Universities and further education colleges are under increasing pressure to provide 'quality' for their students. Quality assurance and development issues affect the staff, resources, administration and culture of an academic institution, yet there is often a lack of clear guidance available to those responsible for implementing best practice. This book provides practical guidelines for managing academic quality assurance and quality enhancement, outlining best practice from both the UK a...

First Published in 2004. This book is intended as an introduction to the management of quality assuranceand enhancement in higher education particularly in England. The text focuseson the relationship between institutional quality assurance and the auditingauthority of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, the QAA.

Beginning with the premise that religious and non-religious identities were fluid, overlapping phenomena rather than static, binary conditions, this timely edited collection challenges the traditional notion that atheism was an acute intellectual innovation of Western modernity by rethinking its multifarious pre-modern manifestations and impact in Brazil, China, England, France, Italy, New England, Poland, Scotland, Spain, and Transylvania. The book reveals the entangled intellectual, cult...

Originally published in 1987, Accounting for Relationships, which brought together work by the leading international scholars in the expanding field of personal relationships research at the time, was the first to concentrate entirely on people's accounting for their relationships. It represented a significant move away from the analysis of personal relationships through events and actions on which research had thus far been concentrated, focusing instead on our explanations, inte...

The book expounds the macro-level relationship between strategy, HRM, and performance, addressing important challenges that have constrained research and practice to date. Adopting a critical perspective, the first challenge is a narrow definition of 'performance' that has been largely driven by a managerialist, profit motive, with little regard for the human element. This book proposes adopting a more balanced approach towards measuring performance, encompassing both organizational financ...

A follow-up volume to "Managing Teaching and Learning in Further Education and Higher Education", this text provides a guide to managing quality and standards from the lecturer's point of view. It covers key issues such as teaching, learning, student support, assessment, evaluation, course design, bidding for and managing resources, marketing and research.; Based on the model of lecturer as reflective practitioner, this book is intended to help enable the lecturer to make sense of the chan...

This work evaluates and attempts to produce a model for effective professional development. It contrasts the work in Britain with that in other countries, with case studies and exercises to illustrate points, highlighting good practice.

An essential tool for those planning to undertake social research, this exceptional book tackles many of the specific concerns and issues that arise. A well structured text, it offers a comprehensive introduction to a range of important areas in project management, including:commissioning researchpreparing a tender or grant applicationrisk and stakeholder analysismanaging the field work and data analysisfinancial managementeth...

The current fashion for rolling back the state has seen the nonprofit or third sector playing an increasing role in what were previously the heartlands of the public sphere. The growing significance of the sector and its increasing reliance on public funds mean it has also attracted increased scrutiny. From outside the sector concerns have been raised about the accountability and performance of nonprofit organizations. From within the sector there has been considerable debate about whether...

Research for Development offers a comprehensive guide to commissioning, managing and undertaking research in development work. It serves both as a practical reference manual and an indispensable learning tool.Divided into three parts, the book provides a complete overview of the research process spanning:- the uses, planning and management of research- reviewing existing evidence- learning development research skills- choosing research metho...

E-portfolios are a valuable learning and assessment tool. They can serve as an administrative tool to manage and organise work, to present course assignments and act as the medium for learners to record their learning goals, outcomes and achievements. They encourage personal reflection and involve the exchange of ideas and feedback.Using technology in this way supports students' abilities in using and exploiting technology for professional and personal purposes, enabling any time, ...

Quality assurance (QA) in open and distance learning (ODL) can be a contentious issue. Some argue that it should be judged by the same criteria and methods as face-to-face education, while others claim that it is so different in its organization, enrolments and operations that conventional QA mechanisms cannot apply. Some advocate the use of specific guidelines and standards for e-learning; others believe that, regardless of the technology, the basic principles of quality teaching and lear...