries (p<0.001 increased, meat became darker (p<0.001, while drip loss decreased (p<0.05. Higher lactate was associated with lower initial pH value (p<0.01, higher temperature (p<0.001 and skin blemishes score (p<0.05 and more developed rigor mortis (p<0.05, suggesting that lactate could be a predictor of both meat quality and the level of preslaughter stress. Cortisol affected carcass quality, so higher levels of cortisol were associated with increased hot carcass weight, carcass fat thickness on the back and at the sacrum and marbling, but also with decreased meatiness. The most important meat quality parameters (pH and temperature after 60 minutes deteriorated when blood lactate concentration was above 12 mmol/L.

  16. ONLINE MODEL OF EDUCATION QUALITY ASSURANCE EQUASP IMPLEMENTATION: EXPERIENCE OF VYATKA STATE UNIVERSITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valentin Pugach

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The article is devoted to the problem of assessing the quality of higher education. In the Russian Federation recently quality assessment of educational services provided by state-accredited universities is carried out by the state represented by the Ministry of education and science. State universities have simulated internal systemseducation quality assessment in accordance with the methodology proposed by the Ministry of education and science. Currently more attention is paid to the independent assessment of education quality which is the basis of professional public accreditation. The project "EQUASP" financed within the framework of the TEMPUS programme is directed to the problem of implementing the methodology of the online model of independent higher education quality assessment in the practice of Russian universities. The proposed model for assessing the quality of education is based on usage of 5 standards. The authors have done a comparative analysis of the model of higher education quality assessment existing in Vyatka State University and the model of education quality assessing offered by European universities-participants of the project EQUASP. The authors have presented the main results of investigation of this problem and some suggestions for improving the model of education quality assessment used by Vyatka State University.

  17. Massification of Higher Education and Students' Accommodation ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Massification of Higher Education and Students' Accommodation: The ... of students' accommodation at the University of Dar es salaam (UDSM) over the past 50 years. ... and the quality of learning, as well as the quality of students' life.

  18. Higher Income and Integration into the Workforce Are the Main Factors Associated with Quality of Life in Acromegalic Patients in Northeastern Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    GuimarãesSá, Adriana Maria; Ferreira, Pedro Antônio Muniz; Souza, Marinilde Teles; Nascimento, Gilvan Cortês; da Silva Pereira Damianse, Sabrina; de Carvalho Rocha, Viviane Chaves; Dos Santos Faria, Manuel; de Souza Paiva Ferreira, Adalgisa

    2018-01-01

    To identify the factors associated with quality of life in patients with acromegaly with follow-up at the referral service in neuroendocrinology of the state of Maranhão, northeast Brazil. The Acromegaly Quality of Life Questionnaire (Acro-QoL) was used. Factors independently associated with quality of life were identified using multivariate linear regression, with p values integrated into the job market and quality of life scores in the overall domain ( β = 0.288, p = 0.003), psychological domain ( β = 0.291, p = 0.032), and personal relationship domain ( β = 0.314, p = 0.019). We also observed a positive association with income and the quality of life scores in all domains as follows: overall domain ( β = 0.037, p = 0.003), physical domain ( β = 0.988, p = 0.001), psychological domain ( β = 0.342, p = 0.008), physical appearance domain ( β = 0.270, p = 0.049), and personal relationship domain ( β = 0.315, p = 0.012). For patients with acromegaly living in one of the least developed regions of Brazil, integration into the job market and a higher income were associated with a better quality of life.

  19. Quality of life in women with urinary incontinence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cláudia Senra

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Summary The aim of this study is to examine the relationship among psychological, clinical and sociodemographic variables, and quality of life in women with urinary incontinence. The sample consisted of 80 women diagnosed with urinary incontinence (UI followed in a Northern Central Hospital in Portugal. Participants answered the Incontinence Quality of Life (I-QOL; Satisfaction with Sexual Relationship Questionnaire (SSRQ; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales (HADS and the Brief Cope. The results revealed that women with higher quality of life considered their symptoms of urine loss as mild or moderated compared to those with severe urine loss. The less severe urine loss was associated with greater sexual satisfaction and less use of religion and self-blame as coping strategies. In terms of coping, women who considered the loss of urine as severe expressed more feelings regarding UI. Stress urinary incontinence, high sexual satisfaction, and less use of denial, distraction, and religion as coping strategies, predicted higher quality of life. According to the results, UI has an impact on women’s sexual satisfaction and quality of life. Therefore, intervention programs should target these women, including their partners, helping them to adjust to their condition and teaching effective coping strategies in order to improve their sexual satisfaction and quality of life.

  20. МULTI-STAKEHOLDER MODEL OF EDUCATION PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Юлия Юрьевна ГУСЕВА

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The analysis of approaches to the definition of higher education projects’ stakeholders is conducted. A model of education project quality management with the influence of stakeholders is formed. A mechanism of recognition of new groups of project’s stakeholders on the basis of set theory is offered.

  1. One Size Does Not Fit All: Older Adults Benefit From Redundant Text in Multimedia Instruction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbara eFenesi

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The multimedia design of presentations typically ignores that younger and older adults have varying cognitive strengths and weaknesses. We examined whether differential instructional design may enhance learning in these populations. Younger and older participants viewed one of three computer-based presentations: Audio only (narration, Redundant (audio narration with redundant text, or Complementary (audio narration with non–redundant text and images. Younger participants learned better when audio narration was paired with relevant images compared to when audio narration was paired with redundant text. However, older participants learned best when audio narration was paired with redundant text. Younger adults, who presumably have a higher working memory capacity, appear to benefit more from complementary information that may drive deeper conceptual processing. In contrast, older adults learn better from presentations that support redundant coding across modalities, which may help mitigate the effects of age-related decline in working memory capacity. Additionally, several misconceptions of design quality appeared across age groups: both younger and older participants positively rated less effective designs. Findings suggest that one-size does not fit all, with older adults requiring unique multimedia design tailored to their cognitive abilities for effective learning.

  2. Quality- a Factor of Management in Road Transport of Goods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Livij Jakomin

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Providing services on a quality level is an important factorof management in the trade rivalry for the control over the market.The factors affecting quality comprise technical factors andoperational and organisational ones. The technical factors includethe choice, the due care and maintenance of the vehicle.The operational and organisational factors are the quality offer,performing the transport service, the response in case of action,and the information efficiency.The necessity to control the total quality management is theresponsibility of the management. All staff members must participatein the improvement of quality management in their particularworking environment. Improved quality managementprovides for a higher safety of business operation and jobs, resultingin enhanced social security, which is gaining importancein mutual relations.

  3. [Formula: see text]Executive functioning and health-related quality of life in pediatric sickle cell disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Taryn M; Anderson, Lindsay M; Rothman, Jennifer A; Bonner, Melanie J

    2017-11-01

    Research consistently indicates that children with sickle cell disease (SCD) face multiple risk factors for neurocognitive impairment. Despite this, no empirical research to date has examined the impact of neurocognitive functioning on quality of life for this pediatric group. Thus, the current study aims to examine the relationship between executive functioning and quality of life in a sample of children with SCD and further explore psychosocial and family/caregiver resources as moderators of this relationship. A total of 45 children with SCD aged 8 to 16 years and their caregivers completed measures of quality of life, behavioral ratings of executive functioning, and psychosocial functioning. Hierarchical linear regression models were utilized to determine the impact of executive functioning on quality of life and further test the interaction effects of proposed moderating variables. Controlling for age, pain, and socioeconomic status (SES), executive functioning was found to significantly predict child- and parent-reported quality of life among youth with SCD. Psychosocial resources of the primary caregiver or family was not found to moderate the relationship between executive functioning and quality of life. These results provide the first empirical evidence that lower executive skills negatively predict quality of life for children with SCD, supporting clinical and research efforts which aim to establish efficacious interventions that target cognitive decrements within this pediatric population.

  4. Text Clustering Algorithm Based on Random Cluster Core

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huang Long-Jun

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays clustering has become a popular text mining algorithm, but the huge data can put forward higher requirements for the accuracy and performance of text mining. In view of the performance bottleneck of traditional text clustering algorithm, this paper proposes a text clustering algorithm with random features. This is a kind of clustering algorithm based on text density, at the same time using the neighboring heuristic rules, the concept of random cluster is introduced, which effectively reduces the complexity of the distance calculation.

  5. Marketing Standards for Enterprises and Higher Educational Institutions: the EU and Ukraine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhaldak Hanna P

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The article considers the marketing standards for enterprises and higher educational institutions in the EU and Ukraine. The basic components of the formation of the marketing standards in our country and the European Union member countries are identified, some legislative restrictions on advertising in certain EU countries are systematized. The features of the EU standards are determined. The main idea of the article is to examine the European marketing standards, determine the level of their adaptation to the national ones, as well as collect data on the effectiveness of the application of marketing standards to higher educational institutions, provide quality education and establish collaboration with the European partner universities. The general understanding of the quality of education, use of harmonized approaches and evaluation criteria is important for the European integration. The majority of national organizations have a number of difficulties associated with the undeveloped system of indicators oriented towards the client and other interested parties. The application of the EU marketing standards sets an appropriate vector of development for the domestic economy and opens up new competitive opportunities

  6. The variability of quality parameters and loss function

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriela Bogdanovská

    2005-03-01

    Full Text Available The object of this paper is assign the advantage of conjoint exploit the methods for the analysis and the valuation of the quantitative indicators quality of the different products. From statistical point of view maintenace or transgress of the permissible tolerance interval of these indikators means their different variability. The high variability of the quality parameters is quadraticaly connected with the costs of the nonconformance/nonquality. The complementary approach to the same problem have always higher cancellation value than the application of only the statistical or only the economical valuation form.

