Quality assurance is a continuous process aimed at improving quality of teaching and learning activities which can be achieved through mechanism, internal and external to the university. It ensures that the syllabus drawn up for each subject or area of concern is revised periodically so as to capture the current development in that field of teaching and learning.
Faculty of Architecture Quality Assurance (FAQA) implies the ability of the curricula to meet required criteria relating to academic matters, staff-student ratio, staff development and facility improvement. The learning outcomes of the faculty degree programs connote that graduates of their academic disciplines have attained competence in their areas of learning and so are ensured high employability and opportunities for further studies.
General quality management
The Faculty of Architecture has three departments i.e. Architecture, Town and Country Planning and Building Economics. General quality management within each department is administered by a team comprising Year Level coordinators (Year Masters), Academic Advisers, Undergraduate and Postgraduate Studies Coordinators selected by the Head of Department. The Year Masters and Study Coordinators (lecturers) are responsible to the Head of the department for the operation and improvement of the programs in accordance with the Curriculum Committee appointed by the Dean of the Faculty.
Modular system is now in place at all three departments to fulfill the University requirement, which is to maintain the Global Consistency and to enhance the efficiency and the quality of existing and new undergraduate programs through;
- Increasing the amount of student self learning
- Offering fewer subject (course) modules (units) within more flexible curriculum models
- Shared course modules (units) between Departments and Faculties
- More interdisciplinary programs when appropriate
- Reviewing different forms of assessment
All modules, used for the earlier system are carefully converted to the modular system with necessary amendments. At the department level, the general quality management is through a series of committees or Stream Coordinators that oversee various aspects of the academic program. Evaluation of the program is also conducted based on results of qualitative and quantitative student feedbacks.
At the faculty level on fist Thursday of every month, the Faculty Board considers available reports submitted by the Head on the progress of various courses and programs. The Senate appointed Curriculum and Evaluation Committee reports curriculum revisions directly to the Vice Chancellor and the Senate for approval.
Quality assurance measuring parameters
Quality of education at the Faculty of Architecture is measured in terms of quality of input, quality of output, quality of contents and quality of process.
Student feedback – quantitative method
Student feedback is formally obtained in each semester to appraise the staff performance, subject assessment and industrial training, through a structured questionnaire, which has facilitated quantitative analysis of the staff performance. Feedback can be obtained manually using printed feedback forms or online through Moodle. Individual lecturers and Year Masters are engaged in administering this process, which provides valuable feedback to the program objectives and also to the lecturers.
Staff peer reviews
Staff peer review is a collaborative process designed to provide feedback to lecturers about relevance of teaching material in achieving learning outcomes. The Faculty promotes a process in which the lecturer under review will closely work with a colleague or colleagues to receive feedback on her or his teaching methods and contents. In most cases, the reviewer is the moderator of the subject under review. The peer review process includes the following;
- The reviewer evaluates and discusses contents of teaching material
- The reviewer visits a lecture session to observe and give feedback for the lecturer.