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Quality assessment of continuing education short courses
Georgios Kabouridis, Dave Link
Georgios Kabouridis, Georgios Kabouridis is Associate Professor with the
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of
Patras, Greece.
Dave Link, Dave Link is Principal Lecturer and Resource Manager at the
School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, Staffordshire University,
Stafford, UK.
Abstract
Evaluates a short course entitled: "The implementation of managerial
techniques in primary and secondary schools", which was addressed to the
headmasters of the primary and secondary schools in Patras, Greece. The
course was designed utilizing the principles of total quality and the evaluation
is focused on the degree of achievement of the objectives through the
analysis of quality factors such as participation, methodology, content, subject
knowledge and teaching ability of the course deliverers. The evaluation is
based on questionnaires that were completed by the participants at different
stages of the duration of the short course. Proposes a list of parameters that
have to be considered in designing short courses for adults who already have
a long professional experience.
Article type: Survey.
Keywords: Quality, Assessment, Education.
Content Indicators: Research Implications* Practice Implications**
Originality* Readability**
Quality Assurance in Education
Volume 9 Number 2 2001 pp. 103-109
Copyright © MCB University Press ISSN 0968-4883
Introduction
The demands made on adults in vocational and working life are subject to
accelerating change in a highly industrialised and mechanised society.
Education based upon new theories and techniques, offered by universities
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beyond the structured curricula, is a valuable asset for professionals and
young graduates who wish to gain up-to-date knowledge in order to find
employment or to enhance their professional roles.
Therefore, the years 2000-2010 will be a decade of further education (Jung
and Worster, 1989), during which the notion of a "vocation for life" learnt once
will have to be surrendered in favour of the idea of constant, i.e. life-long
further learning, especially in the vocational area. It is speculated that short
courses are a means to deliver this type of education.
In 1998/1999 the Technological Educational Institute in Patras-Greece
delivered a short course entitled: "The implementation of managerial
techniques in primary and secondary schools". The course was designed
utilizing the principles of total quality (TQ) and the evaluation is focused on the
degree of achievement of the objectives through the analysis of quality factors
such as participation, methodology, content, subject knowledge and teaching
ability of the course deliverers. The evaluation is based on questionnaires that
were completed by the participants at different stages of the short course.
As a result of this evaluation and after studying the implications, it is proposed
that a "Guide for short courses for adult learners within the context of further
education", is produced. This is briefly discussed. Finally the paper proposes
a list of parameters that have to be considered in designing short courses for
adults who already have a long professional experience.
The implementation of the principles and techniques of TQ is not readily
accepted by the Greek educational establishment. The paper aims to
contribute towards the implementation of TQ principles in education issues for
the benefit of all key stakeholders.
Objectives of the course
The fact is that teachers, who have experience in teaching but have no
specific knowledge regarding the science of management, manage primary
and secondary schools. The philosophy of the course to which the paper
alludes, is the development of specific skills by the participants, in order to
fulfil their managerial duties.
The objectives of the course were identified through a survey that was
conducted among the participants before commencement. These were
identified as being:
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Introduction to the theory and techniques of contemporary
management.
Application of practical approaches of scientific management through
case studies.
Skills development through the technique of role-playing.
Problem-solving under pressure.
The exchange of the managerial experiences between the participants.
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Total quality management: main elements
Total quality management (TQM) is defined as a "Management approach of
an organisation centred on quality, based on the participation of all its
members and aiming at long term success through customer satisfaction and
benefits to all members of the organisation and to society".
The TQM concept has four main elements:
(1) Customer focus.
(2) Continuous improvement.
(3) Process oriented.
(4) Societal learning.
What "customer focus" means should be self-evident. Companies and
institutions must fulfil the customers' needs. Any product or service must
satisfy the "customer", as the customer is the most important person. In order
for the customers to be satisfied the first step is to identify their real needs.
Jointly, continuous improvement and total participation (teamwork) require
improvement to be a natural part of daily (routine) work.
"Societal learning" is learning on several levels: the individual, because all
learning has its origin in the individual; the team, because it is the joint efforts
of a number of specialists which create extraordinary results.
According to TQM guru Deming (1982) the problem solving procedure within
the TQM concept must follow the plan-do-check-act cycle (PDCA) (Figure 1):
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Plan. The term selects a process (activity, method, machine or policy)
that needs improvement. The quality team documents the selected
process, usually by analysing data.
Do. The team implements the plan and monitors progress.
Check. The team analyses the data collected during the do step to find
out how closely they correspond to the goals set forth in the plan step.
Act. If the results are successful, the team documents the revised
process so that it becomes the standard procedure for all that may use
it.
Table I shows the quality improvement storyboard related to problem solving
procedure based on PDCA cycle for TQM.
