Contribution: A competency assessment framework that enables learning analytics for course monitoring and continuous improvement. Our work fills the gap in systematic methods for competency assessment in higher education. Background: Many institutions are shifting toward competency-based education (CBE), thus encouraging their educators to start…

Purpose: This study aims to review processes of accreditation for Chilean Universities. Along with cataloguing evolutionary milestones, the study analyses effects at the institutional and program levels. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts a meta-evaluative approach and is based on secondary information sources, including both…

In this paper, we explore the improvisations made in examination practices in higher education during the pandemic of 2020. Drawing on STS, we start from the theoretical assumption that examinations constitute an obligatory passage point in universities and colleges: a sacred point which students need to pass if they want to gain recognized…

Purpose: This paper aims to present the lessons learned during the design and implementation of a quality assurance system (QAS) in an academic unit and considers the regulatory changes to institutional accreditation in Chilean higher education, the international standard ISO 21001:2018, and the stakeholders' requirements.…

Purpose: This study aimed to analyse if significant pedagogical transitions occurred from Pre-COVID-19 to COVID-19 period concerning applied teaching methods, course content, assessment strategies, technical support and faculty's readiness. Design/methodology/approach: This is a quantitative study wherein perceptions of 116 faculty (from higher…

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an emergent move in all countries across the world. All education institutions were forced to shut down until further notice and were forced to come up with creative solutions to continue with the learning process. Based on existing literature, students and faculty feedback, and interview responses obtained from…

We propose a '1-to-1' accompaniment and teaching development model emerging from the analysis and reflection of professional experience at a Teaching and Learning Center in a Chilean university. We highlight the relevance of the bond between professor and adviser and the establishment of a horizontal relationship, where both work collaboratively…

This study reviews the performance of the Improvement of Quality and Equity in Higher Education programme (MECESUP). MECESUP was executed in three stages between 1999 and 2016 by Chile's Ministry of Education and its directly state-subsidised university sector, with World Bank financing and advisory. The account explores achievements and failures…

This article describes the development of an evaluation and impact framework to assess the effectiveness of educational innovations. It can be utilized within a single program, as well as at institutional and national levels. While it is contextualized in a Chilean university, it is argued that it is widely applicable as it is informed by…

Honors programs are rare in Latin America, and in Chile they were unknown before 2003. At the Universidad Austral de Chile, an interdisciplinary group of scholars linked to environmental studies put forward a pilot project for implementing a new experience in higher education. Challenged by an educational environment where (1) apathy and…

This book innovatively connects the two fields of oracy and practice-oriented empirical research in English language education. It creates synergies and proposes innovative approaches to the study of oracy in the context of learning and teaching English as a second, additional or foreign language. The book also develops a contemporary and holistic…

The paper reports from a comparative study on systems of quality assurance in 19 countries around the globe, and how these systems function as accountability mechanisms. Based on a theoretical framework for assessing how accountability mechanisms can contribute to build trust in the higher education sector, the analysis of the quality assurance…

In recent decades, higher education institutions worldwide have been moving from knowledge-based to competence-based curricula. One of the greatest challenges in this transition is the difficulty in changing the knowledge-oriented practices of teachers. This study evaluates the consistency between syllabus design and the requirements imposed by a…

With the Program for International Student Assessment and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study surveys, competency assessment became an important policy instrument in the school sector; only recently has international competency measurement gained attention in higher education with the Assessment of Higher Education Learning…

An achievement evaluation of a non-conventional physics course for liberal arts students is presented. The theoretical ground for this course focuses on the use of humour as a teaching tool. Preliminary evidence shows that a learning process is accomplished. (Contains 1 table and 3 figures.)