The Role of Quality Assurance and The Role of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Stimulating Accreditation in Stimulating

and Sustaining Higher Education and Sustaining Higher Education Innovation in VietnamInnovation in Vietnam

Presented at theNational Conference on Quality Assurance

in Higher Education Innovation

Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh CitySocialist Republic of Vietnam

March 31, 2006

Vietnam Education Foundation Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF)(VEF)

An independent United States federal agency

Keystone project: placing outstanding Vietnamese into top US graduate schools in science and technology

Academic year 2005-2006: 149 fellows in 56 subjects at 44 U.S. universities

The Quality Assessment InitiativeThe Quality Assessment Initiative

Was created to further assist VEF Fellows upon their return to Vietnam.

Its goal is to better understand how new models and approaches to undergraduate education can contribute to increased teaching effectiveness in the sciences, engineering, and technology in Vietnam.

The Quality Assessment Initiative The Quality Assessment Initiative PurposePurpose

to assess the effectiveness of undergraduate education in Vietnam in the fields of computer science (CS), electrical engineering (EE), and physics (PH)

to develop recommendations for improving undergraduate education in these fields

to assist the Vietnamese in implementing changes that will lead to more effective education

to use this experience to formulate an educational assessment model that can be applied in other fields in undergraduate education in the sciences and engineering

to help incorporate this assessment model into the quality assurance process

ParticipantsParticipants MOET representatives in science and technology,

higher education, and assessment and evaluation. U.S. scientists organized by the National

Academies in Washington, D.C. Vietnamese participants

Hanoi University of Technology (HUT) Hanoi University of Science (HUS), VNU-Hanoi HCMC University of Technology (HCMUT), VNU-HCMC HCMC University of Natural Sciences (HCMUNS), VNU-

HCMC Besides VEF as the main sponsor, Vietnamese

sponsors include HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities

(USSH), VNU-HCMC Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization

Regional Training Center (SEAMEO RETRAC) HCMC Institute for Educational Research (IER)

Project PhasesProject Phases Phase 1 (January to August 2006)

proposal development agreements with Vietnamese constituents initial program review and evaluation proposed plan for improvement

Phase 2 (September 2006 to September 2009) faculty development projects program improvement projects annual formative evaluations three-year summative evaluation

Conceptual Foundation Conceptual Foundation

Although Vietnam has millennia of experience with higher education, its systems have been totally redesigned twice in the last 200 years.

Now comes the third reorganization, based in the on-going renovation (‘doi moi’) of the country’s social organization so as to fit into a socialist market economy.Nguyen, P. N. and McDonald, J. J. (2001). Quality assurance in Vietnam higher education. The sixth QHE Seminar: The End of Quality. p.1

Vietnam faces a number of Vietnam faces a number of challenges…challenges…

There has been widespread criticism of a system that is still too Soviet in approach and unwilling to loosen centralized control to allow for competition between private and state sectors.

In particular, many commentators have expressed the concern that outdated knowledge and “ivory tower” curricula repeatedly stifle creative thinking and fail to produce students who can apply academic knowledge to real life situations.

Institute of International Education. (2004). Higher Education in Vietnam Update. Hanoi, Vietnam: Institute of International Education.

Vietnam faces a number of Vietnam faces a number of challenges…challenges…

None of these challenges present easy solutions.

Nonetheless, the acknowledgement and focus on these issues suggests that MOET is positioning itself to analyze the situation and move toward workable solutions.

Institute of International Education. (2004). Higher Education in Vietnam Update. Hanoi, Vietnam: Institute of International Education.

Vietnam faces a number of Vietnam faces a number of challenges…challenges…

One of the ways to “analyze the situation

and move toward workable solutions” to

these challenges is to apply the principles

of quality assurance, accreditation, and the

assessment of student learning to

stimulate and sustain innovation in

Vietnam higher education.

Quality Assurance and Quality Assurance and AccreditationAccreditation

In the United States, the processes of quality assurance and accreditation are focused on the continuous improvement of an institution, especially in the areas of teaching and learning.

