The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of quality analysis made at the time of institution of the Presidio di Ateneo per la Qualità (PARQ), a structure for the internal quality control (required by Italian law), established at the University of Valle d’Aosta in April 2008 and chaired by a teacher appointed by the Academic Senate. The contribution shows how the Presidio has developed a coherent plan for the evaluation of teaching performance and student services, and a process of annual review of the rules of conducting and promoting activities and validation of assessment tools. The PARQ has the main function to assess the quality and efficiency of teaching, developing initiatives and actions to promote an increasing convergence of the results and students’ learning time in line with European standards. To do this, it also aims to promote the University of Valle d’Aosta better understanding of the goals and guidelines set by the Bologna Process, which is reflected in the revision of the laws required by the Ministerial Decree 270/04 and its implementing decrees, and in that sense undertake actions for monitoring and evaluating the educational planning procedures and timing of collection and ARRANGE the design and calibration of instruments used. The unequal distribution of the complexity of the Faculty in creating an acceptable performance evaluation of teaching and service has meant that we drew up a draft evaluation aimed at identifying significant descriptors and indicators that could account for these elements of complexity. This process is still ongoing. The evaluation committee has reviewed the documents produced in different bodies at various levels, including those for the evaluation, that allowed the creation of a first evaluation model for which giving account of this contribution. This required the assumption of a model of “quality assurance”, which entailed the selection of dimensions and specific criteria, aimed at continuous improvement of teaching practices at different levels and to improve the same quality, so that was not possible trying to eliminate those obstacles that prevent the creation of a “good teaching” and that often arise because of misplaced priorities within procedural and institutional policy. The model of PARQ, taking into account the size and characteristics of the University of Valle d’Aosta, ensures that the evaluation system is periodically and systematically reviewed for a positive or negative impact it produces, led by the process of re-evaluation of the system. It includes a meta-evaluation system, as well as evaluation, which consists of a systematic review of evaluations to determine the quality of their processes and results. It is, in particular, the latter which will be described in the contribution. In this direction, the knowledge of the literature on quality evaluation, which derives from meta-evaluation and multiple evaluation, was used in this context to focus on central aspects of decision-making processes and to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the PRESIDIO’S evaluation capacity. It shows how a meaningful experience on the local construction of a system of internal quality induces necessarily a reflection on the relationship it has with the external evaluation to promote and improve overall performance and increase the satisfaction of certain standards. The contribution focuses on the characteristics of the Presidio, designed to give substance to the process of transformation of a small university and to study what affects the production and promotion of educational quality appreciated in line with the construction of an Italian and European system of higher education and the Declarations of Bologna.

The evaluation and meta-evaluation design of the Presidio di Qualita di Ateneo (PARQ)

NUZZACI, Antonella
2012-01-01

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of quality analysis made at the time of institution of the Presidio di Ateneo per la Qualità (PARQ), a structure for the internal quality control (required by Italian law), established at the University of Valle d’Aosta in April 2008 and chaired by a teacher appointed by the Academic Senate. The contribution shows how the Presidio has developed a coherent plan for the evaluation of teaching performance and student services, and a process of annual review of the rules of conducting and promoting activities and validation of assessment tools. The PARQ has the main function to assess the quality and efficiency of teaching, developing initiatives and actions to promote an increasing convergence of the results and students’ learning time in line with European standards. To do this, it also aims to promote the University of Valle d’Aosta better understanding of the goals and guidelines set by the Bologna Process, which is reflected in the revision of the laws required by the Ministerial Decree 270/04 and its implementing decrees, and in that sense undertake actions for monitoring and evaluating the educational planning procedures and timing of collection and ARRANGE the design and calibration of instruments used. The unequal distribution of the complexity of the Faculty in creating an acceptable performance evaluation of teaching and service has meant that we drew up a draft evaluation aimed at identifying significant descriptors and indicators that could account for these elements of complexity. This process is still ongoing. The evaluation committee has reviewed the documents produced in different bodies at various levels, including those for the evaluation, that allowed the creation of a first evaluation model for which giving account of this contribution. This required the assumption of a model of “quality assurance”, which entailed the selection of dimensions and specific criteria, aimed at continuous improvement of teaching practices at different levels and to improve the same quality, so that was not possible trying to eliminate those obstacles that prevent the creation of a “good teaching” and that often arise because of misplaced priorities within procedural and institutional policy. The model of PARQ, taking into account the size and characteristics of the University of Valle d’Aosta, ensures that the evaluation system is periodically and systematically reviewed for a positive or negative impact it produces, led by the process of re-evaluation of the system. It includes a meta-evaluation system, as well as evaluation, which consists of a systematic review of evaluations to determine the quality of their processes and results. It is, in particular, the latter which will be described in the contribution. In this direction, the knowledge of the literature on quality evaluation, which derives from meta-evaluation and multiple evaluation, was used in this context to focus on central aspects of decision-making processes and to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the PRESIDIO’S evaluation capacity. It shows how a meaningful experience on the local construction of a system of internal quality induces necessarily a reflection on the relationship it has with the external evaluation to promote and improve overall performance and increase the satisfaction of certain standards. The contribution focuses on the characteristics of the Presidio, designed to give substance to the process of transformation of a small university and to study what affects the production and promotion of educational quality appreciated in line with the construction of an Italian and European system of higher education and the Declarations of Bologna.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11697/36968
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