- 1. ATTRIBUTES OF QUALITY PROGRAMS IN UNIVERSITIES IN DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES:A CASE STUDY OF ECUADOR
2. Committee Members
3.
- The animating intent of this study is to contribute to the
understanding of high-quality programs in universities in
developing countries, especially in Ecuador.
4.
- My study was guided by the overall question:
- What program attributes in universities in developing countries
contribute to positive learning outcomes for students?
- In regards to identifying attributes, I addressed two
sub-questions:
-
- What actions do stakeholders engage in to develop the
attributes?
-
- What effects do these actions have on improving students
learning outcomes?
5. METHOD 6.
- To identify program attributes that influence students learning
outcomes ,I used grounded theory, an inductive approach that
generated a theory based on data I collected from 60 interviewees
that participated in this study.
7.
- I interviewed48participants mainly from two Ecuadorian
Universities:Universidad San Francisco de Quito(USFQ) andPontificia
Universidad Catlica del Ecuador(PUCE) (December 2001 & January
2002).
- I interviewed11participants from Latin America and one from the
United States (Costa Rica, June & July 2003).
8. Constant Comparative Method
- My research consisted of methodical data collection, coding,
and analysis aimed at developing a theory.
- This constant comparative method comprises: (1) comparing
incidents applicable to each category; (2) integrating categories
and their properties; (3) delimiting the theory; and (4) writing
the theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967).
9. Multi-case Study Design
- I used an open, multi-case study design along with the
positioned subject approach.
- For this multi-case study design, I organized my research
around a sampling strategy in the selected programs and
interviewees.
10. Selected Programs
- Business Administration & Biotechnology (Professions)
- To triangulate the findings, I interviewed people who differed
in terms of level of responsibility and level of interest.
11. Interview Process
- Consonant with my positioned subject approach, I used focused
interviews to obtain in-depth information.
- To engage institutional administrators, program administrators,
and faculty in conversations, I provided them with the topic to be
covered.
- Students were interviewed in focus groups.
12. Trustworthiness
- Based on Haworth and Conrads three basic strategies to enhance
trustworthiness, I used a cross-program analysis.
- In order to label categories and subcategories, the information
was coded according to the major attributes of program quality that
I identified in this study .
13.
- Select stakeholder groups (institutional administrators,
program administrators, faculty, students, alumni, and
employers)
- Analysis process (exchanged notes and observations from
interviews).
- Extensive data analysis (reexamined inferences and the
evidentiary basis for each and every finding by continually asking
one another questions about both the process and the product of the
study ).
14. Sampling Strategy and Procedures
- My sample at the two Ecuadorian universities and with the
diverse Latin American leaders in the business field was selected
by using the positioned subject approach that grounded my research
in the perspective of diverse stakeholders (Haworth & Conrad,
1997: 16).
15. Theoretical Sensitivity
- The capability to separate the pertinent from that which isnt(
Strauss & Corbin, 1990).
- I understood that there were challenges related to theoretical
sensibility because this study is qualitative and it, by
definition, contains subjective interpretations of data.
16. STUDY POPULATION 17. [1]FEPE: Ecuadorian Private
Universities Federation. [2]FENAUPE: Ecuadorian Universities and
Polytechnic Schools Federation. [2]FENAUPE: Ecuadorian Universities
and Polytechnic Schools Federation. Country Institution
Interviewees Total Participants from Ecuadorian Universities 48
EcuadorCONESUP Academic Director 1 1 Ecuador USFQ
ChancellorVice-Chancellor Deans Directors Professors Students
Alumnus Employer 1 1 2 2 5 8 1 1 21 Ecuador PUCE Rector Vice-Rector
Deans Directors Professors Administrators Students Alumni Employer
1 1 2 2 7 1 7 2 1 24 Ecuador FEPE FENAUPECollege Student
Association Leaders1 1 2 18. [1]FEPE: Ecuadorian Private
Universities Federation. [2]FENAUPE: Ecuadorian Universities and
Polytechnic Schools Federation. [2]FENAUPE: Ecuadorian Universities
and Polytechnic Schools Federation. Participants from the United
States and various Latin American Countries 12 United States
University of California Santa Cruz 1 1 Chile Fundacin de Educacin
1 1 Colombia Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana Universidad
Nacional Facultad de Minas 1 1 2 Costa Rica Universidad Latina de
Costa Rica 1 1 Ecuador Universidad Catlica de Guayaquil Universidad
Laica Vicente Rocafuerte Universidad del Azuay Universidad Estatal
de Guayaquil 1 1 1 1 4 El Salvador Universidad Jos Simen Caas
Universidad Politcnica 1 1 2 Per Pontificia Universidad Catlica de
Per 1 1 Total number of interviewees 60 19. Data Analysis 20.
