Emmanuel Varouchas

Information about the paper titled "A FRAMEWORK TO TEACH ERP SYSTEMS IN AN UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOL" at IATED Digital Library

Institutions in higher education (HE) continuously strive to develop and deliver impactful educational programs. At the same time, they should continue to fulfill their mission to educate students in basic applied subjects and in parallel respond to the need to equip students with new skills. For this reason, higher education institutions (HEI) perform periodical curricular reviews adhering to internal and external quality assurance systems. The subsequent curricular reforms are of a transformative nature, preparing graduates to tackle the challenges of globalization, unemployment and vanishing professions. For these reforms to lead to sustainable curricula, the integration of quality into educational programs is instrumental. A suggested way of achieving a transformative stance is to provide the context for the application and diffusion of quality metrics in teaching and learning. This research intends to provide a discussion of key performance indicators (KPIs) related to quality. This paper presents the second round of qualitative interviews with higher education administrators and professors as a promising vehicle for advancing towards the formulation of KPIs based on their understanding of the different independent dimensions of the quality construct. These KPIs will provide valuable insights into improving teaching, learning and assessment and will eventually lead to sustainable curricula. Research findings outline the significance of the time invested to design and update a course, indicate that technology-enhanced learning solutions are perceived as key quality drivers, and point out the need to align courses with industry requirements and real-world problems. Additionally, findings indicate that the quality and impact of teaching and learning is promoted by the multi/inter-disciplinary character of a course, the engagement of students in interactive discussions and student research as part of summative assessment. The main contribution of this research is an analytic discussion of perceptions of higher education administrators and professors about quality, leading to a significant enrichment of the relevant literature. A set of innovative generic KPIs which can be used in multidimensional quality assessment in higher education is eventually proposed.

The integration of quality in Higher Education is multidimensional. Higher Education administration, programs, procedures and evaluation provide the context for the application and diffusion of quality metrics. Our research intends to provide a holistic discussion on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) related to quality in Higher Education. The analysis of recent literature resulted in the construction of two research tools. The first one is related to a structured agenda for a qualitative interview targeted at Higher Education administrators. The second is related to a quantitative research model that analyses the relations of various quality factors. We provide a mapping of quality perceptions as discussed in previous work and we construct a theoretical model for the affordances of scholars to this perception. The research design includes interviews with academic administrators and teaching staff involved in the creation of academic programmes and courses. The main contribution is an analytic discussion of their perceptions about quality that updates significantly contemporary literature in interesting dimensions. Three-dimensional value space with twenty factors is presented. The outcomes of this research work are used as input for our quantitative study. In fact, a list of 20 quality factors is exploited in three main dimensions of learning analytics namely: content, process and engagement. Key Performance Indicators are highlighted for further investigation.

Information about the paper titled "BLENDING ELEARNING WITH SOCIAL MEDIA & LMS: A FLIPPED CLASSROOM CASE STUDY IN HIGHER EDUCATION" at IATED Digital Library

Information about the paper titled "A QUALITATIVE REVIEW OF ACADEMICS PERCEPTIONS ON QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS APPROACH" at IATED Digital Library

Information about the paper titled "UNDERSTANDING QUALITY PERCEPTIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF QUALITY VARIABLES AND FACTORS FOR LEARNER CENTRIC CURRICULA DESIGN" at IATED Digital Library

This case study describes the dispute on private higher education in Greece which is not seen favorably at all under the Greek legal environment. It also provides with contrast between quality assurance systems in Greek higher education institutions and DEREE – The American College of Greece, a private, non-profit tertiary educational institution located in Athens, Greece. It also aims at exploring quality systems in higher education institutions in the EU and in Greece and investigates why and how these influence the quality system, assessment policy and practices at DEREE. Additionally, it contributes with a valued proposition on the development of a hybrid quality system which will affect teaching, learning and assessment processes and eventually lead to curricular enhancement and probably reforms. The subsequent step deriving from this study is knowledge sharing with policy makers and practitioners for the advancement of the education delivered to students in higher education. Keywords: Assessment, Case Study, Curriculum, Higher Education, Learning, Non-profit, Quality Assurance, Teaching