This article uses the theoretical framework developed by Elken and Stensaker to examine the characteristics of the quality assurance internal bodies in relation to composition, activities and factors perceived as critical for the success of quality assurance implementation within higher education institutions. The article is based on data…

This study explores the establishment of communities of practice within teaching and learning centres (TLC) as strategies for advancing faculty development in higher education, examining their implementation in the US and Europe, with a specific focus on Italy. Utilising organisational benchmarking, we employed an explanatory, comparative, and…

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are complex entities interacting with a variety of stakeholders. Scholars have widely discussed the approaches and models of value co-creation in the higher education context. However, the attention has been primarily focussed on a single category of stakeholders, namely students. The article aims at eliciting…

The present study addressed an area of research not yet sufficiently investigated: the environmental sensitivity trait in relation to perceived marginalization in the classroom, dropout intentions, and the quality of teacher-student relationship. Adopting a psychosocial perspective and based on a single study survey with a group of Italian…

Montessori is a highly individualized pedagogy that prioritizes following each child's individual interests over standardized test scores. This quasi-experimental study compares groups of Montessori students (treatment groups, N = 535-710) with control groups of non-Montessori students, matched through the simple matching method, which controls…

Parents play a vital role in identifying children's needs for support and Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) features that support children's well-being. This study examined parental perspectives on features of ECEC that foster young children's well-being under and above the age of 3 years by interviewing 359 parents across nine European…

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the effects of quality management practices (QMPs) on innovation in higher education (HE), and how organizational innovation (OI) may influence technical innovation. Design/methodology/approach: The hypotheses were tested with partial least squares structural equation modeling on a sample of 449 valid…

In recent years, there has been considerable investment at the European Union level in expanding early childhood education and care (ECEC) facilities. In line with this quantitative substantial initiative, research and social policies are increasingly focusing on the quality of such facilities. High quality depends, among other things, on…

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) interact with a multiplicity of stakeholders, whose value expectations significantly affect their functioning. Students and academics represent the primary stakeholders of HEIs, directly contributing in their organizational success. Although they inherently perform as service co-producers, students and…

Accreditation systems in higher education are widespread both in the USA and in Europe. However, numerous reservations have appeared in the literature about whether these systems can comprehend and represent the quality of university courses. This study sets out to contribute to this debate by discussing whether the results of the recent…

The two main trends in the development of higher education worldwide are universal access and digital transformation. These trends are bringing about an increase in class sizes and the growth of online higher education. Previous studies indicated that both the large-class setting and online delivery threaten the quality, and the exploration of…

This paper deals with the pros and cons in relation to the teaching strategy imposed specifically in Italy by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has involved and continues to involve significant changes in the setting in which students and teachers interact. The approach is multidisciplinary, in that the perspective advanced is both historical and…

Despite the strong criticisms, mass student surveys play an important role in the quality assurance process of national higher education systems. While some national higher education systems have a long history of using student surveys to inform teaching and course quality improvement (e.g. the UK, Australia), in Italy, where the quality assurance…

Quality is a multidimensional and transversal concept also in the field of higher education. This and other considerations revealed some problems during application of quality principles to study programmes, emerged from the first accreditation experience in Italy. The objective of this article is to provide a simple self-assessment tool for…

Purpose: The explanatory study aimed to understand the global perspective of quality education and describe transformative strategies that empower teacher educators and equip the education system and future teachers to act as change agents by fostering learning processes that support students towards a sustainable future.…