WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL QUALITY
ASSURANCE AGENCY?
CEENQA WORKSHOP
FRIDAY, 23 MAY 2014
Hotel Sirius-Pristina
 Experiences with benchmarking and
the quality assurance of Learning
outcomes
Ferdije Zhushi Etemi, president
National Quality Council
KAA

Benchmarking is an important instrument in helping to make
higher education fit for the 21st century and to maximize the
contribution of the universities and colleges to the society and
economy.

Different tools are used to evaluate and monitor the quality of
the study programs and services of HEI across Europe to
identify the best practices for benchmarking.
 Benchmarking the Quality of Learning outcomes
 Learning outcomes are described as written statements of
what a learner is expected to know, understand and/or be
able to do at the end of a period of learning.
 The Bologna process spells out a number of “action lines” in
which learning outcomes should play an important role (Adam,
2004, 2006)
 By 2010, all programmes and significant constituent elements of
programmes in third level institutions throughout the EHEA
should be based on the concept of learning outcomes, and that
curriculum should be redesigned to reflect this.
 Berlin 2003: the development of national
frameworks of qualifications – degrees (Bachelor and Masters)
would also be described in terms of learning outcomes, rather
than simply by number of credits and number of hours of study.
Traditional way to design a moduleteacher centered approach
 Teachers decided on the content, what to teach, how to
teach (methodology) and how to assess
 Teacher centered approach-passive students in the
classroom
 Was not defined what the students have to be able to do in
order to pas the course or a programme.
Teacher-centred education?
Be quiet and
write down
everything I
say!
International trends-student
centered approach
 shift from the traditional “teacher centred” approach to a
“student centred” approach.
 Students are not passive . They learn in different ways
(Briggs-Myers, 1980; Kolb, 1984).
 Learning is an active dynamic process (Cross, 1991).
 Students construct their own meaning by talking,
listening, writing, reading, and reflecting on content,
ideas, issues and concerns (Meyers and Jones, 1993)
(Source: University
 Focus on what the learner has achieved rather than the
intentions of the teacher
 What the students are expected to be able
to do at the end of the module or a programme.
Introduction of L.O in HE in
Kosovo
 Bologna process is introduced in 2001
 Before 2007 L.O were known as a terminology
and were used by a small number of academic
staff at University of Pristina,mostly at Faculty of
Pedagogy and Faculty of Education
 Since 2007 UP started to provide trainings with
international experts on how to design L.O for a
program or a course to the QA and ECTS
coordinators
All academic staff at UP should define LO for the
course they were responsible in the Course Syllabi
 The additional training was provided to academic
staff-the use of Bloom’s taxonomy wit three
domains of learning – cognitive, affective and
psycho-motoric was recommended
 The book : “Everything you need to know about
LO” by Declan Kennedy was translated in Albanian
and delivered to teaching staff
 The author was invited to UP to provide training
on how to define LO
 KAA standards for external evaluation of quality developed in full
compliance with ESG
 KAA requirements for study programes
are based on assessment of LO at program and course level
Alignment with HE levels in NQF
Clear distinction of LO at BA, MA and PhD level
Alignment of LO with ECTS and assessment methodology
KAA provided a number of trainings on LO to HEI in Kosovo within
Tempus projects as a partner
 identification of social and
employability needs
 Definition of the profile
 Design of an academic programme
Improving the Quality of LO
 Encouraging the process of curriculum development
based on learning outcomes and research guided
teaching in the private higher education institutions of
Kosova no. 530399 (LO@HEI)

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Project partners:
University of Salzburg, Austria (project grant-holder);
University College Cork, Ireland;
University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom;
 University Politehnica of Bucharest;

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14 private HEI from Kosova trained to define LO in their
curriculums
Benchmarking with partner universities
Better understanding and use of LO
Improved quality of LO in some study programs

Goals:

 To define a set of descriptors indicating the learning
outcomes relevant to qualifications at the levels 6th and
7th, that a learner of the business field can gain during
the studies, according to the National Qualification
Framework (NQF) and European Qualification Framework
(EQF) (based on the NQF and EQF matrix knowledge,
skills and competence);
 To enhance the teaching based on learning outcomes;
 To promote the review of curricula based on the
demands of labor market;
 Strengthening the cooperation of the private higher
education institutions with the enterprises;
Identified weakness in
definition of LO at HEI
 A number of academic staff did not participated
in trainings on LO
 Still there is confusion between teaching
objectives and LO
 Sometimes defined LO are not adequate to the
year of studies or level
 The assessment methods are not always
adequate for the LO to be assessed
 Number of LO to higher
or
to low
 THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!