  7. THE MECHANISM OF STRATEGIC, POLITICAL AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT OF THE QUALITY OF UNIVERSITY SERVICES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrii Cherkasov

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this work is to justify the need to develop and implement a mechanism for managing the quality of higher education services, which will solve a number of pressing problems that have arisen at the national level, at the level of the higher education system and the level of individual higher education institutions. Methodology. This study is based on the use of ENQA standards and recommendations, as well as modern general methods and practice of quality management. Results. The functioning of the mechanism for managing the quality of higher education services should be considered at three levels of decision-making (three hierarchically subordinate components of the mechanism, which are as follows: strategic, political and process. It is determined that the management of a higher education institution, like any organization, is carried out at three levels of decision-making: strategic, tactical, and operational. The paper substantiated the content and features of the implementation of the functions of each component of the quality management mechanism. Practical implications. The work determined the components of strategic management of the quality of higher education institutions' services, which include: strategic analysis of the external environment and self-assessment of the educational institution, development of strategic plans, management of the implementation of the higher educational institution strategy. Value/originality. It is determined that the political management of the quality of higher education services includes a broad setting of goals of the higher education institution, which in turn is determined by senior management, set forth in written, formally announced (published and communicated to all staff and units of the higher education institution. The political goals of the education institution regarding quality are structured by functional and administrative management areas.

  8. The Effect of Financial Reporting Quality on Financing and Investment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Windy Angela

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper analysis the effect of reporting quality on financing and investment. It is important for us to understand the relation among them in order to prepare Indonesian companies for ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. The study examines the effect of financial reporting quality on financing and investment of 15 Indonesian companies with large market capitalization based on the Standard and Poor’s Rating Services in its first survey of the major corporate credit trends in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN. Those companies may still be under-investing in relation to its regional peers. The results suggest that (1 financial reporting quality has negative effect on financing. (2 financial reporting quality has positive effect on investment among companies with higher likelihood of over-investing and negative effect on investment among those with higher likelihood of under-investing.DOI: 10.15408/etk.v16i1.4600 

  9. Aspects of the quality of accounting in the international context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sady Mazzioni

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Purpose – Analyze how the characteristics of the business environment generates differences in the quality of accounting information in the international context. Design/methodology/approach – Descriptive research with a quantitative approach. Documentation collection in the Thomson Datastream Index Service database in a sample of 1,406 companies located in twelve countries, from 2005 to 2012. Findings – Companies located in countries with lower tax burden, stronger legal environment, greater economic and financial development index, common law legal origin and higher degree of internationalization presented higher averages and significant differences in the aggregate ranking of the quality of accounting information. The type of standard accounting used also influenced the position in the aggregate ranking of the accounting information quality. Originality/value – The interaction of companies with external markets influences the choices of accounting policies. The countries’ environmental characteristics, related to transparency, economic nature, legal and tax environment, lead to various levels of the quality of accounting information reported by companies.

  10. Quality of dried cauliflower according to the methods and drying parameters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Łapczyńska-Kordon Bogusława

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The quality of food products is a complex concept. It can be defined in many ways. The common element of most of these definitions is the condition of meeting the requirements of consumers. Quality determines product compliance with the requirements set by the normalized regulations. The paper attempts to determine the optimal method and parameters of cauliflower drying. In addition, a qualitative assessment of the obtained product was made. The results show that the method and parameters of drying significantly affect the quality of the dried cauliflower. Convection drying guarantees higher drought quality with respect to the color of the sample (higher brightness, taste and odor. Of the drying parameters accepted in the experiment, the most positive effect on the tested parameters was recorded using convection drying at a flow rate of 0.2 ms-1 and the least favorable for microwave drying 170 or 210 W.

  11. Public higher education in the Philippines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardozier, V. R.

    1984-06-01

    Clearly, the national government of the Philippines has decided to increase the number and comprehensiveness of its public colleges and universities. While private colleges and universities are likely to dominate higher education in the Philippines for the remainer of this century, it appears that public, tax-supported higher education will become increasingly available there. The Philippines is not a wealthy country but it is devoting a substantial portion of its national resources to public higher education. In 1983, higher education received 2.85 percent of the national budget, a figure that has been rising for years. Compared with some highly developed countries, this is not a large percentage, but for a country that has traditionally relied on private higher education, it is a major and growing investment in the public sector. While many of the better universities in the Philippines are private, many other private educational institutions are small and struggling. As their financial resources become more limited, and as less expensive, tax-supported higher education becomes increasingly available, a lot of the struggling private colleges will probably close. This process is also being hastened by actions of the government to upgrade quality, for example in the case of the many private colleges that developed after World War II. In an attempt to improve the academic quality of these marginal institutions, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports has been given extensive authority, and while its intrusion into private institutions has been modest by some measures, its requirements are affecting them all and will speed the demise of some. This is bound to lead to a stronger role for public higher education in the Philippines, a country that is striving diligently to improve the education and hence the quality of life of its people.

  12. The Vital Components of Restaurant Quality that Affect Guest Satisfaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Snježana Gagić

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, the trend of dining in restaurants has become quite prominent in Serbia. Frequent restaurant visits are not only the reflection of satisfying hedonistic needs, but also the result of increasing number of single-person households as well as adjustment to the European business hours.In an increasingly competitive environment, restaurants must be focused on guests using marketing concepts that identify their needs thus leading to their satisfaction and increased retention.Service quality is fundamental component which produce higher levels of guest satisfaction, which in turn lead to higher sales revenue.The main purpose of this study was to examine the quality dimensions that affect guest satisfaction in restaurant industry. Food and beverage quality, the quality of service delivery, physical environment and price fairness are analyzed as a key components of restaurant experience. The results could be helpful tool for restaurant managers to invest their resources more efficiently, making changes to crucial quality attributes that elicit the guests’ satisfaction level. A management approach focused on guest satisfaction can improve restaurant business performance.

  13. Blood serum metabolites and meat quality in crossbred pigs experiencing different lairage time

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan Juric

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Pigs of two crosses: A (Duroc x Swedish Landrace x Pietrain (n=24 and B (Swedish Landrace x Large White x Pietrain (n=26 were used to investigate the effects of different lairage time (2 and 24 hours on levels of stress and meat quality traits. No direct effect of lairage time on cortisol, lactate, electrolytes and meat quality parameters was observed. However, after long lairage time, pigs showed lower level of glucose and higher CK, AST and ALT activity. Crossbred B pigs exposed to short lairage time, showed higher blood lactate, sodium, and potassium level, higher drip loss and lower pHi, whereas there were no significant differences between the crossbreeds in the long lairage group. The results indicate that long lairage time decreases blood glucose level and produces signs of muscle damage. In the short lairage period, the crossbreed B showed a higher response to pre-slaughter handling affecting the meat quality.

  14. Internal Customer Satisfaction and Service Quality Toward Trust and Word of Mouth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sri Rahayu

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available This study generally aims to analyze the influence of internal customer satisfaction and perceptions of service quality in creating trust and word of mouth in higher education service industry. In the process, this study aims to achieve a special purpose, which is to build constructs/ variables to measure internal customer satisfaction, so in the future it can be applied to universally in other institutions of higher education. The results of this study indicate that the internal customer satisfaction can be measured with three constructs, namely: service product, service delivery, and service environment. All of those variables have significant relationship with trust, which is significantly related to word of mouth. On the other side, communication, productivity and responsiveness are found to be significant in measuring the perceptions of service quality.The results also proved that the perception of service quality is significantly related to trust and word of mouth. This study is expected to contribute measurement tools of internal customer satisfaction in higher education. This research is also expected to enrich discussion on how to measure the internal customer satisfaction and service quality toward trust and word of mouth in higher education. Thus the higher education can continue to strive to provide educational service in accordance with the expectations of the customers.

  15. Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area: The Emergence of a German Market for Quality Assurance Agencies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serrano-Velarde, Kathia E.

    2008-01-01

    Most European countries have introduced systematic quality assurance as part of an overall governance reform aimed at enhancing universities' autonomy. Researchers and economic entrepreneurs tend, however, to underestimate the political dimension of accreditation and evaluation when they consider the contribution of quality assurance to the…

  16. Snacking Quality Is Associated with Secondary School Academic Achievement and the Intention to Enroll in Higher Education: A Cross-Sectional Study in Adolescents from Santiago, Chile

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulina Correa-Burrows

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Although numerous studies have approached the effects of exposure to a Western diet (WD on academic outcomes, very few have focused on foods consumed during snack times. We explored whether there is a link between nutritious snacking habits and academic achievement in high school (HS students from Santiago, Chile. We conducted a cross-sectional study with 678 adolescents. The nutritional quality of snacks consumed by 16-year-old was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. The academic outcomes measured were HS grade point average (GPA, the likelihood of HS completion, and the likelihood of taking college entrance exams. A multivariate analysis was performed to determine the independent associations of nutritious snacking with having completed HS and having taken college entrance exams. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA estimated the differences in GPA by the quality of snacks. Compared to students with healthy in-home snacking behaviors, adolescents having unhealthy in-home snacks had significantly lower GPAs (M difference: −40.1 points, 95% confidence interval (CI: −59.2, −16.9, d = 0.41, significantly lower odds of HS completion (adjusted odds ratio (aOR: 0.47; 95% CI: 0.25–0.88, and significantly lower odds of taking college entrance exams (aOR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.31–0.88. Unhealthy at-school snacking showed similar associations with the outcome variables. Poor nutritional quality snacking at school and at home was associated with poor secondary school academic achievement and the intention to enroll in higher education.

  17. Comparing tailored and untailored text messages for smoking cessation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skov-Ettrup, L S; Ringgaard, L W; Dalum, P

    2014-01-01

    The aim was to compare the effectiveness of untailored text messages for smoking cessation to tailored text messages delivered at a higher frequency. From February 2007 to August 2009, 2030 users of an internet-based smoking cessation program with optional text message support aged 15-25 years were...... of text messages increases quit rates among young smokers....

  18. [Symbol: see text]2 Optimized predictive image coding with [Symbol: see text]∞ bound.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chuah, Sceuchin; Dumitrescu, Sorina; Wu, Xiaolin

    2013-12-01

    In many scientific, medical, and defense applications of image/video compression, an [Symbol: see text]∞ error bound is required. However, pure[Symbol: see text]∞-optimized image coding, colloquially known as near-lossless image coding, is prone to structured errors such as contours and speckles if the bit rate is not sufficiently high; moreover, most of the previous [Symbol: see text]∞-based image coding methods suffer from poor rate control. In contrast, the [Symbol: see text]2 error metric aims for average fidelity and hence preserves the subtlety of smooth waveforms better than the ∞ error metric and it offers fine granularity in rate control, but pure [Symbol: see text]2-based image coding methods (e.g., JPEG 2000) cannot bound individual errors as the [Symbol: see text]∞-based methods can. This paper presents a new compression approach to retain the benefits and circumvent the pitfalls of the two error metrics. A common approach of near-lossless image coding is to embed into a DPCM prediction loop a uniform scalar quantizer of residual errors. The said uniform scalar quantizer is replaced, in the proposed new approach, by a set of context-based [Symbol: see text]2-optimized quantizers. The optimization criterion is to minimize a weighted sum of the [Symbol: see text]2 distortion and the entropy while maintaining a strict [Symbol: see text]∞ error bound. The resulting method obtains good rate-distortion performance in both [Symbol: see text]2 and [Symbol: see text]∞ metrics and also increases the rate granularity. Compared with JPEG 2000, the new method not only guarantees lower [Symbol: see text]∞ error for all bit rates, but also it achieves higher PSNR for relatively high bit rates.

  19. Higher Education in Ethiopia: Expansion, Quality Assurance and Institutional Autonomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akalu, Girmaw Abebe

    2014-01-01

    This article chronicles the key challenges facing Ethiopia as it embarks on an ambitious, ideologically-driven and aggressive expansion of its higher education system in an effort to address its national goals of economic growth and poverty reduction. It is argued that the urge for higher education expansion has placed undue pressures particularly…

  20. Assessment of Groundwater Quality of Ilorin Metropolis using Water Quality Index Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. A. Olatunji

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Groundwater as a source of potable water is becoming more important in Nigeria. Therefore, the need to ascertain the continuing potability of the sources cannot be over emphasised. This study is aimed at assessing the quality of selected groundwater samples from Ilorin metropolis, Nigeria, using the water quality index (WQI method. Twenty two water samples were collected, 10 samples from boreholes and 12 samples from hand dug wells. All these were analysed for their physico – chemical properties. The parameters used for calculating the water quality index include the following: pH, total hardness, total dissolved solid, calcium, fluoride, iron, potassium, sulphate, nitrate and carbonate. The water quality index for the twenty two samples ranged from 0.66 to 756.02 with an average of 80.77. Two of the samples exceeded 100, which is the upper limit for safe drinking water. The high values of WQI from the sampling locations are observed to be due to higher values of iron and fluoride. This study reveals that the investigated groundwaters are mostly potable and can be consumed without treatment. Nonetheless, the sources identified to be unsafe should be treated before consumption.

  1. Core Processes Roadmap to Deploy the Higher Education Institution's Internationalization Strategy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena FLEACĂ

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Technological development, competition and globalisation are radically changing the landscape of higher education which maintains its crucial role in individual and societal advancement. Many higher education institutions are competing on increasing their attractiveness by providing innovative curricula, excellence in teaching and research opportunities. The paper attempts to tackle the push for stronger international presence which brings favourable conditions for internationalisation strategy at institutional level. Based on useful methods from quality management and business process reengineering, the author proposed a coherent organizational model for a higher education institution strategy, mainstreaming key areas as international mobility for students and staff, internationalization and improvement of curricula and new e-learning methods, and strategic cooperation, partnerships and capacity building with international stakeholders. The findings stress the benefits of a holistic approach in assuring the governance of internationalization strategy composed of three core processes groups - academic, research, and wider business relationships – so as to provide that process architecture is able to deliver a value added internationalised higher education offer.

  2. Idiopathic Parkinson's disease: vocal and quality of life analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiza Furtado e Silva

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To compare voice and life quality of male patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease, with individuals without disease (Control Group. METHODS: A cross-sectional study that evaluated the voice of individuals with Parkinson's disease, the group was composed of 27 subjects, aged from 39 to 79 years-old (average 59.96. The Control Group was matched on sex and age. Participants underwent voice recording. Perceptual evaluation was made using GRBASI scale, which considers G as the overall degree of dysphonia, R as roughness, B as breathiness, A as asthenia, S as strain and I as instability. The acoustic parameters analyzed were: fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, and harmonic to noise ratio (NHR. For vocal self-perception analysis, we used the Voice Related Quality of Life protocol. RESULTS: Fundamental frequency and jitter presented higher values in the Parkinson's group. NHR values were higher in the Control Group. Perceptual analysis showed a deviation ranging. The vocal disorder self-perception demonstrated a worse impact on quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with Parkinson's disease have an altered voice quality and a negative impact on quality of life.

  3. Outlook on Student Retention in Higher Education University Reforms in Morocco

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zoulal Mansouri

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available High student attrition rates at university have become one of the most challenging issues in higher education worldwide in the last five decades. Moroccan universities are no exception. At-risk students drop out of studies for a plethora of reasons, and the attrition rate is increasing despite the efforts made in education reforms carried out since 1999. This article reviews the most important components of the higher education reforms that have been adopted in Moroccan higher education in their endeavor to enhance student retention in university. These components are chronologically reviewed, first in the National Charter of Education and Training (NCET launched in 1999, second in the Emergency Plan conducted in 2009-2012, and finally in the latest Strategic Vision of Reform 2015-2030. It is concluded that more efforts are necessary to strike a balance between quantity and quality in terms of student retention in university education.

  4. Who is watching the watchmen: Is quality reporting ever harmful?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R Scott Braithwaite

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: Quality reporting is increasingly used as a tool to encourage health systems, hospitals, and their practitioners to deliver the greatest health benefit. However, quality reporting systems may have unintended negative consequences, such as inadvertently encouraging “cherry-picking” by inadequately adjusting for patients who are challenging to take care of, or underpowering to reliably detect meaningful differences in care. There have been no reports seeking to identify a minimum level of accuracy that ought to be viewed as a prerequisite for quality reporting. Method: Using a decision analytic model, we seek to delineate minimal standards for quality measures to meet, using the simplest assumptions to illustrate what those standards may be. Results: We find that even under assumptions regarding optimal performance of the quality reporting system (sensitivity and specificity of 1, we can identify a minimal level of accuracy required for the quality reporting system to “do no harm”: the increase in health-related quality of life from a higher rather than lower quality practitioner must be greater than the number of practitioners per patient divided by the proportion of patients willing to switch from a lower to a higher quality provider. Conclusion: Quality measurement systems that have not been demonstrated to improve health outcomes should be held to a specific standard of measurement accuracy.

  5. Rating the Quality of Open Textbooks: How Reviewer and Text Characteristics Predict Ratings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fischer, Lane; Ernst, David; Mason, Stacie

    2017-01-01

    Using data collected from peer reviews for Open Textbook Library titles, this paper explores questions about rating the quality of open textbooks. The five research questions addressed the relationship between textbook and reviewer characteristics and ratings. Although reviewers gave textbooks high ratings generally, reviewers identified…

  6. Learning at work in Higher Vocational Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kerstin Littke

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Higher vocational training (HVE is a new form of post-secondary education that was introduced in 2009 in Sweden. The aim for HVE is to address the demands of a highly skilled Swedish workforce. Compared to other forms of adult and higher education it is less institutionalized and, based on Swedish standards, gives great opportunities for the provider to decide regarding the contents and design. The purpose of this study was to analyze a the quality of the course, Learning at Work (LIA, and (b to develop instruments and indicators to explore the quality of the student learning in working life as part of HVE. The design of research instruments was based on hypotheses to uncover the background, the learning process and effect parameters In LIA offered at 12 different HVE sites in Sweden within the areas of health care, computer science, technology and business administration. The survey data of forty-two students and thirty-six workplace supervisors were analyzed. The results of the study show that the quality of the learning at work (LIA varies considerably between different programs and different students. In most programs, it has a significant development potential. A well-functioning LIA is characterized by adequate learning content, an open work climate between colleagues, accuracy and dedication, frequent supervisor feedback, and regular communication between the Program Director and the supervisors. It is important that the educational provider requires workplaces with capacity to offer the students relevant and qualified work content. LIA should offer qualified work content providing knowledge of breadth and depth. Knowledge gained from school-based training should be challenged and must achieve curriculum goals. An important finding is the lack of definitions and criteria for quality, and the risk of quality differences between educational providers. Another significant problem identified in the study is the unclear division of