Therefore, quality assurance and accreditation standards must emphasize the use of assessment results to inform decisions about the allocation of resources to support innovative teaching and learning practices.

Quality Assurance and Quality Assurance and AccreditationAccreditation

The concept of institutional effectiveness based on assessment is new and foreign to Vietnamese higher education and, therefore, not much literature on it exists.

Nor is there much training on, or practice of, institutional effectiveness based on planning, assessment, documentation, and improvement.

It is suggested that the whole set of ideas related to quality assurance, accreditation, and assessment must themselves be viewed as innovations for higher education in Vietnam.

Nguyen, T. T. P. (2005). Potential quality improvement approaches to educational reform in Vietnam, Presented at The Second Annual Vietnam Education Foundation Fellows’ Conference; Irvine, California.

Innovation and ChangeInnovation and Change

Innovation adoption is a process and not a decision point.

An innovation is an idea, practice, or object perceived as new by an individual or group.

Gray, P. J. (1997). Viewing assessment as an innovation: Leadership and the change process. In P. J. Gray and T. W. Banta (editors). The campus-level impact of assessment: Progress, problems, and possibilities. New Directions in Higher Education, 100.

Initiating and Sustaining Initiating and Sustaining InnovationsInnovations

A process of planned change will be promoted in order to initiate and sustain:

quality assurance,

accreditation,

assessment, and, ultimately, changes in teaching and learning.

.

Gray, P. J. (1997). Viewing assessment as an innovation: Leadership and the change process. In P. J. Gray and T. W. Banta (editors). The campus-level impact of assessment: Progress, problems, and possibilities. New Directions in Higher Education, 100.

Stage of Concern Level of UseAwareness Nonuse

Informational Orientation

Personal Preparation

Management Mechanical use

ConsequenceRoutine and refinement

Collaboration Integration

Refocusing Renewal

Adoption of Innovations

In order to successfully stimulate and

sustain

higher education innovation,

it is necessary to identify, develop, and

support

leaders who can mobilize

multiple resources, including human,

material,

and symbolic resources.

Leaders Leading Change

Prepare the organization for change

Help to define and shape issues

Help to build community-wide coalitions

Provide funding and other incentives

Sponsor change

Facilitate change

Must be visionary in initiating change

Using Data to Inform Decision-Making as Part of a Planned Change Process

Basic InputData

Problem clarification

Summative data on:- impact- processes

NeedsAssessmen

t

Formative data on:- plans- use- outcomes

Creating ideal and

operational designs

Production, field testing and revision

Institutional-ization

Initiation

Implementation

Initiation PhaseInitiation Phase

What is the current status of teaching and learning in the selected disciplines, namely, computer science, electrical engineering, and physics, in Vietnamese universities?

What are the opportunities for improvement?

What are feasible strategies that can bring about the improvements?

Next StepsNext Steps

Team visit in May. A report summarizing Phase One results

and making recommendations on how to proceed with local collaborators will be produced by the end of July 2006.

The recommendations in the report will include proposed designs for pilot projects related to faculty and leadership development, program improvement, and ongoing evaluation.

Phase TwoPhase Two

Operational designs that include measurable goals, objectives, activities, and tasks will be developed, implemented, and refined by Vietnamese stakeholders with assistance from U.S. experts.

At the end of Phase Two, a comprehensive evaluation will be conducted to determine the effectiveness of the Quality Assessment Initiative and the Assessment of Undergraduate Education project.

Questions Questions

Thank you!Thank you! Dr. Peter J. Gray, Director of Academic

Assessment, United States Naval Academy

Dr. Gloria Rogers, Director of Research and Assessment, ABET

Dr. Lynne McNamara, Director of Programs Vietnam Education Foundation

Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuong, Project Coordinator, Vietnam Education Foundation

Dr. John Hopcroft, Professor, Cornell University

Dr. Ray Gamble, Director of Fellowship Office, The National Academies