For further reading, on generic TQ issues and its implementation in education
please refer to Schmoker and Wilson (1993).
Needs of the participants
According to TQ principles (Oakland, 1992), the first step of designing a
course is to identify the needs of your "customer".
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Quality of design is a measure of how well the product or service is designed
to achieve its stated purpose.
During the course, a small scale survey was conducted in order to identify the
characteristics of the sample participants and the conclusions were:
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The participants already had a professional life (this is common
amongst public servants in Greece). The average age of the participant
was between 48 and 55 years old).
None of them had previously received any knowledge or training
relative to managerial practices.
All of them had a strong feeling that few things could be changed due
to the highly centralized educational system of Greece.
Their needs were classified in to two major categories:
(1) Theoretical approach to management science.
(2) Practical application of new knowledge and techniques.
Adults as learners
Physiological findings
The education of adults is an extremely complex procedure due to biological
determinants.
Physical processes of change are usually linked to deterioration in perceptive
faculty. Amongst others, the following factors are crucial (Olechowski, 1976;
Uwe, 1995):
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A decrease in auditory sensitivity, determined by a narrowing of the
frequency spectrum and the commencement of a recognizable hearing
weakness after the age of 50.
A deterioration in auditory speed, with reactions to simple acoustic
stimuli.
A reduction in visual acuity.
A reduction in reaction speed as early as after the age of 30.
Psychological findings
Motivation determines the success of learning to a large extent and that is
why methods which develop individual adults' motivating factors must be
identified and implemented in order to achieve the best educational results
from the teaching process. Before the psychological needs can be addressed,
the physiological attributes mentioned in 4.1 must be rectified (if rectification is
deemed necessary).
There is no standard definition of learning motivation but Maslow's pyramid is
a useful model to follow (Maslow, 1970) (see Figure 2). Furthermore, when
using the term "Learning motivation" (Lowy, 1976), whereby motives should
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not be confused with drives. Drives derive from basic biological requirements
such as hunger and thirst, whilst motives include interests, attitudes and
intentions as well as wishes and needs (Hueter, 1976).
An extension to this theory, which defines quantities of learning motivation
was developed by Siebert et al. (1982) (see Figure 3). This identifies factors
which influences an adult's motivation.
These criteria should be identified and mapped with TQ principles when
delivery short courses for adults.
Analysis of a target group
At the present time, in Greece, approximately 70-80 percent of all
headteachers is in the age range that exceeds 50 years. In addition, whilst
approximately 60 percent of all leaders are women, only about 8 percent of
headteachers are women.
The criteria for headteachership appears to be age related whereby
individuals will eventually reach a maturity of teaching experience which will
allow promotion to a headteacher's position (especially if one is male).
However, there is no formal requirement to demonstrate ability to level,
manage or develop educational establishments.
It is proposed that potential headteachers should be chosen because of:
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their individual motivation factors and their attitude towards learning
development in;
their learning and development activity exhibited throughout;
the learning techniques acquired;
formal educational training in management.
The short courses of this nature can be addressed to present headteachers
with the aim of increasing their motivation and in providing source ideas (re
TQM) for better educational management practices.
Selection of teaching contents for the short course
Historically, in Greece, there has been an attempt to promote staff
development for headteachers through short course attendance. The
Government requested individual local education authorities to provide these
vehicles for (re)training and local further education colleges were invited to
deliver them. Unfortunately, these were undertaken in an ad hoc, unplanned
way with no formal structures to the content of the courses.
Structures are critical when determining the selection of teaching content for
vocational further education: a lack of (or unclear) structures is criticized most
frequently by participants in adult education (Hueter, 1976). Because the
learning capability of older people, who are used to thinking in a wider, more
holistic sense, is often superior to that of younger people (Uwe, 1995), and
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because the attention span of learning is restricted by the stamina of the
participant during longer learning efforts (Von Humboldt, 1982), the structuring
of learning processes is a priority task of didactic operation.
The short course that was addresses to the headmasters has been designed
according to the findings of a survey which was conducted in advance and
which applies this structured approach.
The 40 hours short courses were delivered for two, three-hour days per week.
The lapsed time of the course was six weeks. Delegates were asked to
undertake certain tasks, at their own school, during the lapsed time of the
course in order to feedback information, statistics, etc., which could be used
for discussion purposes during the course.
Contents of the course and teaching methodology were as follows:
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The legal and educational frame of the school headteachers: a
questionnaire was completed by the participants with regards to their
attitude towards the role of the school headteacher.
Communication, strategies and skills: play role activity.
Team work: developing teams within the framework of the school.
Methodology of small-scale researches: the participants must contact a
small-scale research in their school.
The leading role of the headteacher: play role activity.
Decision modeling: assessment of the participants and evaluation of
the short course.
