Developing Quality of Education by Systematic Quality Assurance

Abstract

Finnish higher education institutions bear the main responsibility for the quality of education, research and development activities, scientific research, and for their further activities, in according with Bologna Declaration. It is also their duty to make sure that their education and degrees meet international standards. This responsibility is reflected by the statutory obligation of the institutions to assess their own activities and to participate in external evaluations. Higher education institutions are also responsible for their activities being of an ethically high level, and for the quality assurance of their education being developed in line with legislation and the policy guidelines for higher education. One example of quality development in Jyväskylä Polytechnic is the internal cross-evaluation of a nursing programme. The Evaluation Team of the Degree Programme in Nursing agreed on using the two-stage method of a former evaluation - including a normative self-evaluation of the degree programme in question and an evaluation visit by the team. The self-evaluation was complemented by the comments of the evaluated degree programme on a chosen group of parameters, selected from the national AMKOTA database. The themes of the cross-evaluation were: 1. The planning of the Degree Programme and its education, 2. The implementation of education in the Degree Programme, 3. The results of the Degree Programme and the learning of its students, 4. The services and activities supporting the implementation of the Degree Programme.