  7. Bureaucratization and Adaptive Behavior in the Higher Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vyacheslav V. Volchik

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper is devoted to researching the economic behavior of individuals in the higher education in the term of increasing bureaucratization. Reasons of bureaucracy and inefficiencies generated by it are considered on the example of the higher education sector. Constant changes in the bureaucratic system requirements need to be adapted in the behavior of actors. The authors highlight approaches to adaptation within the framework of the Austrian school of economics. Austrian approaches to adapt and the adaptive rationality concept in institutional economics are compared. The role of rationality in the process of adaptation is shown in the research. The empirical basis of the study is represented by the transcripts of 50 in-depth interviews conducted in 2015 with students, lecturers and heads of higher education institutions of the Rostov region. The main objective of the interview is the allocation of institutional change in higher education. Bureaucratization was named by respondents as one of the most important changes. The paper systematizes the respondents' answers on the impact of bureaucracy and carries out typology of adapting ways to the formal innovations. Imitating practices as a form of adaptation to the growth of the formal requirements are considered clearly. The authors display the negative impact of this adaptation form to the quality of educational activities and organizational culture.

  8. Relationship Quality as Predictor of B2B Customer Loyalty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shaimaa S. B. Ahmed Doma

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Relationship marketing has become extremely important recently due to the fierce competition in today's marketplace. Companies are required to build long-term profitable relationship with customers and to achieve customer loyalty. Also, switching behaviors frequently occur among most of targeted customers. Fewer studies, however, discuss the effects of relationship quality efforts on customer loyalty. Therefore, this study is aimed to investigate the impact of relationship quality on customer loyalty in B2B context in the Egyptian shipping services sector. Building on prior research, we propose relationship quality as a higher construct comprising trust, commitment and satisfaction. An analytical model is developed as a guideline to test the relationships between relationship quality dimensions and customer loyalty.

  9. Governance and Higher Education in Pakistan: What Roles Do Boards of Governors Play in Ensuring the Academic Quality Maintenance in Public Universities versus Private Universities in Pakistan?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Usman, Sidra

    2014-01-01

    There are major structural issues in the higher education system in Pakistan leading to poor governance of institutions and questionable quality of education. This paper looks at the differences in the role of boards of governors in maintaining quality of education in both the public and the private sector universities in Pakistan. After having…

  10. One size does not fit all: older adults benefit from redundant text in multimedia instruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fenesi, Barbara; Vandermorris, Susan; Kim, Joseph A; Shore, David I; Heisz, Jennifer J

    2015-01-01

    The multimedia design of presentations typically ignores that younger and older adults have varying cognitive strengths and weaknesses. We examined whether differential instructional design may enhance learning in these populations. Younger and older participants viewed one of three computer-based presentations: Audio only (narration), Redundant (audio narration with redundant text), or Complementary (audio narration with non-redundant text and images). Younger participants learned better when audio narration was paired with relevant images compared to when audio narration was paired with redundant text. However, older participants learned best when audio narration was paired with redundant text. Younger adults, who presumably have a higher working memory capacity (WMC), appear to benefit more from complementary information that may drive deeper conceptual processing. In contrast, older adults learn better from presentations that support redundant coding across modalities, which may help mitigate the effects of age-related decline in WMC. Additionally, several misconceptions of design quality appeared across age groups: both younger and older participants positively rated less effective designs. Findings suggest that one-size does not fit all, with older adults requiring unique multimedia design tailored to their cognitive abilities for effective learning.

  11. The Impact of ERASMUS on European Higher Education: Quality, Openness and Internationalisation; Final Report by the consortium of CHEPS, INCHER-Kassel and ECOTEC

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vossensteyn, Johan J.; Beerkens-Soo, M.; Cremonini, Leon; Antonowitsch, Dominic; Epping, Elisabeth

    2008-01-01

    This study explores the impact of the ERASMUS programme on quality improvement in European higher education in particular in the areas of teaching, research, student services and the openness to society with a focus at the institutional and system level. The study puts an emphasis on the

  12. Gum Producers Can Improve Quality Of Gum Marketed and Get Higher Prices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ralph W. Clements

    1979-01-01

    Acid waste from over-treatment and old, wornout iron cups have contributed significantly to the generally poor quality of gum marketed. Today producers are reluctant to purchase new cups and gutters and invest up to $1.80 per tree for production when the market price for gum averages 14.54 per pound annually. Guidelines are given for improving the quality by...

  13. Academic/Digital Work: ICTs, Knowledge Capital, and the Question of Educational Quality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Fernback

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The ideology of the information society has transformed the performance of academic duties within higher education through the permeation of information and communication technologies (ICTs into all aspects of the university. These technologies provide a common ground upon which teaching, research, and administration fuse; but how have such arrangements affected the quality of academic work? This ideology functions through values, hierarchies, rewards and punishments, and surveillance that influence routine work. Using a critical orientation, this paper examines the transformation of the quality of the intellectual products and work processes of higher education in a North American context. It examines how the educational technology industry fosters a type of control over academic workers, inhibiting the individual laborer’s pursuit of educational quality. Grounded in Foucault’s concept of “disciplinary power” and in Freire’s notions of critical consciousness, it suggests a community-centered approach toward building knowledge capital in higher education.

  14. An Approach to Retrieval of OCR Degraded Text

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuen-Hsien Tseng

    1998-12-01

    Full Text Available The major problem with retrieval of OCR text is the unpredictable distortion of characters due to recognition errors. Because users have no ideas of such distortion, the terms they query can hardly match the terms stored in the OCR text exactly. Thus retrieval effectiveness is significantly reduced , especially for low-quality input. To reduce the losses from retrieving such noisy OCR text, a fault-tolerant retrieval strategy based on automatic keyword extraction and fuzzy matching is proposed. In this strategy, terms, correct or not, and their term frequencies are extracted from the noisy text and presented for browsing and selection in response to users' initial queries , With theunderstanding of the real terms stored in the noisy text and of their estimated frequency distributions, users may then choose appropriate terms for a more effective searching, A text retrieval system based on this strategy has been built. Examples to show the effectiveness are demonstrated. Finally, some OCR issues for further enhancingretrieval effectiveness are discussed.

  15. The Quality of IS/IT: How It Can Be Assessed?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vlasta Svata

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Higher quality for less money is the constant dream of all managers across all the industries IT industry included. But the term quality is very complex and this complexity was accelerated by the massive introduction and evolution of information systems and information technologies. The article deals with the quality in general and then focuses on the specifics of the quality assessment within the IS/IT. The mutual relationships between the quality of IT processes, IT products and services and business products and services are discussed. The two core assumptions for quality management are formulated: understanding the characteristics/features of IS/IT quality and ability to measure the degree of correspondence between the regulations (models and practice. Examples of models covering the quality attributes of information, software products and services and processes are introduced and their positive and negative aspects are discussed

  16. Directed Activities Related to Text: Text Analysis and Text Reconstruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davies, Florence; Greene, Terry

    This paper describes Directed Activities Related to Text (DART), procedures that were developed and are used in the Reading for Learning Project at the University of Nottingham (England) to enhance learning from texts and that fall into two broad categories: (1) text analysis procedures, which require students to engage in some form of analysis of…

  17. The association between healthy lifestyle behaviors and health-related quality of life among adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José J. Muros

    Full Text Available Abstract Objective: The aim of this research was to examine the association between body mass index, physical activity, adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and health-related quality of life in a sample of Spanish adolescents. Method: The study involved 456 adolescents aged between 11 and 14 years. They completed questionnaires on the Mediterranean diet (KIDMED, physical activity (Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children [PAQ-C], and quality of life (KIDSCREEN-27. Body mass index was calculated. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to determine whether health-related quality of life could be predicted by the measured variables. The variables were analyzed in a stepwise manner, with Mediterranean diet entered in the first step, body mass index in the second, and physical activity in the third. Results: Mediterranean diet accounted for 4.6% of the variance in adolescent's health-related quality of life, with higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet predicting higher health-related quality of life-scores. Body mass index accounted for a further 4.1% of the variance, with a higher body mass index predicting lower health-related quality of life scores. Finally, physical activity explained an additional 11.3% of the variance, with a higher level of physical activity being associated with higher health-related quality of life scores. Together, these variables explained 20% of the variance in the adolescents' health-related quality of life. Conclusions: Physical activity, body mass index, and adherence to the Mediterranean diet are important components to consider when targeting improvements in the health-related quality of life of adolescents, with physical activity representing the component with the greatest influence.

  18. Use of speech-to-text technology for documentation by healthcare providers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ajami, Sima

    2016-01-01

    Medical records are a critical component of a patient's treatment. However, documentation of patient-related information is considered a secondary activity in the provision of healthcare services, often leading to incomplete medical records and patient data of low quality. Advances in information technology (IT) in the health system and registration of information in electronic health records (EHR) using speechto- text conversion software have facilitated service delivery. This narrative review is a literature search with the help of libraries, books, conference proceedings, databases of Science Direct, PubMed, Proquest, Springer, SID (Scientific Information Database), and search engines such as Yahoo, and Google. I used the following keywords and their combinations: speech recognition, automatic report documentation, voice to text software, healthcare, information, and voice recognition. Due to lack of knowledge of other languages, I searched all texts in English or Persian with no time limits. Of a total of 70, only 42 articles were selected. Speech-to-text conversion technology offers opportunities to improve the documentation process of medical records, reduce cost and time of recording information, enhance the quality of documentation, improve the quality of services provided to patients, and support healthcare providers in legal matters. Healthcare providers should recognize the impact of this technology on service delivery.

