Quality assurance procedure for trainings by Utrecht Holdings

 

From 2015 on, Utrecht Holdings (a subsidiary of the University of Utrecht and the Utrecht University Medical Center) will refresh its training offerings for academics in the field of knowledge utilization. A number of these trainings are developed together with partners such as graduate schools and research institutions. To facilitate continuous improvement for the benefit of students and partner institutions, a procedure for quality assurance and control is developed. The procedure follows the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle as explicated below.

Plan

Utrecht Holdings defines the key learning goals for its courses together with the course format in a course description that is shared with the potential course partners. Potential partners then subscribe to implementation of the proposed course with their support.

Do

Utrecht Holdings develops the course and the course material in accordance with the planned learning goals and method of education. Potential third parties supplying course material or performing in the lectures are made aware of the course goals and the other educational content of the course.

Check

For every course, systematic and rigorous evaluation is implemented (either on paper or digitally), wherein all course elements are evaluated on the following indicators:

• Grade for the course element (quantitative indicator)
• Grade for the course instructor (quantitative indicator)
• Comments regarding content, course material or other (qualitative indicator)

After the completion of a course, these results are aggregated for the entire course and subjected to evaluation by Utrecht Holdings. When deemed necessary or useful, the results are compared with earlier editions of the same or similar trainings.

Act

After thorough examination of the results, Utrecht Holdings develops a plan to implement key changes in response to the feedback provided by the students. Depending on several other factors such as interest for the training, budget constraints and the organizational targets, a new cycle of trainings is initiated, restarting the PDCA cycle of quality assurance.