Developing a Model of Internal Quality Assurance System in Higher Vocational Colleges in Guangxi, China

Abstract

How to ensure the quality of higher education and improve its global competitiveness had become a major concern and challenge for governments in the world. The quality of higher education has become a hot topic of general interest in the academic world. Higher vocational education in China had stepped into a critical period of transformation from pursuing scale expansion to improving quality. Therefore, it was very necessary to research and develop an internal quality assurance model of higher vocational colleges that met the characteristics of higher vocational education, playing a reference role in peer institutions’construction.

In this study, the following research was conducted and results were obtained: First, building on the results of previous research, this research studied the components of internal quality assurance system in higher vocational colleges by researching and synthesising various academic sources and policy documents, and drawn the initially selected components, which were evaluated by five experts invited, then producted the final components of internal quality assurance system in higher vocational colleges in Guangxi consisting of nine elements. Second, questionnaires and surveys were prepared in conjunction with the nine components, and poeple closely related to the development of the internal quality assurance system model in higher vocational institutions were selected as the sample, which were presidents, middle-level leaders, administrators, full-time front-line teachers in the three schools, totally 306 people, and experts in QM/QA in higher vocational education. Through questionnaires and interviews, the result of the current state, desired state and priority needs of constructing an internal quality assurance system in higher vocational colleges in Guangxi, China was explored: the current state level was ranked from highest to lowest as follows:Subject System,Organazation System, Mechanism Guarantee System, Quality Culture, School-based Information Management Platform, Objective System(Objective Chain), Operation System, Quality Assurance Philosophy (Quality Perspective), Criteria System (Criteria Chain). The desired state level was ranked from highest to lowest as follows: Criteria System (Criteria Chain),Operation System, Objective System(Objective Chain),Quality Culture, Mechanism Guarantee System, School-based Information Management Platform, Organazational System, Subject System,Quality Assurance Philosophy (Quality Perspective). The Priority Need Index modified (PNImodified) was found in order as follows: Criteria System (Criteria Chain), Operation System, Objective System(Objective Chain), School-based Information Management Platform, Quality Assurance Philosophy (Quality Perspective), Quality Culture, Mechanism Guarantee System, Organazation System, Subject System. And Elements with high PNImodified values needed to be prioritised and addressed. Third, the initially selected components of model were obtained by reviewing relevant academic materials, which were evaluated by 5 experts invited, and finally concluding that components of an internal quality assurance system model consisted of 5 components: Principles, Objectives, Approaches, Procedures, Evaluation. Combining the components of internal quality assurance system;the current state, desired state and priority needs; and components of an internal quality assurance system model, the process to develop an internal quality assurance system model in higher vocational colleges in Guangxi were studied out, which of the suitability and feasibility evaluated by 5 experts invited were very high level. Finally, combining with these results above, this study pointed out suggestions for using the results of the study and suggestions for future research.

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