  19. Competence: the categorical apparatus of higher pharmaceutical education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. M. Alyeksyeyeva

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Despite the institutional importance of the law on higher education legal category of “qualification”, as a result of a formal assessment and recognition of education, it should be also noted that in its articulation of the Law of Ukraine “On higher education” is not the ultimate/exhaustive, and referential. Purpose – to study the content of this category, as well as for its full and deep understanding, and also the elucidation of additional interpretations of the concept of competence, which generally indicates the content of the qualification. Materials and methods. To achieve the purpose of the study, the following basic methods have been used: bibliographic, linguistic, legal and content-rather-legal. In particular, the regulatory definition of “competence” of the modern professional and their role in higher education have been analyzed, and it has been proved that general definition of competence – is an integrated readiness/professional capacity for holistic efforts to solve practical problems of the corresponding qualification level (in the work, education or personal development. Results. The study is further proof of the importance of finding the essence and content of competence as a criterion of quality education for the training of future medical and pharmaceutical workers. It was emphasized that the general encyclopedic sources and national regulations and international official documents contain the interpretation of the definitions of “competence/competence/competence/competent” in two planes, namely professional, like a circle of powers (rights and obligations, legal entities and individuals; and the academic/educational, as the availability of knowledge and experience to anyone, with anything awareness. Conclusions. The study proved that the competence is a central element of the definition of “qualification” that determines its contents – formal criteria (knowledge, abilities, skills, ways of thinking

  20. How does higher frequency monitoring data affect the calibration of a process-based water quality model?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson-Blake, Leah; Helliwell, Rachel

    2015-04-01

    Process-based catchment water quality models are increasingly used as tools to inform land management. However, for such models to be reliable they need to be well calibrated and shown to reproduce key catchment processes. Calibration can be challenging for process-based models, which tend to be complex and highly parameterised. Calibrating a large number of parameters generally requires a large amount of monitoring data, spanning all hydrochemical conditions. However, regulatory agencies and research organisations generally only sample at a fortnightly or monthly frequency, even in well-studied catchments, often missing peak flow events. The primary aim of this study was therefore to investigate how the quality and uncertainty of model simulations produced by a process-based, semi-distributed catchment model, INCA-P (the INtegrated CAtchment model of Phosphorus dynamics), were improved by calibration to higher frequency water chemistry data. Two model calibrations were carried out for a small rural Scottish catchment: one using 18 months of daily total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) concentration data, another using a fortnightly dataset derived from the daily data. To aid comparability, calibrations were carried out automatically using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo - DiffeRential Evolution Adaptive Metropolis (MCMC-DREAM) algorithm. Calibration to daily data resulted in improved simulation of peak TDP concentrations and improved model performance statistics. Parameter-related uncertainty in simulated TDP was large when fortnightly data was used for calibration, with a 95% credible interval of 26 μg/l. This uncertainty is comparable in size to the difference between Water Framework Directive (WFD) chemical status classes, and would therefore make it difficult to use this calibration to predict shifts in WFD status. The 95% credible interval reduced markedly with the higher frequency monitoring data, to 6 μg/l. The number of parameters that could be reliably auto

  1. Building a comprehensive syntactic and semantic corpus of Chinese clinical texts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Bin; Dong, Bin; Guan, Yi; Yang, Jinfeng; Jiang, Zhipeng; Yu, Qiubin; Cheng, Jianyi; Qu, Chunyan

    2017-05-01

    To build a comprehensive corpus covering syntactic and semantic annotations of Chinese clinical texts with corresponding annotation guidelines and methods as well as to develop tools trained on the annotated corpus, which supplies baselines for research on Chinese texts in the clinical domain. An iterative annotation method was proposed to train annotators and to develop annotation guidelines. Then, by using annotation quality assurance measures, a comprehensive corpus was built, containing annotations of part-of-speech (POS) tags, syntactic tags, entities, assertions, and relations. Inter-annotator agreement (IAA) was calculated to evaluate the annotation quality and a Chinese clinical text processing and information extraction system (CCTPIES) was developed based on our annotated corpus. The syntactic corpus consists of 138 Chinese clinical documents with 47,426 tokens and 2612 full parsing trees, while the semantic corpus includes 992 documents that annotated 39,511 entities with their assertions and 7693 relations. IAA evaluation shows that this comprehensive corpus is of good quality, and the system modules are effective. The annotated corpus makes a considerable contribution to natural language processing (NLP) research into Chinese texts in the clinical domain. However, this corpus has a number of limitations. Some additional types of clinical text should be introduced to improve corpus coverage and active learning methods should be utilized to promote annotation efficiency. In this study, several annotation guidelines and an annotation method for Chinese clinical texts were proposed, and a comprehensive corpus with its NLP modules were constructed, providing a foundation for further study of applying NLP techniques to Chinese texts in the clinical domain. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  2. Individual Variation in Children's Reading Comprehension across Digital Text Types

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fesel, Sabine S.; Segers, Eliane; Verhoeven, Ludo

    2018-01-01

    The present study examined children's digital text comprehension of digital text types linear digital text vs hypertext, with or without graphical navigable overviews. We investigated to what extent individual variation in children's comprehension could be explained by lexical quality (word reading efficiency and vocabulary knowledge), cognitive…

  3. Factors Affecting the Quality of Life and the Illness Acceptance of Pregnant Women with Diabetes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agnieszka Bień

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper contains an analysis of the factors affecting the quality of life (QoL and the illness acceptance of diabetic pregnant women. The study was performed between January and April, 2013. It included 114 pregnant women with diabetes, hospitalized in the High Risk Pregnancy Wards of several hospitals in Lublin, Poland. The study used a diagnostic survey with questionnaires. The research instruments used were: The WHOQOL-Bref questionnaire and the Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS. The women’s general quality of life was slightly higher than their perceived general health. A higher quality of life was reported by women with a very good financial standing, very good perceived health, moderate self-reported knowledge of diabetes, and also by those only treated with diet and stating that the illness did not interfere with their lives (p < 0.05. Women with a very good financial standing (p < 0.009, high self-reported health (p < 0.002, and those treated with by means of a diet (p < 0.04 had a higher acceptance of illness. A higher acceptance of illness contributes to a higher general quality of life and a better perception of one’s health.

  4. Restless legs syndrome in adolescents: relationship with sleep quality, cardiorespiratory fitness and body fat

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christoforos D. Giannaki

    Full Text Available Objective: The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between restless legs syndrome (RLS and cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition and sleep quality in a sample of adolescents. Methods: One hundred fifty seven volunteer adolescents (16.6 ± 0.7 yrs participated in the study. Sleep quality was assessed by the Pittsburg sleep quality index. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed by the 20 m shuttle run test and body composition by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Results: The prevalence of RLS was 5.1%. The adolescents with RLS were found to exhibit significantly higher body fat levels (p=0.019 and poorer sleep quality score (p=0.000 compared with their free-RLS counterparts. Conclusions: Adolescents with RLS are subjects of higher body fat and impaired sleep quality compared with adolescents without RLS. Early diagnosis and appropriate management of RLS is essential in the adolescents.

  5. THE PRODUCTION AND BODY COMPOSITION OF KACANG GOAT FED DIFFERENT QUALITY OF DIETS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. Restitrisnani

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available An experimental study was carried out to assess the effect of diet quality on productivity and bodycomposition of Kacang goat. Fifteen male Kacang goats weighing 14.28 ± 3.36 kg (CV = 23.55% weredivided into 5 groups based on body weight. The experimental design used in this study wasRandomized Block Design (RBD with 3 treatments of dietary protein and total digestible (TDNcontents (T1= diet with 9.20% protein and 54.67% TDN; T2= diet with 11.6% protein and 58.61%TDN; T3= diet with 18.33% protein and 65.23% TDN. Parameters observed were feed intake, drymatter intake, crude protein intake, TDN intake, live weight gain (LWG and body composition ofKacang goat. The results showed that feed quality did not significantly affect (P>0.05 dry matter intakeand body composition, but significantly affect (P<0.05 protein intake, TDN intake and LWG. It can beconcluded that the higher quality diet resulted in higher productivity, but the higher quality diet was notaffect body composition of Kacang goat, except body fat gain (%.

  6. Predictive analysis of beer quality by correlating sensory evaluation with higher alcohol and ester production using multivariate statistics methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Jian-Jun; Li, Qing-Liang; Yin, Hua; Zhong, Cheng; Hao, Jun-Guang; Yang, Pan-Fei; Tian, Yu-Hong; Jia, Shi-Ru

    2014-10-15

    Sensory evaluation is regarded as a necessary procedure to ensure a reproducible quality of beer. Meanwhile, high-throughput analytical methods provide a powerful tool to analyse various flavour compounds, such as higher alcohol and ester. In this study, the relationship between flavour compounds and sensory evaluation was established by non-linear models such as partial least squares (PLS), genetic algorithm back-propagation neural network (GA-BP), support vector machine (SVM). It was shown that SVM with a Radial Basis Function (RBF) had a better performance of prediction accuracy for both calibration set (94.3%) and validation set (96.2%) than other models. Relatively lower prediction abilities were observed for GA-BP (52.1%) and PLS (31.7%). In addition, the kernel function of SVM played an essential role of model training when the prediction accuracy of SVM with polynomial kernel function was 32.9%. As a powerful multivariate statistics method, SVM holds great potential to assess beer quality. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Punctuation and Capitalization in Text Messages Sent from Traditional Mobile Phones versus Smartphones: Implications for Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Genevieve

    2016-01-01

    Technology often mediates, and thus influences, written language conventions such as punctuation and capitalization. Fifty university students sent two text messages, one with an alphanumeric multi-press keypad mobile phone (i.e., Nokia 1101) and another with a full QWERTY keypad smartphone (i.e., Apple iPhone 4). Compared to text messages sent…

  8. Quality Response and Competitiveness of Fish Exports in Oman

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Zaibet

    2000-06-01

    Full Text Available Received trade theory presumes an important role for increasing returns to scale, product-differentiation, and quality as determinants of trade flows. In a global world, exports can only be expanded if a nation is competitive in terms of cost and quality of traded products. Food safety and quality systems, such as HACCP or ISO 9000, are indirectly included in international agreements (GATT as facilitators of trade. These systems may lead to cost leadership and product improvement, which are key factors to higher competitiveness and sustained benefits in international markets. This paper estimates a modified Armington model that links product differentiation and safety programs to market shares, i.e. competitiveness.

  9. SELF ASSESSMENT AND INSTITUTIONAL ASSESSMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dumara Coutinho Tokunaga Sameshima

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Institutional Assessment is a comprehensive action, radical mobilizing and engaging the institution as a whole. Process is not indifferent or neutral. Instead, take advantage reaffirms values considered positive, the judge denies negative, their social relationships and work involved in all aspects of academic life and institutional (Newton Balzan and José Dias Sobrinho. As pointed out by the authors of the text, the institutional assessment is a challenge for managers in the field. In this sense this study addresses the understanding of Institutional Assessment and investigation procedure, that explicitly and reveal the subject institution's social reality prevailing in its various dimensions, identifying their points of excellence, their focus create obstacles, pointing paths and prospects for institutional development. The process of self-assessment meets the desire of institutions to maintain the provision of quality services and meet legislation on Institutional Assessment, specifically the Law. 10861/2004 which regulates the National Assessment of Higher Education - SINAES. The author's desire to emphasize that institutions of higher learning, being recognized as educational institutions, research and extension to provide excellence in education, training people competent, ethical and socially committed to the real exercise of citizenship.

  10. The effect of women's employment on children's quality of life

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roghayeh Ghanbari

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Quality of life in adolescence period determines individual's future. The effect of maternal employment on children's quality of life is important and undeniable issue. This study aimed to investigate and compare the quality of life among children of employed and housewife women. In this study, the participants included selected school children's employed and housewife mothers. The tools for data collection consisted of a questionnaire which was distributed among 671 middle-high school and high school students (304 have employed mothers and 367 have housewives mothers. In this study, the level of significance was considered. Results showed that the life quality of children of employed mothers and housewife mothers in the two groups is statistically significant. Quality of life in employed mothers in the mental, physical, social relations, emotional, religious, achieve life goals, leisure time and economic dimension were higher than housewife mothers but there was not any significant different among employed mothers' children and housewife mothers' children in dimensions of relationships with parents. Girls' quality of Life was more than boys, in the teacher mothers was higher than other occupations and in the exceptional talents school was more than other schools. This study found that maternal employment has effect on children's quality of life, so employed mothers' children have high quality of life.

  11. Makerere Journal of Higher Education - Vol 2 (2009)

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Makerere Journal of Higher Education. ... The University Staff Job Satisfaction Challenge and its Implications for National Council for Higher Education: An Empirical Evidence · EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD ... Higher Education and Youth Preparation for the Labour Market: the case of Universities.

  12. Comparing higher order models for the EORTC QLQ-C30

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gundy, Chad M; Fayers, Peter M; Grønvold, Mogens

    2012-01-01

    To investigate the statistical fit of alternative higher order models for summarizing the health-related quality of life profile generated by the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire.......To investigate the statistical fit of alternative higher order models for summarizing the health-related quality of life profile generated by the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire....

  13. Student Evaluations of Teaching: Improving Teaching Quality in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hammonds, Frank; Mariano, Gina J.; Ammons, Gracie; Chambers, Sheridan

    2017-01-01

    Student evaluations of teaching (SET) are widely used in both North America and the UK as a means of documenting and improving teaching quality. This article discusses current research on SET administration and interpretation in both regions. Sections of the article are dedicated to various problems associated with SETs and how these may be…

  14. Factors identified with higher levels of career satisfaction of physicians in Andalusia, Spain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Nicolás Peña-Sánchez

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The satisfaction of physicians is a world-wide issue linked with the quality of health services; their satisfaction needs to be studied from a multi-dimensional perspective, considering lower- and higher-order needs. The objectives of this study were to: i measure the career satisfaction of physicians; ii identify differences in the dimensions of career satisfaction; and iii test factors that affect higher- and lower-order needs of satisfaction among physicians working in Andalusian hospitals (Spain. Forty-one percent of 299 eligible physicians participated in a study conducted in six selected hospitals. Physicians reported higher professional, inherent, and performance satisfaction than personal satisfaction. Foreign physicians reported higher levels of personal and performance satisfaction than local physicians, and those who received non-monetary incentives had higher professional and performance satisfaction. In conclusion, physicians in the selected Andalusian hospitals reported low levels of personal satisfaction. Non-monetary incentives were more relevant to influence their career satisfaction. Further investigations are recommended to study differences in the career satisfaction between foreign and local physicians.

  15. Mixed Higher Order Variational Model for Image Recovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pengfei Liu

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available A novel mixed higher order regularizer involving the first and second degree image derivatives is proposed in this paper. Using spectral decomposition, we reformulate the new regularizer as a weighted L1-L2 mixed norm of image derivatives. Due to the equivalent formulation of the proposed regularizer, an efficient fast projected gradient algorithm combined with monotone fast iterative shrinkage thresholding, called, FPG-MFISTA, is designed to solve the resulting variational image recovery problems under majorization-minimization framework. Finally, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed regularization scheme by the experimental comparisons with total variation (TV scheme, nonlocal TV scheme, and current second degree methods. Specifically, the proposed approach achieves better results than related state-of-the-art methods in terms of peak signal to ratio (PSNR and restoration quality.

  16. RESEARCH OF INFLUENCE OF QUALITY OF ELECTRONIC EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES ON QUALITY OF TRAINING WITH USE OF DISTANCE TECHNOLOGIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. M. Kravtsov

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Communication improving of educational processes requires today new approaches to the management arrangements and forming of educational policy in the field of distance learning, which is based on the use of modern information and communication technologies. An important step in this process is the continuous monitoring of the development and implementation of information technology and, in particular, the distance learning systems in higher educational establishments. The main objective of the monitoring is the impact assessment on the development of distance learning following the state educational standards, curricula, methodical and technical equipment and other factors; factors revelation that influence the implementation and outcomes of distance learning; results comparison of educational institution functioning and distance education systems in order to determine the most efficient ways of its development. The paper presents the analysis results of the dependence of the quality of educational services on the electronic educational resources. Trends in educational services development was studied by comparing the quality influence of electronic educational resources on the quality of educational services of higher pedagogical educational institutions of Ukraine as of 2009-2010 and 2012-2013. Generally, the analysis of the survey results allows evaluating quality of the modern education services as satisfactory and it can be said that almost 70% of the success of their future development depends on the quality of the used electronic educational resources and distance learning systems in particular.

  17. THE PARTICULARITIES OF SERVICES AND THE IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emanuela Maria AVRAM

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The recent changes in higher education impose an increased usage of marketing in this field, because this is the path to a more profound understanding of consumers' needs and to identifying the correct market position of the higher education institution. Moreover, it is helpful in developing various study programmes which provide graduates with the necessary skills to successfully meet the requirements of the labour market. At the same time, the employment of marketing in the academic environment not only contributes to correctly informing the public as regards the education offer and the benefits of being the holder of an academic degree, but it also strengthens the academic image and reputation on the market. Results show that higher education encompasses the particularities of services, and therefore, the marketing activities should be adapted to this field. Furthermore, adopting marketing in current activities not only helps higher education institutions in elaborating some concrete actions of attracting quality students, but it also consolidates the academic image on the market.

