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Best practices for quality assurance require clearly defined,
transparent and fair criteria and standards that serve as references
for evaluations and reports of programmes offered by higher education
providers.
MQA has developed a code of practice on criteria and standards for
higher education in Malaysia. This code of practice is benchmarked
against international good practices and nationally accepted by
stakeholders through various consultations.
The code provides a guideline of general requirements in the following
areas:
|
(i) |
Vision,
mission and learning outcomes; |
|
(ii) |
Curriculum design and delivery; |
|
(iii) |
Student selection and support services; |
|
(iv) |
Assessment of students; |
|
(v) |
Academic staff; |
|
(vi) |
Educational resources; |
|
(vii) |
Programme monitoring and review; |
|
(viii) |
Leadership, governance and administration; and |
|
(xi) |
Continual quality improvement. |
In general, MQA
quality assures programmes through two distinct processes:
| i. |
Provisional Accreditation – this is
initial process which will help higher education providers to
achieve the accreditation by enhancing the standard and quality
set in the provisional accreditation evaluation.
|
| ii. |
Accreditation – this is a formal
recognition that the certificates, diplomas and degrees awarded
by higher education institutions are in accordance with the set
standards. |
The MQA Act 2007 also
provides for the conferment of a self accrediting status to mature
higher education institutions that have well established internal
quality assurance mechanisms. To be so conferred, the higher education
institution needs to undergo an institutional audit, and if
successful, all qualifications it offers will be automatically
registered in the MQR.
The processes above
are further supported by continuous monitoring to ensure the
programmes offered by the institutions are always quality assured.
Student achievements
are measured by learning outcomes. These learning outcomes distinguish
the varying competencies as to what a student will be able to do at
the end of a period of study. Learning outcomes are based on eight
domains:
|
(i) |
Knowledge; |
|
(ii) |
Practical skill;
|
|
(iii) |
Social skills and
responsibilities; |
|
(iv) |
Values, attitudes and
professionalism; |
|
(v) |
Communication, leadership and team skills; |
|
(vi) |
Problem solving and scientific
skill; |
|
(vii) |
Information management and lifelong
learning skill; and |
|
(viii) |
Managerial and entrepreneurial
skills. |
Learning outcomes are
linked to the credit system which gives value to all student learning
time and are not based on the contact hours between lecturers and
students.
THE LINK BETWEEN LEARNING OUTCOMES, CREDIT VALUE, MQF AND MQA
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