- I analyzed data following the four stage process.
- I used the guiding question and the regulations to record in a
codebookon a program-by-program basisattributes that at least three
stakeholders considered significant.
- Systematically refining and testing attributes of program
quality to construct a preliminary theory of program quality. I
used the list of program attributes contained in the codebook that
resulted from the first stage of this process.
21.
- Theoretical Saturation. I delimited and tested the theory by
discriminating among the inventory of program attributes.
-
- Consistent with Haworth and Conrad (1997), for each attribute
the theory included the actions taken by stakeholders to enact the
attribute and the effects that these learning outcomes had on
student development.
- The fourth stage in the constant comparative method, was
writing a theory of program quality.
22. FINDINGS 23.
- I identified 13 attributes of high-program quality and grouped
them into five clusters: (1) highly qualified participants, (2)
learning-centered cultures, (3) interactive teaching and learning,
(4) connected program requirements, and (5) adequate
resources.
24. Attributes of High-Quality ProgramsIn Latin
AmericanUniversitiesand inEcuadorian Universities 25. Cluster One
Highly Qualified Participants Attributes Actions Positive
Outcomes
University authorities develop hiring polices to attract
professors with advanced degrees (from first-rate universities).
University authorities develop a reward structure that recognizes
the achievements of faculty. Students become more creative, honest,
and confident professionals and leaders because they learn from
excellent professors. Students become more committed to their
professions as well as more inspired and confident professionals
because they learn from highly qualified faculty.
- Highly Qualified Students
Faculty and administrators establish admissions policies based
on their institutional mission and on pre-established quality
standards to attract full-time students who will invest in their
learning. University authorities through the higher education
system introduce a national admission test to ensure high admission
standards. Students learn how to motivate one another to invest
their best efforts to achieve high-academic standards. Students
learn to encourage one another to become more fully devoted to
their professions. 26. Cluster Two Learning-Centered Cultures
Attributes Actions Positive Outcomes
- Shared Program Direction Focused on Learning
Faculty and administrative leaders invite stakeholders to join
them in developing shared program direction . University
authorities invite faculty, students, alumni, and employers to
participate in assessment efforts in which they study the fit
between their programs teaching and learning activities and its
overall direction. Shared program direction focused on learning
helps students to develop a clearer sense of professional direction
and a better consciousness of where and how they wish to invest
their professional energies upon graduation. 4. Real-World Learning
Experiences Introduce more realistic curricular design with focus
on the development of learning skills through case analysis to
enrich the learning process. Provide experiential learning through
the development of real project for the productive sector and
industries. Students acquire connected learning experiences, as
well as develop the necessary skills to face real-world challenging
experiences 27. Cluster Two Learning-Centered Cultures Attributes
Actions Positive Outcomes 5. Reading-Centered Culture
Administrators and faculty introduce policies to promote a
reading-centered culture. Students read more and develop more
creative thinking; in turn, they are better able to contribute with
new ideas grounded in knowledge. 6. Supportive and Risk-Taking
Environment Faculty and administrators develop a supportive
learning environment in which students feel confident to take risks
by questioning paradigms and confronting knowledge. Students who
engage in risk-taking activities develop their critical thinking
ability and learn to confront what is already known with the
unknown. Students become more empowered professionals. 28. Cluster
Three Interactive Teaching and Learning Attributes Actions Positive
Outcomes 7. Integrative learning: Theory with Practice, Self with
Subject Faculty, administrators, and students develop hands-on
learning experiences through team-work activities that connect
theory with practice. Students who participate in integrative
learning activities develop an enhanced practical and logical
problem-solving ability. Students become more adept at
communicating theoretical and technical knowledge to others,
especially by enhancing their interpersonal skills. 8. Exclusive
Tutoring and Mentoring Professors provide personalized education
within the context of an interactive professor-students
relationship. Professors meet regularly with students to provide
feedback on their professional and personal development. Leader,
administrators, and faculty develop supportive environments for
tutoring and mentoring students. Students gain self-confidence and
self-esteem. Students become aware of their weaknesses and engage
in continuous self-improvement. 29. Cluster Four Connected Program
Requirements Attributes Actions Positive Outcomes 9. Planned
Breadth and Depth Course Work Faculty and administrators develop
core and specialized course work requirements . Students become
deeper thinkers with wider visions. They develop a more holistic
understanding of knowledge and practice that enhances their
personal and professional lives. 10. Tangible Products Faculty and
administrators design tangible products to complete their programs.
