Purpose
The internal
assessment or self-study is an important part of the quality assurance process.
Through a self-study process, the institution brings together representatives
of the administration, the academic staff, students and other constituents
to:
(a) Collect and review data about the institution and its educational programme.
(b) Analyse the data to identify the institutional strengths, areas of concern
and opportunities
(c) Develop strategies to ensure that the strengths are maintained and problems
are addressed.
(d) Make specific recommendations for further quality enhancement
The self-analysis
report and the database are submitted to the Quality Assurance Division, Higher
Education Department, Ministry of Education Malaysia where it is checked for
completeness. The report and database are given to the Quality Assessment
Panel that is constituted for the programme prior to the external assessment
visit. The panel uses the report and database to evaluate the institution's
capacity and organization of resources as well as the performance and effectiveness
of its programme. The institution can also use the database and the analysis
in its overall strategic planning.
Self-study task force
The self-study requires time and effort. A task force is formed and the Dean is usually the Chairperson of the Task force. Members of the task force should include administrators (academic, fiscal, managerial), heads of departments/programmes, junior and senior academics, students and alumni and others associated with the institution.
For each section of the database and report, a person most familiar with the relevant process is appointed as the Head of the section. The Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs or the Programme Head or a person who is familiar with the faculty and the academic processes should be appointed as the Coordinator for the self-study. The coordinator is responsible for distributing and collecting the database forms, answering questions during database preparation, preparing the final unified version of the database, coordinating the self analysis report and writing the final unified self-study report.
The students
are expected to participate actively in the self study process and are encouraged
to produce an independent student report.
Preparing the Institutional Database
A template of the database has been prepared by the Quality Assurance Division and it is organized according to the sections in the guidelines on criteria and standards for the Bachelors Degree Programme (9 areas). The items contained in the database template relate to the specific quality standards. Additional information that are relevant to the section may also be included by the institution. Each section in the database should be completed by the most appropriate and knowledgeable person(s) for that section. Care should be taken to ensure the accuracy and consistency of data across sections of the database. Click here for the template.
Conducting an institutional self-study
The task force set up by the institution is responsible for conducting the self-study. Each section of the database should be reviewed with the view to determine how individual components contribute to the capacity of the institution to achieve its educational objectives and to educate the students according to the specified standards. The Faculty is encouraged to undertake an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities that are appropriate for its education programmes and to assess itself against the quality assurance standards. Please refer to the questions to help you conduct the self-study analysis.
Writing the self-study reports
The head
of each section forwards his/her database and report of the analysis to the
Chairperson/Coordinator of the task force. The chairperson or coordinator
synthesises and summarises the findings and analysis of each section of the
database into a final report. The report should not exceed 30 pages. In addition
to the analysis according to the sections in the criteria and standards, the
report should include a summary which highlights the:
+Strengths of the institution/faculty in meeting its objectives
+Areas of concern that need to be addressed
+Strategies for maintaining/enhancing the strengths
+Steps that have been taken to address the problem areas and
+Recommendations for change
End the
report with an appendix that lists the members of the task force, including
the titles and/or position.
Ministry of Higher Education - MOHE Malaysia
1.Guidelines for Institutional Internal Quality Assessment
2. Institutional preparation for an External Quality Assessment
