On June 7, ANQA conducted a monitoring of academic programmes at the European University of Armenia. Within the scope of the monitoring of the academic programme “Law”, meetings were held with the management staff, manager of the academic programme, teachers, students and representatives of the Quality Assurance Department.
The monitoring aimed to identify the academic programme’s best practices, the implementation of assignments directed towards the formation of professional thinking among students, as well as the role of feedback in the achievement of outcomes.
The discussions focused on the processes aimed at the formation of the legal mindset. In particular, the following issues were emphasized:
- assignments in academic programmes that form professional skills and capacities;
- need for lesson planning and checking of defined outcomes using clear assessment methods and tools;
- importance of feedback as an integral part of formative assessment;
- formation of students' research skills and development of critical thinking;
- allocation of credits and assessment of student workload in terms of making measurable outcomes.
During the discussions with the HEI’s representatives, the implementation of the follow-up plan drawn up after the accreditation process was also considered with an emphasis on recorded successes, existing challenges and possibilities to overcome them. During the discussions, the following topics were highlighted:
- importance of the specification of the expected outcomes and KPIs by the HEI;
- planning of financial resources according to identified problems and defined goals;
- links between planning and accountability, as well as formats used in the HEI;
- role of the internal quality assurance system in data-based decision-making and academic programmes’ continuous enhancement.
At the end of the monitoring, during the meeting with the HEI’s management staff, the main outcomes of the monitoring and the directions for enhancement were summarized.