A Model for Evaluating Higher Education Performance: Quality Assurance Perspective Concept Paper.

Abstract

In Quality assurance, performance indicators are employed to measure the prespecified quality aspects. The lack of performance evaluation mechanisms in the Sri Lankan higher education context has been reported by scholars and in quality assurance reviews. This concept paper proposes an information system enabled higher education performance evaluation model. The study follows design science research methodology in modelling the process of performance evaluation that leads to developing a quality assurance performance evaluation system. First, it identifies the key performance indicators that can measure the important quality aspects of the higher education context. Required data is planned to extract from existing information systems, in the implementation stage. The proposed information system will calculate the respective key performance indicators and measure the results against the quality assurance objectives. For this process, this study proposes a multidimensional data model to represent the performance data. A sample three-dimensional data model is further illustrated. It presents the data under three dimensions as student, time and discipline. The review or checking phase is one of the key phases of the ISO 9001:2000 quality management PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) model. Therefore, proposed performance evaluation model can be implemented to fulfil the Check phase of the PDCA model. Accordingly, higher education institutes can be employed this performance evaluation model based information system to check the achieved level of expected objectives in the quality assurance process.