What's the difference?: models for assessing quality and value added in higher education

Abstract

This paper outlines two approaches being piloted by Australian universities in 2008 for assessing the quality and outcomes of higher education. The approaches offer alternative and complementary means of estimating the value that has been added by university education. They also provide a means of assuring the quality of the routine student assessment processes and results which may be used to underpin quality considerations. The paper concludes that the application of these approaches in Australian universities is important, for it flags innovative ways of thinking about how educational institutions measure and verify the quality of student learning.