ASSURING QUALITY BASED ON THE ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING OUTCOMES

The main aim of a quality assurance system is to provide incentives for enhancing the quality of various activities of the institution which has implemented the system. In the case of higher education institutions (HEIs), the main objective is to increase the quality of education provided by them. This means basically better learning in conjunction with better administrative and social services. Generally, all these activities are monitored and evaluated with the help of quality indicators. Most of these indicators are input- and process-oriented. The assessment based on these indicators works under the assumption that good “indications” about the level and quality of the resources and organization of the HEIs means a qualitative outcome. But is this so? The assumption is generally correct up to a point, yet it cannot be taken as certain. No quality input and process can fully guaranty the quality of outcomes. Thus the importance of an evaluation focused on assessing learning outcomes. However, the hurdle in this case is how to evaluate them. Are they different from competences? If yes, how? Graduating a program does necessarily mean that the student have fulfill the (learning outcomes) requirements? My paper tackles and investigates several ways in which we can deal with these issues.