Impact of academic accreditation on teaching and learning: faculty members’ perceptions

ABSTRACT

This mixed-method research study investigates the impact of programme accreditation conducted by the Saudi National Commission for Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA) on teaching and learning at the Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The quantitative data was collected through an online survey consisting of 53 statements as indicators of the teaching and learning practices required by the NCAAA accreditation and ten flow-up qualitative interviews. Furthermore, this study draws on the findings of numerous contemporary studies worldwide to discern the global patterns and compare these with our findings. The results revealed varying degrees of improvement in all practices. The highest impact was on learning outcomes practices. The findings indicate the importance of designing quality assurance policies close to academic realities to drive improvement, which the NCAAA sought to achieve through a learning outcomes-led approach and a gradual implementation intended to promote a quality culture to reform an educational system in need of transformation.

KEYWORDS:

• Quality assurance
• learning outcomes
• teaching and learning
• accreditation
• NCAAA

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Mohamed Redha Bougherira

Mohamed Redha Bougherira, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education, UK, is an Assistant Professor in Communication & Learning Skills at the Self-development Department in Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He obtained his PhD in International Relations in 1999 from the University of Salford, United Kingdom. He has published on Algerian politics and co-edited Algeria in Transition Reforms and Development Prospects (2004). He has a keen interest in teaching and learning development and in higher education policies.

Mayada Hassan Elasmar

Mayada Hassan Elasmar is an Assistant Professor in Education at Imam Abdulrahman University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She received her PhD in Education in 2009 from Ain Shams University, Egypt. She is an institutional and program accreditation coordinator and external and internal quality assurance reviewer in the Deanship of Quality and Academic Accreditation at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal.