Programme Monitoring and Evaluation
Having designed the programme where there are coherent learning approaches, the next step is designing modules.
At various points in time, programmes need to be monitored and formally evaluated by both internal and external stakeholders, such as colleagues, peers, students and alumni. For more detail on this see O'Neill 2015, chapter 10.
In UCD there is a formal Quality Assurance Programme Review Process. In addition, programme teams may have their own professional or other programme monitoring processes. To assist in this monitoring and evaluation process, it is important to be aware of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area. Many informal processes for monitoring programme success, such as student informal feedback, are very valuable but rarely captured in documentation. These are areas that can provide valuable contributions to the monitoring process if evidenced more accurately. Lyons (1998) suggest that a programme team gather such evidence and pull together the outcomes of this ongoing monitoring of a programme. (Summary Report of Data Sources into a Programme Portfolio (see Lyons, 1998)
| Ongoing | End of Trimester | End of Stage | End of Programme | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internal |
Staff-Student Committees |
Module Evaluation |
Stage Evaluation1 |
Formal Programme Evaluation1 |
| Mid-unit feedback from students |
Student progression statistics |
StudentSurvey.ie data | ||
| Student summative grades |
Employment /Continuing study rates |
|||
| Student Awards/Individual Successes |
Evidence of feedback to students |
Programme Boards | ||
| Informal meetings/ correspondence with students |
||||
| Internal/External | Quality Assurance/Improvement | |||
| Alumni Feedback | ||||
| External |
External Examiners reports | External Examiners reports | ||
| Peer Review | ||||
| Employers feedback |
StudentSurvey.ie
The key student programme evaluation in Ireland is the StudentSurvey.ie. It draws on students’ views on engagement in their programme. It is completed at the end of first year and final year of an undergraduate degree, and at the end of postgraduate study. It was devised for developmental purposes, not for benchmarking. The score can be compared to similar disciplines but the results are anonymous (O'Neill, 2015).
References
- Lyons N. (1998) With Portfolio in Hand: Validating the New Teacher Professionalism. London: Teachers College Press.
https://wet.kuleuven.be/studenten/studiedag/monitoraat/presentation/6-Kieran.pdf/view O’Neill, G. (2015). Curriculum Design in Higher Education: - Theory to Practice, Dublin: UCD Teaching & Learning. Available from UCD Research repository at: http://researchrepository.ucd.ie/handle/10197/7137