purposes of an undergraduate program review
a program review is designed to contribute to the ongoing processes of assurance and enhancement of quality in the program, its teaching, learning, student assessment, evaluation and student outcomes over and above the other mechanisms and their reporting cycles that the program has for reviewing and improving its work.
its fundamental purpose is program improvement and development, to ensure that the quality of the program is at the highest level, and to be seen to be constructive and formative (rather than solely judgemental and summative), and that the processes for this exist in the program, are operating effectively, and are impacting on the quality of the program. it is based on the principle that every program, as with all programs, can be improved continuously and that evaluation and self-evaluation, both internal and external, are ongoing practices that serve that improvement.
the aims of a program review are:
- to establish whether there are appropriate and effective procedures and mechanisms, and that these are working, to ensure that the intended features of the program are being achieved, that the teaching and learning opportunities and outcomes are of the highest quality, that intended student learning outcomes are being achieved, that the intended standards of the program and student outcomes are correct and are being achieved, that the awards are fair and appropriate to the program, and that the program specifications are being addressed and delivered;
- to establish whether the program continues to be up-to-date, relevant and valid in the light of
- developments in the environment, the discipline, the curriculum, and in teaching and learning;
- to review the quality of the information provided to students and to potential and actual applicants;
- to review how the faculty is implementing its policies on all matters related to the program, and with what process and outcome success;
- to identify good practice within the program that can be disseminated both within and outside the faculty.
a program review is evaluative, and not only descriptive, and is evidence-based and data-driven, with evidence drawn from a wide range of referenced sources.
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