Towards an Understanding of Quality in Higher Education: The ELQ/AQA08 Model as an Evaluation Tool

Abstract

This paper describes a model for the analysis of the quality of teaching and learning in higher education. Empirically validated through an extensive student‐focused survey, this model puts forward a concept of quality that challenges that which is commonly used in institutional analysis. Research indicates that quality, rather than being a simple technical outcome, is a construction responding to the principle of situated action, in which different well‐aligned functions exist within certain settings and contexts. The ELQ/AQA08 model proves a valuable evaluation tool for the analysis of teaching and learning practices and offers strong possibilities for the consolidation and improvement of key aspects of these experiences in the context of higher education.

Keywords:

• contexts
• ELQ/AQA08 model
• evaluation
• functional alignment
• quality
• settings

Acknowledgements

This paper is a reworked summary of the research project Un model d’anàlisi de la qualitat de l’ensenyament des de la perspectiva dels estudiants a titulacions de quatre universitats catalanes [A Model for a Student‐Focused Analysis of Quality in Four Catalan Universities]. Coordinator: Joan Rué, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2008. Research carried out with the financial support of AQU Catalunya (IUE/3012/2007).

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