  18. Figure text extraction in biomedical literature.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daehyun Kim

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Figures are ubiquitous in biomedical full-text articles, and they represent important biomedical knowledge. However, the sheer volume of biomedical publications has made it necessary to develop computational approaches for accessing figures. Therefore, we are developing the Biomedical Figure Search engine (http://figuresearch.askHERMES.org to allow bioscientists to access figures efficiently. Since text frequently appears in figures, automatically extracting such text may assist the task of mining information from figures. Little research, however, has been conducted exploring text extraction from biomedical figures.We first evaluated an off-the-shelf Optical Character Recognition (OCR tool on its ability to extract text from figures appearing in biomedical full-text articles. We then developed a Figure Text Extraction Tool (FigTExT to improve the performance of the OCR tool for figure text extraction through the use of three innovative components: image preprocessing, character recognition, and text correction. We first developed image preprocessing to enhance image quality and to improve text localization. Then we adapted the off-the-shelf OCR tool on the improved text localization for character recognition. Finally, we developed and evaluated a novel text correction framework by taking advantage of figure-specific lexicons.The evaluation on 382 figures (9,643 figure texts in total randomly selected from PubMed Central full-text articles shows that FigTExT performed with 84% precision, 98% recall, and 90% F1-score for text localization and with 62.5% precision, 51.0% recall and 56.2% F1-score for figure text extraction. When limiting figure texts to those judged by domain experts to be important content, FigTExT performed with 87.3% precision, 68.8% recall, and 77% F1-score. FigTExT significantly improved the performance of the off-the-shelf OCR tool we used, which on its own performed with 36.6% precision, 19.3% recall, and 25.3% F1-score for

  19. Factors associated with quality of life among hemodialysis patients in Malaysia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nor Baizura Md Yusop

    Full Text Available Although hemodialysis treatment has greatly increased the life expectancy of end stage renal disease patients, low quality of life among hemodialysis patients is frequently reported. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the relationship between medical history, hemodialysis treatment and nutritional status with the mental and physical components of quality of life in hemodialysis patients. Respondents (n=90 were recruited from Hospital Kuala Lumpur and dialysis centres of the National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia. Data obtained included socio-demography, medical history, hemodialysis treatment and nutritional status. Mental and physical quality of life were measured using the Mental Composite Summary (MCS and Physical Composite Summary (PCS of the Short-Form Health Survey 36-items, a generic core of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form. Two summary measures and total SF-36 was scored as 0-100, with a higher score indicating better quality of life. Approximately 26 (30% of respondents achieved the body mass index (24 kg/m(2 and more than 80% (n=77 achieved serum albumin level (>35.0 mg/dL recommended for hemodialysis patients. The majority of respondents did not meet the energy (n=72, 80% and protein (n=68,75% recommendations. The total score of SF-36 was 54.1 ± 19.2, while the score for the mental and physical components were 45.0 ± 8.6 and 39.6 ± 8.6, respectively. Factors associated with a higher MCS score were absence of diabetes mellitus (p=0.000 and lower serum calcium (p=0.004, while higher blood flow (p=0.000, higher serum creatinine (p=0.000 and lower protein intake (p=0.006 were associated with a higher PCS score. To improve the overall quality of life of hemodialysis patients, a multidisciplinary intervention that includes medical, dietetic and psychosocial strategies that address factors associated with mental and physical quality of life are warranted to reduce further health complications and to improve quality

  20. Perceptions of Higher Education Reforms in Russia: the Role of Institutions and Social Capital

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Volchik Vyacheslav, V.

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Recent reforms of higher education in Russia are aimed at boosting the quality and efficiency of the educational process. Nevertheless, in most cases, implemented institutional and organizational innovations do not work properly. Calculative technologies and various ratings, which are widespread today, opened up the opportunities for regular managerial interventions. These interventions are not neutral. In Russian higher education, the mania for measurement resulted in a deficit of trust and rampant bureaucracy. Historically, the system of higher education has been based on specific values and institutions. Academic freedom and autonomy are extremely important for the members of the academic community, and these values cannot be eliminated. Implemented reforms destroy old institutions and organizational structures. However, new institutions, being inconsistent with present working rules and practices, are not able to replace the old ones. Such inconsistency can result in inefficiency. Social capital plays a crucial role for development and growth in the field of higher education. The structure of social capital in the field embraces three components: trust, social engagement and social integration. These elements must be taken into account when implementing educational reforms. The higher the employees are motivated and experience personal growth, the more they feel embedded in their job. We have analyzed the discourses of the key actors within the universities of Rostov Region. The discourse analysis shows that bureaucracy, constant institutional and organizational changes and the reduction of academic freedom are perceived as significant factors that influence labor productivity, organizational efficiency and the quality of educational services in the field of higher education.

  1. The episodicity of verbal reports of personally significant autobiographical memories: Vividness correlates with narrative text quality more than with detailedness or memory specificity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tilmann eHabermas

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available How can we tell from a memory report whether a memory is episodic or not? Vividness is required by many definitions, whereas detailedness, memory specificity, and narrative text type are competing definitions of episodicity used in research. We explored their correlations with vividness in personally significant autobiographical memories to provide evidence to support their relative claim to define episodic memories. In addition, we explored differences between different memory types and text types as well as between memories with different valences. We asked a lifespan sample (N = 168 of 8-, 12-, 16-, 20-, 40-, and 65-year-olds of both genders (N = 27, 29, 27, 27, 28, 30 to provide brief oral life narratives. These were segmented into thematic memory units. Detailedness of person, place, and time did not correlate with each other or either vividness, memory specificity, or narrative text type. Narrative text type, in contrast, correlated both with vividness and memory specificity, suggesting narrative text type as a good criterion of episodicity. Emotionality turned out to be an even better predictor of vividness. Also, differences between narrative, chronicle, and argument text types and between specific versus more extended and atemporal memory were explored as well as differences between positive, negative, ambivalent, neutral, contamination, and redemption memory reports. It is concluded that temporal sequentiality is a central characteristic of episodic autobiographical memories. Furthermore, it is suggested that the textual quality of memory reports should be taken more seriously, and that evaluation and interpretation are inherent aspects of personally significant memories.

  2. Barriers to Women in Roles of Leadership in Higher Education: An Examination of Leadership Texts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Heather Hall

    2012-01-01

    This content analysis study identifies ten leadership books currently in use in college leadership courses and explores the issues of gender bias as well as masculine and feminine leadership styles throughout the selected texts. An objective of this research was to gain understanding of the unique ways women approach leadership and to determine if…

  3. Signal quality enhancement using higher order wavelets for ultrasonic TOFD signals from austenitic stainless steel welds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Praveen, Angam; Vijayarekha, K; Abraham, Saju T; Venkatraman, B

    2013-09-01

    Time of flight diffraction (TOFD) technique is a well-developed ultrasonic non-destructive testing (NDT) method and has been applied successfully for accurate sizing of defects in metallic materials. This technique was developed in early 1970s as a means for accurate sizing and positioning of cracks in nuclear components became very popular in the late 1990s and is today being widely used in various industries for weld inspection. One of the main advantages of TOFD is that, apart from fast technique, it provides higher probability of detection for linear defects. Since TOFD is based on diffraction of sound waves from the extremities of the defect compared to reflection from planar faces as in pulse echo and phased array, the resultant signal would be quite weak and signal to noise ratio (SNR) low. In many cases the defect signal is submerged in this noise making it difficult for detection, positioning and sizing. Several signal processing methods such as digital filtering, Split Spectrum Processing (SSP), Hilbert Transform and Correlation techniques have been developed in order to suppress unwanted noise and enhance the quality of the defect signal which can thus be used for characterization of defects and the material. Wavelet Transform based thresholding techniques have been applied largely for de-noising of ultrasonic signals. However in this paper, higher order wavelets are used for analyzing the de-noising performance for TOFD signals obtained from Austenitic Stainless Steel welds. It is observed that higher order wavelets give greater SNR improvement compared to the lower order wavelets. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Evaluation of consumer satisfaction with the quality of training of young professionals by the universities for enterprises of coal-mining complex

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mikhalchenko Vadim

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The article presents the study results of evaluation of customer satisfaction (a big coal mining company with the quality of training of young specialists with higher education. Research is based on the model of Kano, one of the most effective tools for assessing the quality of products within the framework of modern management model - Total Quality Management. Based on the results, “quality profile” of training of young specialists with higher education is built and the factors that determine its level and characteristics are identified. The findings show universities the need to include such transformations and changes into the system and the processes of creation and positioning of their “product”. It will give a higher added value to the “product” and, therefore, provide the manufacturer and the consumer with the higher competitive advantage in the current economic conditions.

  5. Internal Quality Assurance--Enhancing Quality Culture. ENQA Workshop Report 16

    Science.gov (United States)

    ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education), 2010

    2010-01-01

    The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), in cooperation with the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA, UK), organised a seminar on theme "Internal Quality Assurance--Enhancing quality culture" which was held on 8-9 June, 2010 in London, United Kingdom. The seminar marked the fourth annual meeting of the ENQA…

  6. Knowledge, Power and Meanings Shaping Quality Assurance in Higher Education: A Systemic Critique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houston, Don; Paewai, Shelley

    2013-01-01

    Internationally, quality assurance schemes persist despite long-standing dissatisfaction and critique of their impact and outcomes. Adopting a critical systems perspective, the article explores the relationships between the knowledge, power and meanings that stakeholder groups bring to the design and implementation of quality assurance systems.…

  7. Assessing Higher Education Learning Outcomes in Brazil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pedrosa, Renato H. L.; Amaral, Eliana; Knobel, Marcelo

    2013-01-01

    Brazil has developed an encompassing system for quality assessment of higher education, the National System of Higher Education Evaluation (SINAES), which includes a test for assessing learning outcomes at the undergraduate level, the National Exam of Student Performance (ENADE). The present system has been running since 2004, and also serves as…

  8. MONITORING OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY QUALITY ON THE TRACTION SUBSTATION INPUT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O.G. Gryb

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available For the implementation of measures to maintain the quality of the energy industrial enterprises have to spend a significant material and monetary assets. In this regard, significant is the feasibility study of the allocation of such funds and, primarily, the determination of the economic damage arising from low quality of electricity. The reliability of the electricity metering system, relay protection and automation of modern digital substations depends on the quality of electrical energy. At the present time to improve the reliability of the substation operation it is necessary to monitor indicators of quality of electric energy, allowing you to take organizational and technical solutions for their improvement. Monitoring the power quality at the input traction substation has shown that indicators such as the coefficient of the n-th harmonic component of the voltage does not meet the standards GOST 13109-97. The source of higher harmonics is a voltage Converter used on the locomotive. To eliminate higher harmonics in the supply network for traction substations will need to install power filters. Today, the USB-analyzer of power quality «Digital measurement system of power quality» type of CSICE of accuracy class 0.2. Work energy requires reliable and quality electricity supply to consumers. The new model of balancing energy market are bilateral contracts. The main task of this market, it ensure the stable and reliable operation of the unified energy system of Ukraine, that is, transmission and supply of electricity of appropriate quality.