Faculty and administrators support students throughout this
culmination activity, providing guidance and feedback as needed.
Students become confident and independent professionals by assuming
major responsibility for their projects. Students become more
analytical thinkers with wider perspective on their professions.
30. Cluster Five Adequate Resources Attributes Actions Positive
Outcomes 11. Support for Students Faculty and administrators
support students with funds for scholarships, grants, loans, and
funds for study-abroad, including agreements with the private
sector in order to provide students with job openings and
internships opportunities. Faculty, administrators and employers
develop agreements and alliance for student internships and job
opportunities after graduation. Since students do not have to worry
about economic resources, they invest their energies in learning.
Since students have opportunities to study abroad and to transfer
their credits to international universities, they become more
competitive and confident about their competence. 31. Cluster Five
Adequate Resources Attributes Actions Positive Outcomes 12. Support
for Faculty University authorities allocate monetary resources for
faculty remuneration and reward structures based on faculty quality
and achievements. University authorities support faculty
publications by allocating monetary resources and sabbaticals. When
professors invest their time in student teaching and learning,
students feel more satisfied with their educational experiences and
become better professionals. When students benefit from facultys
quality preparation and publications, they become more qualified
professionals13. Support for CampusInfrastructure University
authorities allocate monetary resources to update laboratories,
libraries (virtual libraries), research stations, computer labs,
and necessary equipment and supplies. University authorities invest
in campus maintenance, innovation, and aesthetics. Students become
more technically skilled to perform their jobs. Students who study
on campuses with considerable resources develop a sense of
belonging with their universities. 32. Haworth & Conrads Five
Clusters & Seventeen Attributes of High-Quality Program Cluster
1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5 Diverse and Engaged
Participants Participatory Cultures Interactive Teaching and
learning Connected Program Requirements Adequate Resources -
Diverse and engaged faculty - Diverse and engaged students -
Engaged leaders - Shared program direction - Community of learners
- Risk-taking environments - Critical dialogue - Integrative
Learning - Mentoring - Cooperative Peer learning - Out-of-class
activities - Planned Breadth and Depth of Coursework - Professional
Residency - Tangible Products - Support for Students- Support for
Faculty- Support for Basic Infrastructure 33. Cluster One: Highly
Qualified Participants
- 1.Highly Qualified Faculty
- All of my interviewees told me that highly qualified professors
are people who not only have first-rate educations but are deeply
devoted to teaching and passionately connected to their work.
34.
- To illustrate, at USFQ, stakeholders looked for faculty members
with doctoral degrees, especially from the United States or
Europe.
35.
- One alumnus from the biology field at PUCE stated:
-
- Since we had good professors, we now are able to be good
professionals in the biology field; we are more competitive .
36.
- 2. Highly Qualified Students
- Interviewees frequently referred to highly qualified students
as full-time students who were committed to education and had
ambitions for a successful life.
37.
- A business professor at USFQ told me:
-
- The admission process is well-structured at this university
because we introduce planned actions to attract good students.
38.
- A biology professor at USFQ, told me, Since our students
experienced pre-established standards to be admitted at USFQ, they
encourage one another to become more fully devoted to their
learning.
39. Cluster Two: Learning-Centered Cultures
- Shared Program Direction Focused on Learning
- In high-quality programs, stakeholders are fundamental in
building a shared program direction focused on learning.
Participants engage in a philosophy and a set of tools for
identifying and improving processes that lead to a better focus on
learning.
40. Actions
- The Dean of the Business School at PUCE, said:
-
- We have begun meeting with twenty-five other program
stakeholders and employers in order to re-define the shared-program
direction focused on learning. Thirty professors have been working
with students, alumni, and administrators to review and adapt the
recommendations given by other program stakeholders.
41. Positive Outcomes
- A biology professor at PUCE, stated:
- Students, who experience shared program direction, are becoming
better-defined professionals with an understanding of the common
focus as part of their education experiences and professional
practices. In the United States universities, students, who
experience shared program direction, are more informed of their
professions and where to invest their professional energies. I hope
Ecuadorian universities provide more shared program direction to
their students.
42.
- 2.Real-World Learning Experiences
- Students in real-world learning experiences were assessed and
evaluated through specific learning skills as well as the
presentation of real-life projects for the private sector and
industries.
43.
