Browsing by Author "Pushpakumara, H.M.C."

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    Quality Assurance Policy Realization Framework for Higher Education: With Special Reference to Teaching and Learning Process in Sri Lankan State Universities
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2021) Pushpakumara, H.M.C.; Jayaweera, P.M.; Wanniarachchige, M.K.
    The higher education sector has focused on assuring and improving the quality of education and research. In this context, quality assurance is a proactive and continuous process encompassing a diverse set of policies and procedures. The quality assurance monitoring process assures the quality through examining the compliance while indicating instances where changes in policies and procedures are required. Nevertheless, universities still apply traditional methods in quality assurance that rely heavily on bulky documentary evidence, mainly based on manual techniques. Thereby, quality assurance has become an additional burden for the employees. Although universities employ a variety of information systems, their focus on quality assurance is limited. These systems heavily focus on running routine and day-to-day operations instead of acting like an integrated management information system. Therefore, this paper proposes a new information system module that can act as a quality assurance policy realization module while providing a mechanism to operationalize policies and procedures in electronic form. The study followed the design science research methodology. Experts‟ interviews, physical observations of the quality assurance activities, and references of quality assurance related documentation were used as the main data sources. The system consists of three sub-modules: process monitoring and recording, quality assurance rules management and execution, and performance evaluation. Given the complexity, this study demonstrates only how quality can be assured in the teaching and learning process. In the first sub-module, the teaching and learning process was explored and respective sub-processes and activities were identified. Then, quality compliance reports were introduced to monitor the activities and record compliance with existing and recommended policies and procedures. The second sub-module specifies the quality assurance rules on activities and guides the activities in the execution stage. The third sub-module is a quality assurance knowledge repository that can deliver information for decision making. The proposed system facilitates the dynamic nature of quality assurance policies and procedures through online monitoring and establishing an evolving rule-base. Keywords: Quality assurance; Higher education; Information system