Quality assurance and accreditation in higher education has been implemented in many countries across the world with the main purposes of quality control, quality improvement and accountability. This paper aims to synthesize and analyze quality assurance and accreditation policies and practices in Australia, the U.S. and several other countries in Europe and Asia to propose recommendations for Vietnam. Employing the method of document analysis, the study reviewed scholarly papers and scientific reports discussing the implementation of quality assurance and accreditation in many higher education systems across the world. The results showed that quality assurance and accreditation activities were diverse ranging from institutional accreditation to program accreditation, from voluntary to compulsory accreditation, and from fitness-for-purpose approaches to standard-based approaches. These findings were used to compare and contrast the emerging quality assurance and accreditation system of Vietnam and make recommendations for its future development.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the development of Viet Nam’s approach to higher education quality assurance during the past dozen years since its establishment, focusing on the achievements and challenges. Design/methodology/approach This is a desktop analysis study. The paper analyses the policies and practices related to the development of Viet Nam’s higher education accreditation system by reviewing associated literature. Findings The research has found out that there are several achievements, including: the development of the accreditation framework; establishment of accrediting agencies; completion of almost universities’ self-assessment reports; implementation of external assessment exercise at some institutions, a few of which were awarded accreditation certificates. However, there remain a number of challenges related to the independence of the accrediting agencies, human resources, accreditation standards and criteria, institutions’ awareness about accreditation and the pace of accreditation implementation. Research limitations/implications The primary limitation of this study is the research methodology which merely relies on document analysis. It would be more credible if the findings could be triangulated with data taken from other sources such as interviews with key stakeholders. Originality/value On the basis of the analysis of achievements and challenges at both macro and micro levels, discussion and recommendations are made for future policy-making and management in the field of higher education accreditation.

Exercise physiology courses have transitioned to competency based, forcing Universities to rethink assessment to ensure students are competent to practice. This study built on earlier research to explore rater cognition, capturing factors that contribute to assessor decision making about students’ competency. The aims were to determine the source of variation in the examination process and document the factors impacting on examiner judgment. Examiner judgement was explored from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective. Twenty-three examiners viewed three video encounters of student performance on an OSCE. Once rated, analysis of variance was performed to determine where the variance was attributed. A semi-structured interview drew out the examiners reasoning behind their ratings. Results highlighted variability of the process of observation, judgement and rating, with each examiner viewing student performance from different lenses. However, at a global level, analysis of variance indicated that the examiner had a minimal impact on the variance, with the majority of variance explained by the student performance on task. One anomaly noted was in the assessment of technical competency, whereby the examiner had a large impact on the rating, linked to assessing according to curriculum content. The thought processes behind judgement were diverse and if the qualitative results had been used in isolation, may have led to the researchers drawing conclusions that the examined performances would have yielded widely different ratings. However, as a cohort, the examiners were able to distinguish good and poor levels of competency with the majority of student competency linked to the varying ability of the student.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss and demonstrate the relevance of a new conceptual framework for leading and managing the development of learning and teaching to e.learning strategy development.Design/methodology/approachAfter reviewing and discussing the research literature on e.learning in higher education institutions from 2000 to 2010 to identify the issues associated with leading and managing the development, implementation and evaluation of e.learning, the paper describes and makes an argument for how a new conceptual framework for leading and managing the development of learning and teaching in higher education, developed and reported elsewhere (Marshall et al.), might be used to guide the development, implementation and evaluation of e.learning strategy.FindingsWhile subject to the limitations of all conceptual/analytical frameworks, it is argued that this new conceptual framework is able to first alert those with the responsibility for the development of e.learning to many of the critical issues identified in the research literature as being associated with its development, implementation and evaluation, and second, assist in conducting and developing the multi‐dimensional SWOT analyses and strategies necessary to guide the development, implementation and evaluation of e.learning.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to demonstrate the applicability of Marshall et al.'s new conceptual framework for leading and managing the development of learning and teaching to the development, implementation and evaluation of e.learning strategy.

This paper outlines the findings of a study that examined the conceptions of academics regarding the nature of 'leading' and 'managing' learning and teaching in six Australian universities. These data were considered in the light of institutional systems and documentation regarding the leadership and management of learning and teaching and the contemporary literature on leadership and management, particularly in higher education. The research found that there was congruence between academic conceptions of the roles of leaders and managers in HE and those found in other contexts. In contrast, there was considerable variance and significant gaps between these conceptions and HR and professional development practices. The paper reports findings that have significant implications for more systematic and explicit professional development for University leaders and managers of teaching and learning. In addition, it argues that changes are required to the prevailing approaches in the current HR systems and policies in order to effectively develop, support and recognize effective leadership and management practices as they relate to learning and teaching.

Research supervision development often focuses on improving the quality of researcher/student interactions and outcomes. Hence, academic development activity is usually oriented towards the development of individual capacities and practices. More recently, however, the focus has changed to the research enhancement needs of twenty‐first century institutions, recognising them as complex, research‐oriented workplaces. In this paper we present a model of academic development for institutional change which is situated within the framework of complexity theory: we use a case study based on a large‐scale change process to demonstrate our findings. The paper illuminates the position of research‐supervisor education as only one element of a complex system of changes that are necessary to effect sustained improvement in the quality of research and research training. Le développement de la supervision de recherche se concentre souvent sur l’amélioration de la qualité des interactions entre chercheur et étudiant, ainsi que sur l’amélioration des résultats. Ainsi, les activités de développement pédagogique sont généralement orientées vers le développement de compétences et de pratiques individuelles. Cependant, le centre d’intérêt s’est plus récemment déplacé vers les besoins d’amélioration de la recherche au sein d’institutions du 21e siècle, les reconnaissant du coup comme des lieux de travail complexes, orientés sur la recherche. Dans cet article, nous présentons un modèle du développement pédagogique visant le changement institutionnel, lequel est situé dans le cadre de la théorie de la complexité. De façon à faire la démonstration des résultats, nous faisons appel à une étude de cas qui repose sur un processus de changement à grande échelle. L’article met en lumière le fait que la formation à la supervision de recherche ne constitue qu’un élément au sein d’un système complexe de changements nécessaires à l’amélioration soutenue de la qualité de la recherche et de la formation à la recherche.