  9. Assuring Quality in Higher Education: The New Zealand Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weir, Annie

    2009-01-01

    With the expansion of higher education across the globe in response to the creation of knowledge economies and learning societies, governments have become increasingly interested in ensuring value for money from their investments. In determining their comparative economic advantage, nation states have increasingly focused on the…

  10. Managing the System of Higher Education: Competition or Collaboration?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maguad, Ben A.

    2018-01-01

    The systems view of quality postulates that product or service quality comes as the result of interactions between various components that comprise a production process. In view of this, most problems in the organization, like an institution of higher education, can be attributed to the system. To be effective, any quality improvement initiative…

  11. THE HR IMPACT ON ROMANIAN UNIVERSITIES EDUCATION QUALITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adrian Lupu

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Higher education is the main supplier of experts who will lead in the near future the Romanian society and its integrated economy into the European Union. Obtaining a quality-oriented behavior is a major constraint in the actual process of real European integration of Romania, representing meanwhile a key aspect in gathering the economic prosperity as the nation longs for more than 20 years. A major importance in this respect has the educational component. It becomes obvious that all of the universities` work must be oriented towards increasing the competitiveness of the institution both at nationally and internationally level. This can be achieved through quality work and results, a performing management, an appropriate financial policy of the rational resources` use and gathering of the new resources, strengthening the international dimension of business and encouraging a responsible attitude by the staff side. For any higher education’s institution, the quality management must become the main path to increase its performance and prestige. Unfortunately, in many universities the quality management is confused with accreditation and the efforts are being made to achieving the standards` requirement, while continuous improvement is overlooked, followed closely by an element often not taken into account in the Romanian educational process: students` perspective.

  12. Text2Floss: the feasibility and acceptability of a text messaging intervention to improve oral health behavior and knowledge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hashemian, Tony S; Kritz-Silverstein, Donna; Baker, Ryan

    2015-01-01

    Text messaging is useful for promoting numerous health-related behaviors. The Text2Floss Study examines the feasibility and utility of a 7-day text messaging intervention to improve oral health knowledge and behavior in mothers of young children. Mothers were recruited from a private practice and a community clinic. Of 156 mothers enrolled, 129 randomized into text (n = 60) and control groups (n = 69) completed the trial. Participants in the text group received text messages for 7 days, asking about flossing and presenting oral health information. Oral health behaviors and knowledge were surveyed pre- and post-intervention. At baseline, there were no differences between text and control group mothers in knowledge and behaviors (P > 0.10). Post-intervention, text group mothers flossed more (P = 0.01), had higher total (P = 0.0006) and specific (P Text messages were accepted and perceived as useful. Mothers receiving text messages improved their own oral health behaviors and knowledge as well as their behaviors regarding their children's oral health. Text messaging represents a viable method to improve oral health behaviors and knowledge. Its high acceptance may make it useful for preventing oral disease. © 2014 American Association of Public Health Dentistry.

  13. Text collections for evaluation of Russian morphological taggers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lyashevskaya Olga

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper describes the preparation and development of the text collections within the framework of MorphoRuEval-2017 shared task, an evaluation campaign designed to stimulate development of the automatic morphological processing technologies for Russian. The main challenge for the organizers was to standardize all available Russian corpora with the manually verified high-quality tagging to a single format (Universal Dependencies CONLL-U. The sources of the data were the disambiguated subcorpus of the Russian National Corpus, SynTagRus, OpenCorpora.org data and GICR corpus with the resolved homonymy, all exhibiting different tagsets, rules for lemmatization, pipeline architecture, technical solutions and error systematicity. The collections includes both normative texts (the news and modern literature and more informal discourse (social media and spoken data, the texts are available under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license.

  14. Gender differences in psychosocial predictors of texting while driving.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Struckman-Johnson, Cindy; Gaster, Samuel; Struckman-Johnson, Dave; Johnson, Melissa; May-Shinagle, Gabby

    2015-01-01

    A sample of 158 male and 357 female college students at a midwestern university participated in an on-line study of psychosocial motives for texting while driving. Men and women did not differ in self-reported ratings of how often they texted while driving. However, more women sent texts of less than a sentence while more men sent texts of 1-5 sentences. More women than men said they would quit texting while driving due to police warnings, receiving information about texting dangers, being shown graphic pictures of texting accidents, and being in a car accident. A hierarchical regression for men's data revealed that lower levels of feeling distracted by texting while driving (20% of the variance), higher levels of cell phone dependence (11.5% of the variance), risky behavioral tendencies (6.5% of the variance) and impulsivity (2.3%) of the variance) were significantly associated with more texting while driving (total model variance=42%). A separate regression for women revealed that higher levels of cell phone dependence (10.4% of the variance), risky behavioral tendencies (9.9% of the variance), texting distractibility (6.2%), crash risk estimates (2.2% of the variance) and driving confidence (1.3% of the variance) were significantly associated with more texting while driving (total model variance=31%.) Friendship potential and need for intimacy were not related to men's or women's texting while driving. Implications of the results for gender-specific prevention strategies are discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. A methodology to improve higher education quality using the quality function deployment and analytic hierarchy process

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Raharjo, H.; Xie, M.; Goh, T.N.; Brombacher, A.C.

    2007-01-01

    In order to formulate an effective strategic plan in a customer-driven education context, it is important to recognize who the customers are and what they want. Using Quality Function Deployment (QFD), this information can be translated into strategies to achieve customer satisfaction. Since the

  16. THE MAIN EMPLOYER REQUIREMENTS TO THE QUALITY OF MODERN SPECIALISTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zakharova Svetlana Mikhailovna

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available The professional educational establishments make special demands to the quality of education of school graduates. In the third generation of Federal state educational standards there is a list of competences which are necessary for the professional school students. This list determines the quality of the future specialists’ training. But, nevertheless, there are a lot of differences between the qualities which are necessary for the prospective students and the qualities which are expected from professional schools graduates by their employers. Nowadays a lot of industrial facilities begin to suffer from a stuff shortage. That’s why the employers start the dialogue with the educational establishments in order to define the future specialists’ competences and to make their own demands to the quality of education. Therefore the educational institutions and the employer began to develop the complex support system to achieve higher quality level of education.

  17. THE ACADEMIC PERSONNEL MOTIVATION - A FACTOR FOR HIGH QUALITY EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Viara Slavianska

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The present paper consecutively puts an accent on 1 the quality of higher education as a national priority, 2 the qualification and motivation of the academic staff as factors for offering an educational product of high quality, 3 the strategies, policies and practices for motivating the academic personnel. The necessity of education improvement is adduced, the strategies and politics in the field of academic personnel training are presented, and the possible effects from a wrong approach to employees’ motivation in academic environment are commented.

  18. Internal education quality evaluation as a factor of development of engineering education quality in Russia

    OpenAIRE

    Shvindt Antoniy; Nikanorov Ivan

    2017-01-01

    In the paper, general approaches to evaluation of quality of engineering education in Russia, stated by expert community, are considered. The authors arrived at the conclusion that attention to internal evaluation mechanism of the education quality in Russian normative framework of higher education system is insufficient, as compared to European higher education practices. A pattern of involving the students in the internal evaluation of higher education quality is submitted to be a tool to d...

  19. Effects of Text Messaging on Academic Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barks Amanda

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available University students frequently send and receive cellular phone text messages during classroominstruction. Cognitive psychology research indicates that multi-tasking is frequently associatedwith performance cost. However, university students often have considerable experience withelectronic multi-tasking and may believe that they can devote necessary attention to a classroomlecture while sending and receiving text messages. In the current study, university students whoused text messaging were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: 1. a group that sent andreceived text messages during a lecture or, 2. a group that did not engage in text messagingduring the lecture. Participants who engaged in text messaging demonstrated significantlypoorer performance on a test covering lecture content compared with the group that did notsend and receive text messages. Participants exhibiting higher levels of text messaging skill hadsignificantly lower test scores than participants who were less proficient at text messaging. It ishypothesized that in terms of retention of lecture material, more frequent task shifting by thosewith greater text messaging proficiency contributed to poorer performance. Overall, the findingsdo not support the view, held by many university students, that this form of multitasking has littleeffect on the acquisition of lecture content. Results provide empirical support for teachers andprofessors who ban text messaging in the classroom.

  20. Implications of Enhancing Access to Higher Education for Quality ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study was based on literature review, which was augmented by key informant interviews, focus group discussions and observation. It revealed that the study centres marked a great stride in opening access to higher education, especially for the working class, and in increasing the number of graduates from secondary ...