Evaluation of an Academic Unit for Quality Assurance: Also Looking into Culture

• Main Author: Marie J. Myers
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES) 2020-09-01
• Series: BCES Conference Books
• Subjects: higher education; evaluation; fairness; cultural variability
• Online Access: https://bces-conference-books.org/onewebmedia/2020.156-162.Marie.Myers.pdf

Academic reviews take on new directions in an ever-increasing fast-paced development. Unit reviewers should be provided different samples, with varied cultural contents also providing nuances, as related to the ‘object’ of the evaluation, as well as a final overall product, i.e. more of a synthesis, through which one will check the degree of compliance, as regards the previously established conditions, and the degree of sensitivity towards the variety of cultures inherent in the system. The aim of this paper is to shed light on evolving processes attempting to keep up with new contexts. The methodological approach used is qualitative. It consists of the analysis of observational notes from the researcher as a participant observer involved in the process of two evaluation exercises in higher education. We will present our findings using Weiss’ (1980) models for implementation of results in education and discuss underlying strategies. Conclusions drawn can be adapted to most educational settings and should enable cultural aspects that infiltrate the process to be considered as a value-added characteristic in the establishing of a fairer evaluation framework.