University of Groningen
Impact of accreditation on quality assurance Dattey, Kwame
IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below.
Document Version
Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record
Publication date: 2018
Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database
Citation for published version (APA):
Dattey, K. (2018). Impact of accreditation on quality assurance: A case study of public and private universities in Ghana. Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.
Copyright
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons).
Take-down policy
If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.
Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum.
204
Appendix 1:
Questionnaire for university
academics
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR UNIVERSITY ACADEMICS
Name of institution
……… Name of department
……… Designation/ Position (e.g. Head of Dept., Quality Assurance Officer, etc.):
……… Date of employment in university
……… Rank [please tick]:
Lecturer [ ] Snr. Lecturer [ ] Assoc. Professor [ ] Professor [ ] Courses taught: (i) ………. (ii) ………. (iii) ……… Gender: Male [ ] Female [ ]
Age ………..
1. How many cycles of assessments has your Department undergone for purposes of accreditation?
205 Once [ ]
Twice [ ]
More than twice [ ]
2. Apart from permission to operate, please rank on a scale of 1- 7, what informs the importance your Department attaches to going through the processes of assessment for accreditation.
Not im porta nt at a ll L ow importa nc e S li ghtl y i mporta nt Indif fe re nt M ode ra tely im porta nt V ery importa nt Extre mely im porta nt
Attract good students
Attract qualified teaching staff Attract funding
Achieve and improve quality of education
Comply with legislation
206 3. How do you rate the work of the assessment team that last visited your institution with regard to the following factors? Please rank 1-5
V ery impre ssi ve Impr essi ve Indif fe re nt/ unde cided S omew ha t uni mpre ssi ve U nim pre ssi ve i. Collegiality
ii. Knowledge of subject area iii. Usefulness of suggestions iv. Thoroughness of assessment v. Grading of various indicators vi. Other, please specify …....
4. How would you classify the extent of implementation by your Department of evaluators’ suggestions for improvement between one cycle of assessment and a succeeding one with regard to the following? a. implemented almost all recommendations;
b. implemented majority of recommendations;
c. implemented some (about 50%) of the recommendations; d. implemented insignificant or none of the recommendations: i. Curriculum structure [ ]
ii. Student-staff ratio [ ].
iii. Recruitment of additional teaching staff. [ ]. Please indicate current strength………..
207 iv. Improvement of the stock and relevance of library materials [ ] v. Other teaching and learning aids [ ]. Please specify.
………... ... ... .
5. Please indicate the average class sizes for the courses you taught over the last three years, including the current academic session.
2012 - 2013 ………. 2013 - 2014 ………. 2014 - 2015 ………. 6. What is your teaching load per week in your Department? (a) Under 9 contact hours [ ]
(b) 9 – 10 hours [ ] (c) 10 -11 hours [ ] (d) 11-12 hours [ ]
208 7. On a scale of 1-5, please indicate, from your experience, the extent to which the following factors likely assists the improvement in the academic performance of students.
No e ff ec t M inor e ff ec t Ne utra l Mode ra te ef fe ct Ma jor e ff ec t
i. Better quality teaching staff
ii. Availability of good teaching materials – textbooks, journals, computers, etc iii Implementation of suggestions from accreditation assessment reports
iv Better funding mechanisms v. Natural abilities of students
209 8. How do you keep up with the competition in the tertiary education market (e.g. competition for students, lecturers, funding, etc.)? Please rank the answers after reading the criteria for scoring.
Not a ppli ca ble S omew ha t applica ble Ne utra l S omew ha t applica ble Most a ppli ca ble
i. Through aggressive marketing ii. Strict compliance with accreditation requirements, including recommendations for improvement
iii. Offer of flexible delivery schemes iv. Provision of superior facilities to clients
v. Offer of more programme choices vi. Other. Please specify
210 9. How do you perceive accreditation? (Please rank after reading the criteria for scoring
C an’t be true C ould be tr ue Unde cided More li ke ly t o be true Tr ue
i. It assists in quality improvement ii. it provides a means of ensuring
accountability to students and the public iii. it gives a good reputation to the department/institution
iv. it keeps tertiary education in check v. it is an unnecessary infringement on academic autonomy
vi. Other. Please specify
10. Please tick the following applicable areas where you believe accreditation has had a positive impact in your department:
i. Curriculum structure [ ] ii. Teaching delivery [ ] iii. Student learning outcomes [ ] iv. Library facilities [ ] v. Funding [ ] vi. Others (please state)
211 11. Please tick, as appropriate, how your Department improves the quality of its programmes
i. Through departmental (peer) review meetings [ ] ii. Through faculty review meetings [ ]
iii. By periodic evaluations conducted by the institution’s Internal Quality Assurance Unit [ ]
iv. By periodic external evaluation system [ ] v. A combination of the above. Please specify … [ ] 12. How often are courses reviewed?
