ROPARDO: CEEX - eEdUQuality

Project full title: Quality Management System for Higher Education Based on Knowledge andLearning Informatics Tools

Priority:

3.1.5 Information and communication technologies. Knowledge, learning and cognitive systems.

3.3.1 Applications Research. ICT meeting societal challenges. For inclusion: to improve equal participation in the information society, preventing digital divides; assistive technology, design-for-all

Instrument: Complex Research&Development Projects

Start date: August 2006

End date: August 2008

Partners: ULBS, AFT, ASE, Work Eval

Concept:

Romania's European integration and the participation of higher education institutions to the European area of higher education that is to be created through the Bologna process are inconceivable in the absence of exhaustive and urgent application of European and global standards and orientations regarding quality assurance. Beside its major cultural role, delivered through intellectual creation, the University fulfils a function of service supplier. The products it offers are knowledge and competence, and its main customer is the society.

Quality assurance is directed towards building the universitys' customers and partners confidence in its capacity and availability to satisfy their demands and expectations.

The informatics system that will result is going to transpose knowledge management paradigm into reality, helping the organizations to continually extend their knowledge database through organizational learning and innovation simulation processes, and through their results capitalization, to develop their ability to transform the available knowledge into successful actions in a wise and adequate manner; all these will have an impact on the quality management.

The project will contribute to the realization of an efficacious and efficient quality management in higher education institutions, in order to enhance the creation of an administrative and academic environment compatible with the international regulations. While supporting equal participation to informational society for all the actors involved in the educational process, its finality consists in the creation of a culture which spreads the information from the top level of the organization, in the equality of chances and trust in the force of individual synergies, in the development, integration and consolidation of a research network in the area of knowledge based systems, with an emphasis on the quality management in higher education and the network integration in the specific platform at a European level.

Romanias European integration and the participation of higher education institutions to the European area of higher education that is to be created through the Bologna process are inconceivable in the absence of exhaustive and urgent application of European and global standards and orientations regarding quality assurance. Besides its major cultural role, delivered through intellectual creation, the University fulfils a function of service supplier. The products it offers are knowledge and competence, and its main customer is the society.

Quality assurance is directed towards building the university's customers and partners' confidence in its capacity and availability to satisfy their demands and expectations.

Due to the fact that the innovative potential of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) in the quality management area has been little exploited, this project intends to develop and implement, via a pilot project, few informatics instruments based on knowledge and learning that are to provide the basis of the quality management system projection, implementation and continuous improvement in the higher education institutions. In the same time, they will represent the essential element of the systems internal organization and will ground the quality management, aiming to a performance driven orientation of the higher education institutions on all their dimensions.

The informatics system that will result is going to transpose into reality the knowledge management paradigm, helping the organizations to continually extend their knowledge database through organizational learning and innovation simulation processes, and through their results capitalization, to develop their ability to transform the available knowledge into successful actions in a wise and adequate manner; all these will have an impact on the quality management.

The project will contribute to the realization of an efficacious and efficient quality management in higher education institutions, in order to enhance the creation of an administrative and academic environment compatible with the international regulations. While supporting equal participation to informational society for all the actors involved in the educational process, its finality consists in the creation of a culture which spreads the information from the top level of the organization, in the equality of chances and trust in the force of individual synergies, in the development, integration and consolidation of a research network in the area of knowledge based systems, with an emphasis on the quality management in higher education and the network integration in the specific platform at a European level.

The present initiative represents a sequel of a previous project called eUniv eBusiness solution for university academic environment, financed within INFOSOC programme and coordinated by Prof. Univ. Dr. Constantin OPREAN from Lucian Blaga University Sibiu (he is also the coordinator of the actual project); the eUniv project was awarded the excellence diploma at MEC Conro 2004 exhibition.

Project general objective (logical log frame method)

General Objective	Objectively Verifiable Indicators	Sources and means of verification	Assumptions and risks
Improvement of academic quality management and of the academic education quality through the implementation of informatics systems based on learning and knowledge	Universities evaluation using performance indicators.	National and international classifications.	User' propensity to using such a system. Reticence towards giving up traditional methods of information distribution.

