Model for the self-assessment of the quality of higher education online programmes

Abstract

The improvement of the quality of online education programmes is a challenge for all universities offering the said programmes. Due to students’ and accreditation agencies’ growing expectations, the universities are required to develop a focus towards the quality of virtual education programmes and application of methods in order to help the improvement of the said quality. Among other methods, we encounter the self-assessment of the programme, which should consider the assessment of the quality of the program itself, as well as, its on-going assessment. One of the methods that allows to determine the current level of the quality of the programme and to improve it is the self-assessment, that should include the assessment of the quality of the programme itself, as well as its continuous assessment. The aim of this paper is to present an applicative model for the self-assessment of the higher education virtual programmes that includes both types of assessment and, thus, allow to assess all pedagogical and technological elements of the programme, as well as the three stages the program goes through (initial, processual and final). The validation of the model included several moments and involved 23 international experts in online education, as well as the application of the model in the self-assessment of four programmes. The model provides guidance for the persons in charge of the online programme in order for them to carry out a more comprehensive assessment of its quality. It can also be used by the designers of online programmes and by supervisors of the quality of higher education.