Impact evaluation of programme review at University of Stuttgart (Germany)

ABSTRACT

The article reports on a case study of impact evaluation of internal quality assurance, i.e. Programme Reviews, which was carried out by the Evaluation Agency Baden-Wuerttemberg and the Staff Unit of Quality Development at University of Stuttgart (Germany) in the form of a methodological before-after comparison. The impact evaluation exhibits that the external evaluations of Programme Reviews were in tune with the idea of a ‘critical friend’ approach, stressing the positive aspects while including some constructive criticism. It is shown that the evaluations initiated intended constructive discussions about the programmes, while the integration of internal and external evaluations in the Programme Review needs to be improved. A further related result is that programmes need more extensive feedback to improve acceptance from critical corners. Finally, a series of open answers gives indications for possible improvement of the university's quality assurance and organizational structures, including a better and fair integration of students in quality assurance and a more strategic orientation/integration of teaching and learning.

KEYWORDS:

• Higher education
• impact evaluation
• internal quality assurance
• programme review
• Stuttgart evaluation model

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the involved programme commission members of the University of Stuttgart for their willingness and kindness to participate in the impact evaluation surveys and share information. The authors also very much appreciate the support of present and former members of the Staff Unit of Quality Development, Katrin Thumser-Dauth, Susanne Klöpping, Bernhard Minke, and Anne Töpfer. This publication reflects the views only of the authors and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Theodor Leiber is Scientific Advisor and higher education researcher with Evaluation Agency Baden-Wuerttemberg, Mannheim (Germany) and Associate Professor of Philosophy at University of Augsburg (Germany). He earned doctoral degrees in Theoretical Physics and Philosophy. His research focuses on evaluation, impact studies, performance measurement and governance, quality management and organizational development in higher education as well as philosophy of science and ethics.

Nana Moutafidou is a Scientific Consultant in the Rector's Staff Unit for Quality Development at the University of Stuttgart. Her experiences from several administration units at various universities are important for the establishment of quality assurance related procedures at the university. She was mainly involved in the development and implementation of the Programme Review process.

Bertram Welker is a political scientist (Newcastle, UK) and experienced academic administrator. He is currently taking a break from academe and works as a freelance trainer and volunteer.

ORCID

Theodor Leiber http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7218-2603

Bertram Welker http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6975-7779

Additional information

Funding

The authors did part of the work on this article in the context of a project on impact evaluation of quality assurance in higher education institutions, which was co-funded by the European Commission [grant number 539481-LLP-1-2013-1-DE-ERASMUS-EIGF] between 2013 and 2016; Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency.