Analysing Feedback of Quality Criteria Awareness Workshop for Academic and Non-Academic Staff in the Faculty of Indigenous Health Sciences and Technology at Gampaha Wickramarachchi University of Indigenous Medicine.

Abstract

Gampaha Wickramarachchi University of Indigenous Medicine (GWUIM), established as Sri Lanka's 16th National University in 2021, includes the Faculty of Indigenous Health Sciences and Technology (FIHST) among its four faculties. By December 2023, FIHST had 850 students enrolled across sixdegree programs. In November 2021, the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) was formed to ensure educational quality. Despite this, IQAC-FIHST found both academic and non-academic staff lack awareness of quality assurance practices. To address this, a Quality Criteria Awareness Session was held on December 23, 2023, covering topics such as program management, design, development, and student support. The aims of this workshop were to make all academics and non-academics of the faculty aware of quality criteria for the study program review, discuss examples of evidence needed to collect from each degree program and identify the responsible persons/bodies/mechanism to collect all documents. A self-administrated questionnaire was used for the data collection. The results showed, of the 25 academics, 58% had inadequate and barely adequate knowledge of quality criteria before the workshop, however, after the workshop 74 % of academics had good understanding about quality criteria. Of the 11 non-academics, 63% had inadequate and barely adequate knowledge of quality criteria before the workshop, however, after the workshop 62% of non-academics had good understanding about quality criteria and 38% had adequate knowledge of quality criteria. Participants expressed a desire for further workshops, prioritising topics such as student assessment, outcomebased education, and computer skills. This feedback indicates a positive shift towards fostering a quality-focused educational environment at FIHST, aligning with the Quality Assurance Framework of Sri Lanka's University Grants Commission. Future workshops are recommended to address specific needs, such as paper setting, academic collaboration, and curriculum revision, thereby enhancing the overall quality and effectiveness of educational programs at GWUIM.