The Polish Accreditation Committee, fulfilling its mission to ensure and improve the quality of education, undertakes a number of initiatives aimed to achieve set objectives. Training and seminar activities are one of them. They mainly contribute to the dissemination of information on the principles and procedures of evaluation of the quality.
Bearing in mind the special role of the PKA in the higher education system, we initiated a number of internal training and external seminar activities. Noteworthy, it has been enriched with the use of new communication tools. The innovative approach to conducting training via an online platform allows a larger number of participants to attend our training courses in real time. It also facilitates the collection of training materials for later analysis.
In 2019, the Committee faced a number of challenges, including those related to the organisation of training and seminars for the general public. Following the implementation of the Act on Higher Education and Science of 20 July 2018, after consulting both internal and external stakeholders, we decided to ensure an appropriate process of disseminating information on the new evaluation criteria. Therefore, we have put a lot of work into the preparation and implementation of meetings where we could meet you and directly discuss the quality assurance and enhancement issues.
Reliable transfer of information, improvement of the work of evaluation panels, and sharing experience – these are the main objectives that guided us in planning a series of internal trainings for members and experts of the PKA, as well as for individuals performing the function of the secretary of the evaluation panel. Moreover, employees of the PKA Bureau also participated in many of these meetings in order to support the work of the Committee in a professional and responsible manner. The fact that the trainings were conducted by the Committee’s management was an undeniable asset. From February to September this year, we carried out 11 training courses concerning a considerable number of issues related to the principles of evaluation of the quality of education, changed by the Act on Higher Education and Science.
training for panel secretaries,
concerning new evaluation methods (2nd round). Combining a traditional (stationary) form of training with the possibility of active online participation.
training for student experts,
regarding new evaluation procedures
training for panel members
concerning new evaluation methods. Combining a traditional (stationary) form of training with the possibility of active online participation.
training for PKA members and experts,
carried out entirely using an online platform. The training focused in particular on the scope and evaluation of the two programme evaluation criteria, i.e. criterion 9 (public access to information on the programme, its implementation conditions and results) and criterion 10 (quality policy, design, approval, monitoring, review and improvement of the programme evaluation programme).
training for professional field experts
training for panel secretaries
training for students' experts
The trainings, which took place on 12, 20 and 26 September allowed for sharing the first experiences related to the implementation and realization of new quality evaluation methods. The trainings created an opportunity not only to acquire knowledge and skills, but also to discuss and resolve possible doubts in order to improve the work of evaluation panels.
training for candidates for students' experts,
focused on programme evaluation criteria, criteria for evaluating the applications for the establishment of degree programmes,
as well as the practical aspects of the expert's work.
The Polish Accreditation Committee recognizes as its duty comprehensive cooperation and dialogue with all stakeholders, including the academic community. Based on this idea, the PKA undertakes the initiative of cooperation with higher education institutions.
We offered open seminars called ” A new model of programme evaluation in higher education”. As part of this initiative, we organized 5 regional seminars preceded by consultations, where representatives of higher education institutions could submit their questions to be resolved during meetings. The seminars were held in Gdynia, Poznań, Warsaw, Wrocław and Kraków in late April and early May 2019. A great number of academia representatives, various opinions, dozens of questions and answers, many constructive conclusions, a great deal of reliable knowledge – this is how we can briefly summarize our seminars.
