台灣高等教育評鑑制度改進之研究 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學社會科學院亞太研究英語碩士學位學程 International Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies College of Social Sciences National Chengchi University. 碩士論文政治大. 立 Master’s Thesis. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. 台灣高等教育評鑑制度改進之研究. Nat. er. io. sit. y. A Study of Improvements for. Higher Education Evaluation System in Taiwan. n. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Student: Aimee Huang（黃淑娥） Adviser:. Professor Chung-Yuang Jan（詹中原教授）. 中華民國 100 年 1 月 January, 2011.

(2) 台灣高等教育評鑑制度改進之研究 A Study of Improvements for Higher Education Evaluation System in Taiwan. Student: Aimee Huang（黃淑娥） Adviser:. Professor Chung-Yuang 治 Jan（詹中原教授）. 立. 政. 大. ‧ 國. 學. 國立政治大學社會科學院亞太研究英語碩士學位學程. ‧. 碩士論文. er. io. sit. y. Nat. n. a l Master’s Thesis i v n C International Master’sh Program e n g c h iinUAsia-Pacific Studies College of Social Sciences National Chengchi University. 中華民國 100 年 1 月 January, 2011.

(3) Outline Abstract .......................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 Introduction .............................................................................3 1.1 Research background ....................................................................................... 3 1.1-1 The expansion of higher education in Taiwan ............................... 3 1.1-2 The importance of quality control of higher education ................. 5 1.1-3 The impact of globalization in higher education ........................... 6 1.2 Motivation and target of this research ..................................................... 12 1.3 Scope of this research .............................................................................. 14. Chapter 2. Literature Review ..................................................................17. 2.1. Formation of higher educational networks .............................................. 17 2.1-1 The Bologna Process.................................................................... 17 2.1-2 Effects of the Bologna Process .................................................... 20 2.2 The accreditation systems for quality assurance ...................................... 25 2.2-1 Importance of quality assurance .................................................. 25 2.2-2 Different opinions on accreditation.............................................. 27 2.3 Higher education evaluation in Taiwan ................................................... 32 2.3-1 Development of the evaluation system ........................................ 32 2.3-2 Arguments from higher education evaluation.............................. 34 2.3-3 Perspective of higher education ................................................... 36. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. sit. y. Design of This Research .......................................................38. io. Structure of this research ......................................................................... 38 3.1-1 Investigation through interview ................................................... 38 3.1-2 Glossary of items for the evaluation/accreditation ...................... 40 3.2 Method of this research ............................................................................ 41 3.2-1 Design of interview problems ...................................................... 41 3.2-2 Quantitative questionnaire to the interviewees ............................ 46 3.2-3 Proposed list of interviewees ....................................................... 47 3.2-4 Hypotheses of this study .............................................................. 48 3.2-5 Restrictions of this method .......................................................... 49 3.3 Methods of analyses................................................................................. 50 3.3-1 Characterization of responses ...................................................... 50 3.3-2 Correlation with literature evidence............................................. 51 3.4 The expected results of this research ....................................................... 52. n. al. er. 3.1. Nat. Chapter 3. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Chapter 4 The Interview Analysis and Discussion (A): Outcome-based Approach and the Role of HEEACT ....................................54 4.1 The suitability of the outcome-based evaluation or accreditation ................. 54 4.2 A brief summary of section 4.1 ................................................................ 63 I.

(4) 4.3 The issue of the HEEACT task transformation ............................................. 63 4.4 A brief summary of section 4.3 ................................................................ 73. Chapter 5 The Interview Analysis and Discussion (B): Passing Ratio of Evaluation and the Exercise of Civil Right ..........................74 5.1 The research on maintaining the failure ratio of evaluation .......................... 74 5.2 A brief summary of section 5.1 ................................................................ 86 5.3 Discussions on the exercising of civil rights in conducting evaluation ... 87 5.4 A brief summary of section 5.3 ................................................................ 95. Chapter 6 The Interview Analysis and Discussion (C): Global Connection, Issuing License and Related Topics .................97. 6.4 6.5 6.6. Quantitative Analysis of Interview Results and Comparison with Literature Evidences .................................................134. Quantitative Analysis of Interview Results ........................................... 134 7.1.-1 Quantitative results from questionnaires ................................... 134 7.1-2 Discussions on the consensus of questionnaire results .............. 137 7.1-3 Comparison between in-depth interview and quantitative analysis results ......................................................................................... 142 7.2 Comparison of interview results with literature evidences .................... 144 7.2-1 The importance of quality assurance through accreditation ...... 144 7.2-2 Advantages and disadvantages of higher education accreditation .................................................................................................... 145 7.2-3 Arguments on the evaluation results from HEEACT in Taiwan 147 7.3 Summary and suggestions...................................................................... 149. ‧. 7.1. 立. 政治大. 學. Chapter 7. The discussion on the importance of global connection .......................... 97 A brief summary of section 6.1.............................................................. 111 The discussion between evaluation results and professional certification examinations .......................................................................................... 112 A brief summary of section 6.3 .............................................................. 119 The analysis and discussion of other interview opinions....................... 120 A brief summary of section 6.5.............................................................. 132. ‧ 國. 6.1 6.2 6.3. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Chapter 8 Conclusion...........................................................................152 References ...............................................................................................155 Appendix A: Questionnaire for the in-depth interview of this study (Chinese version) ..............................................................160 Appendix B: Questionnaire for the quantitative interview (Chinese Version) .............................................................................165 Appendix C: The Interview Analysis and Discussion, (Chinese Version) .................................................................................................................168. II.