Starting from the above mentioned general objective, there are few specific objectives: Project specific objectives (logical log frame method)

Specific objectives	Objectively Verifiable Indicators	Sources and means of verification	Assumptions and risks
Reduction of technical and performance gap between higher education providers at a national level and the international actors.	Positions occupied by higher education institutions in the existing classifications.	Hierarchies at national and international level.	Top management involvement in supporting existing initiatives. The existence of a performance oriented mentality of the actors at all levels.
Development of advanced technologies for: automatic extraction of quality indicators from university's database, analysis of individual indicators' weight, online corrections of the deviations from the bench-mark quality level, transition from formal, quantitative indicators to qualitative ones, semi-automatic tutorial.	Number of implemented and functional technologies.	Progress reports at department level within an institution.	Existence of corresponding infrastructure. Existence of qualified personnel.
Facilitation of knowledge and national and international standards application within higher education, in the area of quality management, with an emphasis on education.	Number of national and international standards assimilated in educational area.	Questionnaires filled in by the evaluated personnel.	Existence of an adequate logistic infrastructure.
Realization of an efficacious and efficient quality management in higher education institutions, so as to ensure an educational and administrative environment compatible to the international regulations.	Level of institutional capacity.	Audits	Top management involvement in supporting existing initiatives.
Equal participation to information society for all the actors involved in the educational process: students, teachers, administrative staff, local communities, governmental organizations and NGOs.	Number of persons accessing the informatics platforms within higher education institutions.	Statistic reports. Questionnaires.	Existence of a counting system to record different categories of people accessing the informatics platforms.
Generating consistent trust in educational service providers' capacity and performance on the Romanian and European higher education market on a medium and long term, in the context of competitiveness increase for students and resources, and of market globalization.	Number of Romanian students. Number of foreign students. Number of national and international cooperations and partnerships.	Statistics. Reports.	Institution?s capacity to meet the requirements of the actors involved (students, partners)
Creation of a dissemination culture at the top management, a culture which promotes equal chances and confidence in the force of individual synergies.	Number of top management disseminating information of wide interest. Number of persons offering feedback	Notifications Reports	Existence of a adequate communication system (collaborative platform). Existence of required abilities.
Supporting a research network creation, development, integration and consolidation in the area of knowledge based systems, with emphasis on quality management in higher education ant network integration within the specific European platforms.	Functional network, integrated within the specific European platforms.	Partnership agreements.	Institutional availability to become a network partner.
Dissemination and research results availability to the academic and scientific community with a purpose to nationally develop quality management systems to allow a unitary performance and evaluation. Creation of a favourable environment through crystallizing a "knowledge sharing" culture, through tacit knowledge transfer.	Number of published scientific papers. Number of web-site accessions. Number of participants to national and international conferences.	Research reports. Web-site access counting.	Public character of disseminated information

The basic idea consists in developing a knowledge management informatics system based on four tools of knowledge and learning, aiming to set up a series of processes, procedures, methods with a direct impact on quality management. The solution follows four steps which emphasize the complexity of the established methodology and technologies:

Process management refers to the whole lifecycle of higher education institutions activities and ensures the automatic and controlled process implementation, the integration of different content administration components, the definition of some events and indicators to be covered by the organization, and coherence maintenance of the overall policy.
Data management follows data volumes reinforcement, organization and classification, transforming them into valid, consistent and updated information. During the process, this enormous structured and unstructured data volume is enriched and converted into smaller, quantifiable units that correspond to document management, data integration, knowledge management, collaboration, reports management and reporting.
Knowledge management and information integration technologies are essential to manage structured and unstructured information by which positive practices, expertise and information can be identified.
Meta-data management is extremely important for the meta-data to be captured, managed, reused and delivered in the network, so as to transport the information on activities process. Meta-data management ensures the possibility of meta-data exchanges, data reporting, and impact analysis, content documentation, supporting and organizing the general effort compatibility with the regulatory framework (mission and objectives to be accomplished).

Lucian Blaga" University Sibiu
Land Forces Military Academy Sibiu
Wittmann & Partner Computer Systems
Work Eval
ASE Bucuresti

Applied Research

R&D Projects

CEEX - eEdUQuality