On June 21, ANQA conducted online monitoring of the Goris State University’s academic programmes. The HEI underwent two institutional accreditations, the last one took place in 2021. During the monitoring, the HEI’s internal stakeholders were engaged in the discussion on the outcomes of the follow-up plan’s implementation and the possibilities to overcome the existing challenges. The monitoring group observed the HEI's practice on the review and enhancement of the academic programmes with the example of the AP "Economics". As a result, online meetings were held with the management staff, the academic programme’s manager, teaching staff, students, as well as the representatives of the quality assurance center.
How and why should the HEI's academic programmes be adapted to the needs of the region?
What are the principles of academic programmes’ benchmarking?
How to prepare students for internship and professional work?
In addition to the above-mentioned questions, the following issues were also discussed:
- Production of alumni who meet the needs of the labour market: their learning should be outcome-based and focus on practical skills’ development.
- Need to plan teaching and the planning of each lesson, where the teacher specifies the desired knowledge and skills students should acquire by the end of each lesson and states how each lesson contributes to the achievement of the academic programmes’ outcomes.
- The advantages of cooperation with employers, both from in terms of their involvement in the teaching process and academic programmes’ enhancement as a result of cooperation. That will enable the employer to present a clear image of a specialist, while the education institution’s task will be to produce alumni with a professional mindset relevant to this image.
- Mechanisms for the assessment of theoretical knowledge and practical skills, planning of student workload and credit distribution.
- The need to prepare students for internship and work, templates that will help students gain a better understanding of the profession, the platforms and opportunities of finding professional work, as well as the principles of applying for work.
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.