- The Chancellor at USFQ, stated:
-
- Our students experiencereal-world learning experiencesthrough
case analysis. Our students also develop their own projects that
become real-world projects for industries. To illustrate, faculty
members and students are applying their projects as part of new
industries. One project involves the beer industry with two new
beers PaquitaandSan Pancho;other projects are part of the food
industry (chocolate and pasta).
44. Positive Outcomes
-
- A female professional from Ecuador with a degree in marketing
told me that she developed projects that guided her to her
profession. She stated:
-
- When I was a student, I had the opportunity to connect my
learning experience with projects (products). One of the products
that I developed with my team was selected by the university and by
a private business. The name of the product wasAlpina . Currently,
a food industry is selling our product with the nameAvena
Alpina.That project was a good start of my professional life.
45.
- 3.Reading-Centered Culture
- If universities promoted a reading-centered culture, the
cultural level of society improved because people developed more
critical thinking skills to face realities. If students in Latin
American countries, particularly in Ecuador, read more, they would
develop more creative thinking and feel able to contribute with new
ideas.
46. Actions
- University authorities advanced a reading-centered culture
through introducing new policies such as providing quotas for books
as part of students tuition.
- University authorities, faculty, and administrators at PUCE and
USFQ told me, Professors know that they need to promote more
reading among faculty, administrators, and particularly students.
Students must come prepared to classes. Every class session needs
to introduce discussions based on previous readings.
47. Positive Outcomes
- A Latin American interviewee fromUniversidad Jos Simen Caas,El
Salvador, told me, Since I attended a good program that promoted
reading, I became a more critical thinker. I started to view things
from different perspectives, and I started to base solutions on
knowledge.
48.
- 4. Suportive and Risk-Taking Environment
- Faculty and administrators told me that they provide students
with supportive environments because they wanted students to feel
safe to take risks during their learning experiences.
49. Actions
- The Vice-Chancellor at USFQ, said:
- A risk-taking environment must create confusions in students
within safe conditions, so they can question dogmas and paradigms
in order to search for the truth. That is the kind of education our
students are receiving at this university.
50. Positive Outcomes
- T hreestudents at USFQ, one from the biotechnology school and
two from the business school, stated:
-
- Within the context of a supportive environment, we feel
encouraged to confront knowledge. We do not accept whatever is
written or said. We have become more critical thinkers and more
skilled to search for the truth.
51. Cluster Three: Interactive Teaching and Learning
- 1. Integrative Learning: Theory with Practice, Self with
Subject
- I learned from interviewees that the learning experience was
enhanced when students understood the relevance of what they
learned and knew how to connect knowledge to the outside
world.
52. Actions
- The Dean of Life Science and Biotechnology School at USFQ
said:
-
- Faculty and administrators are promoting hands-on learning
through teamwork that helps students to develop projects.
Currently, our students are developing agribusiness projects, and
they are learning to connect theory with practice.
53. Positive Outcomes
- A Latin American interviewee from Colombia told me:
-
- Since I study in a program that was organized through various
hands-on projects, workshops, or fieldwork, I have become a more
practical and logical person; I have developed more critical
thinking. I usually worked within interdisciplinary teams. Thus, I
have become able to connect theory with practice; it means that I
am more skilled when developing projects.
54.
- 2. Exclusive Tutoring and Mentoring
- ETM emerged as an important attribute of high-quality programs
in my study. I also learned that exclusive tutoring and mentoring
has been introduced gradually at Latin American higher education
institutions.
55. Actions
- To illustrate, as for the fist action, a business alumnus at
USFQ told me:
-
- I liked the personalized education that I received at USFQ,I
never felt like a name or number in the student roster because my
professors always called me by my name; consequently, I felt much
more motivated within that friendly professor-student
relationship.
56. Positive Outcomes
-
- Four students, three from the business school and one from the
biotechnology school at USFQ, told me: Since our professors call us
by our names and treat us with respect, we improve our
self-confidence and self-esteem.
57. Cluster Four: Connected Program Requirements
- Planned Breadth and Depth Course Work
- Through planned breadth and depth course work faculty and
administrators require students to complete a program that embraces
core and specialized course work. This attribute positively
affected students development.
58. Actions
- To illustrate this action, two business professors at USFQ
stated:
-
- (Professor 1): Our students are learning subjects from a more
planned breadth and depth course work. Our students are learning
more about core and general subjects, including national and
international cultures.
-
- (Professor 2): Our business program has a good balance between
core and specialized courses according to their professional life
interests. In addition, it includes cooking, languages, and history
as part of the core course work.
