emmc: course quality assurance and evaluation

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 1

EUROAQUAE

EuroAquae

Hydro-Informatics and

Water Management

by Frank Molkenthin

Course Director at BTU Cottbus, Germany

Erasmus Mundus MSc Course:

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 2

EUROAQUAE

Outline

• Hydroinformatics – brief description

• EuroAquae

Erasmus Mundus Master course programme

• QA-Concept and Activities

• Conclusion

• Questions ?

Quality Assurance and Evaluation

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 3

EUROAQUAE

Education, Research and Profession in

Hydroinformatics

Part 1

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 4

EUROAQUAE

A basic discipline of hydroengineering: Hydroinformatics deals with the beneficial application of information and communication technology (ICT) to support the sustainable development and management of the aquatic environment. In its core Hydroinformatics concerns the modelling of water related information contained or generated by simulation of physical and environmental processes of nature as well as by processes of engineering work in consultancy and administration.

Hydroinformatics

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 5

EUROAQUAE

Hydroinformatics

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 6

EUROAQUAE

Hydroinformatics

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 7

EUROAQUAE

Example: Flood Management

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 8

EUROAQUAE

Examples: Application Domains

• river engineering and management

• climate change impacts on watersheds

• coastal engineering

• urban water supply and water treatments

• storm water management

• irrigation and drainage

• groundwater management, …

Hydroinformatics

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 9

EUROAQUAE

Master Course Programme

EuroAquae

Part 2

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 10

EUROAQUAE

History of EuroAquae

• European Thematic Network

"ETNET-WATER” (1996-2003)

• Erasmus Mundus I application in 2004

• selected in 2004 and starting in Sep 2004

• Erasmus Mundus II application in 2009

• selected in 2009 for 2009 - 2013

• in Sep 2012 generation 9 will start

EuroAquae: EMMC

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 11

EUROAQUAE

Joint Degree by five European universities

EuroAquae: Core Partner

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 12

EUROAQUAE

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 13

EUROAQUAE

• Universidad Nacional del Litoral (AR)

• ETH Zürich (CH)

• EPFL Lausanne (CH)

• Indian Institute of Techn. Madras (IND)

• National University of Singapore (SIN)

• University of Incheon (KR)

Third Country Universities

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 14

EUROAQUAE

• World Meteorological

Organization - WMO

• Suez Environment

• Lyonnaise des Eaux

• Centre Int. de Recherche

Sur l’Eau&l’Environnement

• Veolia Environment

• Electricité de France

• SOGREAH

• Capita Symonds

• HR Wallingford

• Wallingford Software Ltd.

• Halcrow Group Ltd

• Amga Foundation

• Iride Aqua Gas

• Danish Hydraulics Institute

• Sociedad General de Aguas

de Barcelona

• CETaqua

• Kisters France

• DHI Eau & Environment

• …

Associated Members

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 15

EUROAQUAE

Structure of the Programme

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 16

EUROAQUAE

Synergy Effects

• EMJD – in preparation (2011: category C)

• HydroAsia, HydroLatinAmerica,

HydroRussia, HydroIndia

• EuroKorea Hydroinformatics

• EU projects: Corfu, eLeanor

• EAAA: EuroAquae Alumni Association

Add-On Activities

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 17

EUROAQUAE

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 18

EUROAQUAE

Evaluation Items

• semester 1, 2, 3 and 4

• joint courses (HydroWeb, HydroEurope)

• student mobility

• teacher mobility

• interaction with profession and research

• success of alumni's on the “market”

Course Components

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 19

EUROAQUAE

EuroAquae

Quality Assurance and Evaluation

Part 3

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 20

EUROAQUAE

Quality Assurance

• systematic monitoring and check of the

functioning of the programme

(process quality control)

Quality Evaluation

• systematic monitoring and check of the

outcome of the programme

(product quality control)

Terms used in EuroAquae

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 21

EUROAQUAE

Implementation Levels

• local level (university)

• national level (accreditation agencies)

• European level (EMQA, ENQA, TEEP)

• internal level (EuroAquae)

Quality Assurance & Evaluation

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 22

EUROAQUAE

Concept and Contractual Base

• Memorandum of Agreement (2004, 2009)

• two external experts for QA Jean Cunge (professional)

Andre Van der Beken (academic)

• QA-Handbook (2004, 2006, 2011) approved by Management Board

Quality Assurance & Evaluation

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 23

EUROAQUAE

Internal Implementation

• The aims of the internal evaluation are the

general quality assessment and the measurement

of the degree of satisfaction by all stakeholders

of EuroAquae. In particular, QA will be directed

towards the evaluation of the quality of the

programme of EuroAquae as “excellence” and the

quality as the fulfillment of the “expectations” of

the stakeholders.

