questionnaires, and they collect this information at several different levels
(institutional, programme, module) for different purposes (Harvey, 2003). A review of
the outcomes of institutional audits (QAA, 2009) found that that the collection of
feedback in the form of evaluations and/or student satisfaction surveys at the level of
modules, and the establishment of student representation were the two most used
mechanisms for establishing student views.
Another study (HEFCE, 2003) also found that the greatest concentration of feedback
was at the module level:
The most common level at which feedback is collected is the module,
followed by the programme level. Many institutions collect feedback at both
levels. However, the module is felt to be the most effective level for gathering
and using feedback because it is closest to the student experience and
therefore most appropriate to ensuring fairly immediate improvements to the
teaching and learning process.
(HEFCE, 2003:51-52)
Both the QAA (2009) and HEFCE (2003) reports note the difficulties that the
collection of feedback presents when courses are delivered via flexible, distant or
blended modes.
3. E-learning features impacting on quality assurance
During the last decade campus-based universities have been expanding their use of
learning technologies for the delivery of courses. This increasing use of technology
has raised wide concerns about the quality of this mode of provision, and has led to a
search to identify suitable ways to assure and enhance its quality (Oliver, 2005;
Parker, 2004).
A range of literature supports the view that the use of e-learning necessitates some
adaptation of the quality assurance and quality enhancement procedures designed
for on-campus courses (Connolly, Jones and O'Shea, 2005; CVCP, 2000; Harvey,
2002; Hope, 2001; Middlehurst and Campbell, 2003; O'Shea, Bearman and Downes,
1996; Robinson, 2004; Roffe, 2002; Stella and Gnanam, 2004; Tait, 1999; Walmsley,
2004). The main arguments supporting this view are based on an analysis of the
differences between e-learning and campus-based learning. Four important factors
have been identified:
■ disaggregated processes: in e-learning courses the processes involved (e.g.
design, delivery, assessment) are often the responsibility of separate teams, in
contrast with conventional face-to-face courses where these tasks are
responsibility of one team;
■ distribution of teams: academic staff do not work in isolation; staff need to work
collaboratively, interacting with other professionals, and in the case of e-learning
courses these people may well be located in different sites;
■ distant location of students: staff have less direct access to students than with
campus-based learning; and
■ openness to review: in e-learning courses student (and tutor) activities in using
technology for learning can be monitored in greater depth, and more continuously
and unobtrusively than in campus-based learning or traditional distance learning.