Assessment of the course
A total of 40 participants attended the short course and six instructors were
involved in teaching this course. The assessment of the course depended on
the responses to the questionnaires of the participants. In the questionnaires
which were completed by delegates at the end of the courses, there were nine
criteria for evaluation, as follows:
(1) Rating of the material in the lecture concerning reading selection
and assignment, educational aids, case studies, or laboratory work.
(2) Rating of the value of this short course with practical work,
theoretical work, comprehensive coverage or new concepts.
(3) Rating of the course with presentation, time devoted to lectures,
time devoted to laboratory/case studies or use of audiovisual aids.
(4) Instructor's evaluation.
(5) Overall rating of the course.
(6) Overall rating of the course re time.
(7) Recommendation of this course to other colleagues.
(8) Overall rating of relevance of the content of the lectures to the
course.
(9) Comments about the course or modification of the lectures.
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Table II shows the results of the questionnaires. The average or mean of the
responses of the participants for questions which require a response of
"excellent, very good, good, average or poor", such as for rating of the
material with reading selection and assignment, is obtained using the
following equation (Abdul-Moshin, 1992).(see equation 1)where:
αi = the variable expressing the weight given to i.
xi = the variable expressing the frequency of the response for I = 0,1,2,3,4 and
illustrated as follows:
x0 = number of participants indicating "excellent" or "extremely relevant"
response and corresponding to α0 = 4;
x1 = number of participants indicating "very good" or "very relevant" response
and corresponding to α1 = 3;
x2 = number of participants indicating "good" or "relevant" response and
corresponding to α2 = 2;
x3 = number of participants indicating "average" or "somewhat relevant"
response and corresponding to α3 = 1;
x4 = number of participants indicating "poor" or "not relevant" response and
corresponding to α4 = 0.
Overall, the diagnoses underlining the proposal, which follows, were
undertaken following the TQM principles identified in the second section.
Results and discussion
The results of the evaluation of the course can be summarized as follows:
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The notes, which were delivered to the students, were of very good
quality but the educational aids were simply good with regard to the
teaching environment and the tools, which can be used for teaching.
Clearly there is room for improvement.
The theoretical part of the course was excellent but not rich in case
studies. Adults need more practical training in order to absorb new
concepts. However, relative to any (re)training/educational short
courses attended in the past, the short course fulfilled the needs of the
customers.
One instructor was deemed to be weak. As a result of that, overall
average for the rating of the instructors was lower than it should be
expected.
The majority of the participants found the duration of the course too
short. Actually it was something that was expected as the course tried
to cover a wide range of school management issues.
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The design of a short course that is addressed to adults and especially to
ones who already have professional experience and is in accordance with
total quality principles has to follow the guidelines:
(1) Identify the needs of the participants.
(2) Most common technique is the questionnaire.
(3) Identify the motives of the participants.
(4) Use the appropriate educational environment. The classroom and
the educational aids, play a big role in the rate of learning by adults.
(5) Use modern educational aids that keep the interest of the
participants on a high level all the time.
(6) Give priority to the application of new concepts and techniques. The
use of case studies is an asset for the achievement of the stated
purpose.
(7) Adults understand better the practical part of the course and the
new knowledge has to be applicable next days.
Conclusions
The role of headteacher in Greece is in the process of fundamental change.
The existing problem of not providing adequate resources over the years to
develop teachers and/or the deputy heads with potential as future
headteachers could be partially solved through short courses especially
designed for "target groups" comprising such individuals.
The next decade could be crucial for the Greek educational system in order to
be harmonized in line with the standards of the other members of the
European Union. Headteachers will play a key role in this procedure. As a
result, they will be obliged to adapt themselves to the new era and higher
qualifications are needed to respond to it.
The article raises several issues that must be taken seriously into account by
universities when providing effective continuing professional education for
experienced teachers who are willing to develop as headteachers. The basic
factor that greatly influences the overall evaluation of a short course, and had
been highly criticized by the participants, is its structure. Short courses must
be designed based upon the real needs of the "customers". The real needs
could be identified through small-scale surveys following the TQ techniques.
The overall effectiveness of the short courses could be increased if the
physiological findings of the study (for example, decrease in auditory
sensitivities, deterioration in auditory speed, reduction in visual acuity) could
be taken into account. The aspect of participants' motivations must also be
fulfilled.
The model of short course assessment that is proposed in this article would
serve as a contribution to a creative implementation of TQ within the context
of continuing education.
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Table I Quality improvement story board
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Table II Results of the questionnaire
Figure 1 Plan-do-check-act cycle
Figure 2 Pyramid representing Maslow's hierarchy of emotions
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Figure 3 Defining quantities of learning motivation according to Siebert et al.
(1982)
(see equation 1)
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