(reference: QA-Handbook EuroAquae)

Quality Assurance & Evaluation

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 24

EUROAQUAE

Structure

• Introduction

• Procedures

• Calendar

• Stakeholders

• Questionnaires

QA Handbook

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 25

EUROAQUAE

Stakeholders

• Students (S)

• Teaching Staff (T)

• Academic Tutors (AT)

• Institutional Tutors (IT)

• the Contractors (C) - the partner universities

• the End-Users (E) - present and potential future

employers of the students and other Academia

QA Handbook

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 26

EUROAQUAE

• SCHEME A (expectations, preconditions, environment) evaluation by the stakeholders S, T & C

through a self-assessment procedure

• �SCHEME B (marketing, regulations) evaluation by the external experts (EE)

of the published information about the programme

• �SCHEME C (semester 1-4) evaluation by the EE through formal questionnaires

to stakeholders S, T , AT and IT

• �SCHEME D (outcome) evaluation of adequacy between the course and the demands,

both professional and academic end-users E

Fourfold Scheme

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 27

EUROAQUAE

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 28

EUROAQUAE

Example Questionnaire

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 29

EUROAQUAE

Annual Reports

• Example 2008

• positive aspects

• main deficiencies

QA - Outcome

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 30

EUROAQUAE

Actions due to QA results

• several local improvements

• preparation material for beginners “EA-package”

• improvement in administrative coordination

among universities

• harmonisation of course content

• updating of the QA process itself

• …

QA - Outcome

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 31

EUROAQUAE

Harmonization of Semester 1

• specification of course content

• teacher meeting

• preconditions for semester 2 & 3

• comparison of lecture notes

• MockUp test begin of semester 2 and 3

Quality Improvement Activities

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 32

EUROAQUAE

Harmonization of Semester 1

Quality Improvement Activities

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 33

EUROAQUAE

Updating of the QA process (2011)

• repetition of questionnaires

• established structured and procedures

Quality Improvement Activities

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 34

EUROAQUAE

EuroAquae – Outcome

• EAAA (EuroAquae Alumni Association)

• associated members

• semester 4

master thesis in research and practise

• number of PhD students and PhD degrees

• professional career of alumni’s

• EuroAquae networking

Quality Evaluation

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 35

EUROAQUAE

Side Effects, Informal Indicators of Quality

• social networks –>

corporate identity EuroAquae

• Add-on activities extension and export of ideas -> good practise example

• number of applications for scholarships

• number of students without scholarship

• …

Quality Assurance & Evaluation

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 36

EUROAQUAE

EuroAquae – European Level

• EMQA (http://www.emqa.eu), 2009 Erasmus Mundus Quality Assurance for International Higher Educations

Courses (21 EM courses in 2008, 2009 and 2010)

Handbooks, Examples for Good Practise • Quality of Teaching and Learning (QATL)

• Facilities, Logistics and Finance (FLAF)

• Quality of Leadership across Institutions (QUIL)

• Joined-up Practice and Integration (JUPI)

Quality Assurance & Evaluation

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 37

EUROAQUAE

EuroAquae – European Level

• ENQA (http://www.enqa.eu) European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education

Members: national accreditation agencies

• TEEP II (2005, 2006) Transnational European Evaluation Project II

three course programmes -> EuroAquae

Quality Assurance & Evaluation

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 38

EUROAQUAE

Personal Experiences

-> QA is a on-going challenging process

• updating by local, national changes

Problems and Bottlenecks

• duplication of questionnaires local, national, European, internal level

• different generation of students fashions and trends

• local boundary conditions (partner universities)

Conclusion

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 39

EUROAQUAE

Conclusion

• graphics is nice,

but physics is wrong

• requires high effort,

but pays off

• a never ending story

QA in EM Master Courses

Quality assurance and evaluation 02.02.2012 FM 40

EUROAQUAE

Questions ?