http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/1950874040

A new alliance continuous quality and classroom effectiveness

This report presents seven case studies and discusses the role of continuous quality improvement (CQI) in college classroom effectiveness efforts, particularly specific institutions where sustained CQI programs have affected college classroom practice, their common features, and lingering doubts about CQI. An introduction discusses general principles and philosophy, origins in mass production, Total Quality Management (TQM), and CQI's promise in education to make students the focus, classroom effectiveness the concern, and assessment a means to gain feedback for future improvement. The case studies describe seven educational organizations at six institutions (two research universities, two comprehensive universities, and two community colleges) and their attempts to move from exposure to TQM in the administrative super-structure to CQI in the classroom. The institutions are: (1) the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business; (2) the College of Business at Arizona State University; (3) the College of Engineering at Arizona State University; (4) Northwest Missouri State University; (5) Samford University (Alabama); (6) Maricopa County Community College District (Arizona); and (7) Miami-Dade Community College (Florida). A summary finds that common threads among these otherwise idiosyncratic programs include either a new focus or a heightened awareness of "the customer," commitment from top administrative leadership, customized faculty development, realization that change takes time, and financial realignment. The report also addresses lingering misgivings including setting standards, benchmarking, team building, interdisciplinary issues, rewards and salary, and the long term durability of the quality movement.

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