(a) Annually [ ] (b) Every 2 years [ ] (c) Every 3 years [ ] (d) Every 4 years [ ]
(e) Every 5 years [ ] (f) after more than 5 years
212
Appendix 2:
Questionnaire for university
students
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
Instruction: Please tick the appropriate answer and do well to complete all open-ended questions were applicable. Be assured of complete confidentiality - under no circumstances would your response be traceable to you.
1. Courses structure
i. Did your institution/programme department provide you written course outlines at the beginning of the semester? Yes No ii. Were the following items provided in the course outlines:
a. Objective of the course Yes No b. Detailed course description Yes No c. Learning outcomes Yes No d. Recommended reading texts. Yes No
e. If you answered yes to (d) were the recommended reading texts current (published within the last 10 years?) Yes No Some were
f. Information on assessments. Yes No
iii. Have you taken, or expect to take, the following courses in the course of your studies:
a. Communication skills? Yes No. b. Computer skills? Yes No. iv. If the answer to (iii) is, yes what is the average credits allotted for
them? _________________ 2. Student assessment
i. How does your institution assess its students? Continuous assessment
End-of-semester assessment Both
213 Indicate the percentage contribution of each to the overall results of
the assessment.
____________________________________________________ ii. Do your examination questions usually cover all the topics stated
in the course outline?
All the time, Most often. Half of the time, Less than half of the time Hardly
iii. Do you receive feedback from your lecturers after examinations
and, or project work?
Yes No
3. Students Assessment of Course Content and Teaching
a. Have you ever completed an evaluation form for course content and teaching? Yes No
i. If the answer to (i) is yes, in which semester was this done? Semester 1 Semester 2 Both Semesters
ii. Were the evaluation forms filled online or in hard copies? Online Hard copy
iii. Who was responsible for coordinating the evaluation exercise in
your institution?
Lecturers/ HoD ~ 1 University Administrators ~ 2
iv. In your estimation, what have students’ participation been like? High Low
v. If you estimate students’ participation to be low, have you observed any action by the institution to encourage increased students participation? Yes No
vi. Are students given feedback on their complaints and, or recommendations? Yes No
vii. Which of the following has more emphasis in the evaluation form? Course content teaching balanced between the two
4. Ethics Policy
i. Have you been provided a copy of your academic programme’s ethics policy or any document that bordered on
ethics or conduct?
Yes No
ii. Does the policy address issues on:
iii. Staff – student relations: Yes No iv. Students - student relations Yes No
214 v. Relations with outsiders Yes No
vi. Research Yes No Yes, but never read it
5. Teaching & Class size
i. State the number of lecturers teaching you in this semester. Full-time_____ Part-time_____
ii. State class size: lowest class size: ___________ largest class size: _______________
6. Administration of Department/ programme
i. Do you know the rank of your HOD? Yes No ii. What is his/her highest qualification:
PhD, MPhil, MA MSc BSc. Professional
7. Physical facilities
Do you have the following facilities available for use? i. Functional projector Yes No
ii. Regular water supply? Yes No iii. Regular power supply? Yes No iv. Facilities for the disabled? Yes No 8. Library
i. Do you have ready access to reading material in your academic discipline/area in the library? Yes No ii. How current (not more 10 years) are the reading
materials?
Current Mostly old
iii. Do you have access to online library materials? Yes No Never Accessed them
9. Respondent’s background information i. Name of institution:
____________________________________________. ii. Programme of study:
215 iii. Current Year of study: 1st year 2nd year 3rd year
4th year 5th year 6th year
