Abstract:

The education system has recently undergone a profound transformation due to the Bologna Process. It has meant a change in the way of organization and presentation of teaching. To adapt High Education to the new system, lectures should be opened to new tools that promote quality improvement of teaching-learning process. A better use of theory and practice lectures may be achieved through a proper organization and presentation of theoretical and practical subject contents. On this regard, continuous improvement Kaizen techniques associated to manufacturing, engineering or business management may help. One of these techniques, known as 5-S, is used to establish and maintain quality environment in an organization, and it can be very useful in the field of education. Most 5-S practitioners consider this technique valuable not just for improving their physical environment but for improving their thinking processes as well.

This work deals with the viability analysis of the implementation of this practice to teaching-learning process. This technique implemented to High Education may be summarized in a continuous application of three elements: classification, organization and clarity of the subject contents. First, it’s necessary a classification of the contents to focus on those considered essential. Next, they will be ordered to link them coherently. Finally, these contents should be presented clearly to attain greater understanding. Therefore, it’s hoped that this work will serve to explore this technique applied to teaching and learning, and to other fields.

Keywords:

Quality Management, improvement, High Education, 5S.