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Session 3431

Closing the Loop: Using Qualitative Assessment in the Continuous Quality Improvement of the SUCCEED Coalition Catherine E. Brawner, Timothy J. Anderson, Carl F. Zorowski, Robert C. Serow, James Demery Research Triangle Educational Consultants / University of Florida / North Carolina State University

Abstract

One of the primary tenets of most approaches to total quality management is the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) cycle. Under this system, teams should plan their activities, implement the plan, evaluate the implementation and make changes based on the evaluation before starting the process over. This paper aims to show how a qualitative assessment process used by the National Science Foundation sponsored SUCCEED Engineering Education Coalition can be used to support the Check stage of the PDCA cycle. Specifically, we propose a Quality Management Support Model that outlines a 10-step process of evaluation and feedback that has been successfully used by the coalition to improve its management processes. The model is described and its use demonstrated through a case study.

I. Introduction

One of the primary tenets of most approaches to quality management is the Plan, Do, Check, Act or PDCA cycle. This cycle is depicted in Figure 1 and is often referenced as the Deming Wheel.1 Under this system, teams should plan their activities, implement the plan, evaluate the implementation and make changes based on the evaluation before starting the whole process over. Losak and Scigliano2 have offered that there is tremendous overlap between Total Quality Management (TQM) in a manufacturing sense and Institutional Effectiveness in higher education. Both require top down leadership, an understanding of the system, systematic data collection and data driven decisions; regular reporting, and long term effort, among other things, in pursuit of the achievement of the organization’s goals. Seymour3 offers a “performance improvement framework” for colleges and universities which includes direction setting, process design, feedback, enablers, and personal involvement. The first three of these must work together to improve the quality and productivity of the institution. Common to all three of these models is the evaluation of current activities and the feedback that this evaluation can provide to the institutions to improve their effectiveness.

In engineering, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) has among its “Criteria 2000” that

Each program must have an assessment process with documented results. Evidence must be given that the results are applied to the further development and improvement of the program (Criterion 3).4

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Anderson, T., & Serow, R., & Demery, J., & Zorowski, C., & Brawner, C. E. (1999, June), Closing The Loop: Using Qualitative Assessment In The Continuous Quality Improvement Of The Succeed Coalition Paper presented at 1999 Annual Conference, Charlotte, North Carolina. 10.18260/1-2--8093