International education: quality assurance and standards in offshore teaching: exemplars and problems

Abstract

The massification of university education is being replicated in many emergent and newly‐industrialised countries, as universities from older economies have begun to offer educational services overseas. Initially, these were small‐group programmes, but in recent years many more subjects, programmes and degrees have been taught offshore to increasingly large groups. This kind of education is dissimilar both to distance education and to local (campus) education, and provides particular challenges for those ensuring and assuring quality from a global perspective. Drawing on the significant experience of the authors, this paper takes a case‐study approach to investigating the principles and processes of assuring quality and ensuring standards and to identifying elements that can prove fruitful in achieving high quality and standards.

Notes

The phraseology 2+2 refers to the structure of these newer collaborative programmes where students undertake 2 years of study at their home institution and then 2 years of study at the partner university, just as 1+1 programmes are coursework Masters with students studying a defined and agreed course of study for 1 year in each of the partner institutions.