59. Positive Outcomes
-
- A business professor at USFQ stated, Our students are achieving
more open minds; they feel like free citizens because they are
exposed to a more planned breadth and depth course work.
60.
- During my study, faculty and administrators designed tangible
products such as theses and research projects for students to
complete their programs.
61.
- The Rector at PUCE, stated:
-
- At the undergraduate level, our biology students are expected
to do and defend their own theses, as well as at the graduate
level.The biology school at PUCE has prestige in Latin America
because of its theses and research projects.
Actions 62.
- The Rector at PUCE, said:
-
- Since our professors invite students to work with them in
research projects that industries or business sectors provide funds
for, students assume responsibilities because they feel as an
important component of such research projects; and they have the
opportunity to apply the results in their thesis.
Positive Outcomes 63. Cluster Five: Adequate Resources
- Support for students could be seen in the form of scholarships,
internships, grants, loans, study-abroad opportunities,
internships, and job opportunities after graduation .
64.
- The Rector at PUCE, said:
- We allocate funds for students who have few monetary resources.
Students are selected according to their economic income and their
academic records.
65.
- To illustrate, a biology student at PUCE, stated:
- Since funding organizations provide us money for our
internships and research projects, we become better biologists and
more competitive professionals.
66.
- Interviewees told me that more adequate monetary resources in
the form of remunerations and rewards motivated faculty to invest
more quality time in their teaching activities. While some
university authorities thought that professors devoted their time
to teaching and research for reasons other than money, most
professors told me that they would have appreciated receiving
better salaries and monetary rewards for their quality teaching and
research. If university authorities paid better wages to faculty,
greater faculty engagement would enrich students outcomes.
67.
- The Dean of the Business School at PUCE stated, We are
developing a structure for allocating more monetary resources for
providing better remuneration to faculty as well as a reward
structure that recognizes good teaching practice.
68.
- Once professors had been appropriately rewarded, they invested
their time in student teaching and learning; therefore, students
felt more satisfied with their educational experiences and became
even better professionals. This positive outcome still remains as
an ideal one.
69.
- Support for Campus Infrastructure
- Faculty, administrators, students, and alumni participating in
this study emphasized that not only adequate facilities and
equipmentsuch as laboratories, libraries, field related equipment,
classrooms with new technology facilities for teaching, equipment,
and suppliesbut the beauty of the campus also contributed to
quality programs.
70.
- The Director of the Biology Department at PUCE,
acknowledged:
-
- Our laboratories and libraries, regardless of monetary
limitations, provide good services to students. Libraries also
provide students with up-to-date scientific journals. These journal
collections are considered the largest Ecuadorian collection in the
zoology area; that is a good tool for research.
71.
- To illustrate, students at USFQ explained to me about their
technical skills when looking for bibliographic materials. In their
words:
- (Student 1): USFQ provides us with excellent and very modern
access to information through the Internet, virtual libraries,
conventional libraries, and laboratories. I feel very satisfied
with these campus facilities because I am developing my technical
skills to find any bibliographic material here.
72. CONCLUSIONS 73. Contributions of the Theory of High-Quality
Programs
- I identified 13 attributes of high-quality programs. Eleven of
these are closely connected to Haworth and Conrads theory and the
other two attributesreal-world learning experiences and a
reading-centered culturemake the signature theoretical
contributions of my study.
74.
- Real-world learning experiencesencourage the active involvement
of stakeholders in designing curriculawith real-worldlearning
experiences that result in positive student outcomes.
- A reading-centered culturehas never before been identified in
the literature. I n Latin American countries, such as Ecuador,
students must read more to advance their learning.
75.
- After all, the primary purpose of higher learning is to provide
students with new insights and enriching learning experiences that
have positive effects on their development . [1]
- [1]Haworth and Conrad (1997: 213).
76.
- To connect my theory with the future of high-quality programs
in Latin American and Ecuadorian universities, I believe that if
all stakeholders along with state governors engage in the pursuit
of enriching learning experiences that have positive effects on
students development as the rule of life and not as the exceptionin
concert with the program attribute I have identifiedhigh-quality
programs will become the most important component of Latin American
universities, particularly Ecuadorian universities.
77.
- I envision a better future for our universities. That is, Latin
American universities will become accountable to society by
guaranteeing their students high-quality programs, which will
assure more sustainable development within each country.
- I believe that these recommendations would revolutionize Latin
Americas current higher education system in a positive way by
encouraging Latin American universities to compete with
universities in developed countries.
78. Thank You!