Quality assurance involving students

Students for Quality for the project organized by the European Students' Union, student and identified higher education, in which students take part in the processes of quality assurance and to improve the quality of opinions about the study.

A team of researchers worked hard on this project for three years, and in October 2013, 31 of the final results of four research findings and make a manual download for free all been published on the website of the project.

Quality is a multidimensional concept

the debate about the quality of higher education has often been associated with the concept of economic indicators, such as the employment of graduates and efficiency led by governments.

The higher the quality of the policies that have been challenged to understand the concept of student unions, higher education institutions and teacher by trade unions.

Students are multi-dimensional understanding of the quality of higher education, the QUEST project, as was also evident. Most of the students in higher education are preparing for their personal growth and active participation in society as a way to move forward, and not just as a job-related.

To ensure the quality of student involvement

it is interesting that many of the students, who were able to see the quality and the improvement was unaware of the activities, especially in Europe.

Most of the students, among other things, involved in it, but only to a certain number of them will see the result of this change, these results are important. This means that the results of the quality assurance activities more transparent and open, all the participants could be.

These activities should not be limited because of the teaching and learning processes, the quality of higher education, at the same time, other factors also had an impact.

Experts Pool A student Quality Assurance in order to contribute to the involvement of students in the whole of Europe was founded. More than 60 members of the pool at the end of 2013, half of these women have been appointed.

These students in particular are designed to ensure the quality of a variety of activities to participate in and support a fellow student to become reviewers. The pool was created in 2009 and proved to students about their experiences and will be an excellent forum for sharing ideas.

QUEST is the key to one of the objectives of the project to ensure that the quality of higher education will be able to provide the knowledge of the students and a student representative.

It is hoped that at least 1,000 students in the next two years that will QUEST and Pool of Experts Students benefit from the training materials developed as part of the Quality Assurance.

Trust, participation and ownership

QUEST team also found confidence; participation and ownership to improve the quality of higher education were the most important values.

Students at all levels of decision-making and quality assurance must be included to improve the quality of higher education. Student-centered learning should also be properly implemented by higher education institutions.

Make a difference in the quality assurance mechanisms of recognition, transparency and the development of best practices in higher education, you can support it. Significant changes in the actual quality assurance system that can promote higher education. A 'quality culture' so-called higher education can only be set to be the active participation of students.

A Future

Student representatives of the European Union and the European quality assurance of higher education will develop in the future, such as the use of the results of the QUEST is an active partner in discussions with other agents in the field.

This project, for example, the revision of the European standards and guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area is a major challenge.

However, only the QUEST project researching and developing a framework for the quality of higher education was the first milestone.

It allows policy-makers to further the student's opinions on this subject, but there will be more research on how the concept of quality in higher education student expectations in the way they are and how it is transformed to the paths, especially in relation to external influences.

* Fernando Miguel Galan Palo mares is president of the Union of Students in Europe. QUEST project were involved in the consortium and the Lifelong Learning Programmed of the European Commission would not have been possible without the financial support of the partners was a valuable learning experience.