Connecting students in superiority reassurance

In search of quality for Students project managed by the European Students' Union, analyzes the views of students on the quality of higher education and certain areas in which students can become more involved in quality assurance and improvement processes.

Research team is working hard on this project for three years and presented the final results of the October 31, 2013 The findings are published in four scientific publications and a guide that all can be downloaded for free on the project website.

Quality is a multidimensional concept

The debate about the quality of higher education has often been led by governments that link this concept of economic indicators such as the employment of graduates and efficiency.

This understanding of the concept of quality in higher education policy arena has been challenged by student unions, universities and teachers unions.

Students have a multidimensional understanding of the quality of higher education, as demonstrated in the project QUEST. Most students see higher education as a way to advance their personal growth that prepares them for active participation in society, not only related to employment.

Student participation in quality assurance

It was interesting to see that the students did not know much about the quality assurance and improvement activities, especially at European level.

Although most students to participate in such work, a number of them see the outcome as a result of the changes that are relevant to them. This means that the results of operations for quality assurance could be more transparent and open to all participants.

These activities should not be limited to teaching and learning processes, because the quality of higher education is also influenced by other factors.

Pool experts student quality assurance is designed to help students engagement in Europe. More than 60 students were registered as members of the pool at the end of 2013, half of them women.

These students are specially trained to participate in various activities to ensure the quality and support of fellow students in making student reviewers. The pool was established in 2009 and has proved to be an excellent forum for students to share their experiences and ideas on the topic.

One of the main objectives of the project QUEST is to give students and representatives of the students with knowledge on how they can affect the quality assurance of higher education.

We hope that at least 1,000 students will benefit from the training materials developed as part of the search and Poole Students experts for quality assurance in the next two years.