(5) Abstract The demand of higher education is a worldwide trend in the knowledge based economy of the 21st century. Taiwan has a rapid higher education expansion during the past two decades, and the quality control is becoming a highly concerned issue. The Higher Education Evaluation & Accreditation Council (HEEACT) is conducting general evaluations for higher education programs in Taiwan. Non-governmental commissions like the Institute of Engineering Education Taiwan (IEET) and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) are also conducting. 政治大. accreditations in Taiwan. A national policy for the effective evaluation of higher. 立. education is currently formulating by the Ministry of Education.. ‧ 國. 學. The impact of globalization is another driving force for the evaluation and. ‧. accreditation of higher education programs. Higher education evaluation and. Nat. sit. y. accreditation not only enhance the teaching quality, but also promote professional. n. al. er. io. mobility. During the last several years, there were different opinions, arguments and. i Un. v. complains for the evaluation conducted by HEEACT. The aim of this study was to. Ch. engchi. select major issues of higher education evaluation, to find out opinions from related experts, and to discuss the differences and similarities of interview results.. This research applied the in-depth interview method to collect the comments for higher education evaluation and accreditation in Taiwan. Fifteen professionals and administration leaders have been interviewed. The interviewees showed consensus on one third of the interview questions. Their opinions on various interview topics have been recorded, analyzed, and compared with literature evidences. The results of this study provide useful information to the future policy and improvement. Keywords:. In-depth Interview, Higher Education, Evaluation, Accreditation 1.

(6) 中文摘要. 在知識經濟發展的 21 世紀，高等教育的需求是世界性的趨勢。台灣在過去 20 年中，高等教育有急速的膨脹，因此高等教育的品質管制也成為重要的議題。高等教育評鑑中心 (HEEACT) 目前在台灣針對各類別的系所進行評鑑，其他非政府機構例如中華工程教育學會 IEET) ，以及國際機構 AACSB 也在台灣進行教育認證，目前教育部正擬定有關高等教育評鑑的國家政策。. 國際化的衝擊，也是促進高等教育評鑑或認證的驅動力量。高等教育評鑑不. 政治大. 僅提昇教學品質，也促進專業人員的國際流動性。在過去數年之中，對於高教評. 立. 鑑中心執行之結果，各方有許多不同的觀點、爭議以及抱怨。本研究的目的，在. ‧ 國. 學. 於選擇高教評鑑相關之主要議題，收集專家學者的意見，並且討論受訪者對於這些議題具有共識或不同意見的結果。. ‧ sit. y. Nat. 本研究採取深度訪談的研究方法，獲取專家們對於高等教育評鑑或認證的看. n. al. er. io. 法。本研究共有 15 位專家學者參與訪談，由訪談結果顯示，受訪者在三分之一. i Un. v. 的議題方面具有較明顯的共識。本研究將訪談結果整理分析，並與文獻上所取得. Ch. engchi. 的資料相互對應比較。本研究結果對於政府制訂未來高等教育品質管制的政策提供有用的資料。. 關鍵詞：深度訪談，高等教育，評鑑，認證. 2.

(7) Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Research background. 1.1-1. The expansion of higher education in Taiwan. The twenty-first century is an era of knowledge economy. The demand of higher education is becoming a worldwide trend where Taiwan definitely can not be exceptional. There was only one university, the National Taiwan University, upon the. 政治大. retreat of government from mainland in 1949. There were also other three. 立. independent colleges: The Engineering College at Tainan, The Agricultural College at. ‧ 國. 學. Taichung, and The Normal College at Taipei. The total number of students in higher education was 5,374 in 1949 (Department of Statistics, Ministry of Education). The. ‧. number of enrollment of colleges and universities increased over 100,000 in 1971,. y. Nat. io. sit. 250,000 in 1991, 500,000 in 2000, and reached 1,010,000 in 2010. Fig. 1.1. n. al. er. demonstrates graphically the rapid expansion of higher education in Taiwan.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Doctorol degree Master degree. 1000 Student Numbers (thousand). Undergraduate. 800. 600. 400. 200. 0 2000. 2002. 2004. 2006. 2008. 2010. Year. Fig. 1.1 The number of enrollment for higher education in Taiwan from 2001 to 2010. (Department of Statistics, Ministry of Education, Taiwan) 3.

(8) According to the White Paper of University Education Policy (Ministry of Education in Taiwan, 2001), the development of universities was classified by their patterns as general universities or specialized colleges. They can also be graded by their nature as research, teaching, and community universities. It was observed at the beginning of the 21st century that many higher education organizations set their targets as the promotion from teaching or technological oriented units to research type general universities. This motive is not correct, and the situation becomes even worse after 9 years from the announcement of the White Paper. The results are the waste of higher education resources and the intermixing of their proper functions.. 立. 政治大. Universities have been existed in one form or another for more than several. ‧ 國. 學. hundred years in the world (Kells, 2006). Higher education nowadays is not considered only for elite, but also for much broader groups with different qualities and. ‧. requirements. The proper differentiation for the functions of higher education. y. Nat. io. sit. organizations was aimed as an important factor during the higher education reform in. n. al. er. Taiwan. This reform engineering can not be successfully accomplished if the. Ch. i Un. v. curriculum design and outcomes assessment were not carefully evaluated.. engchi. The transition from elitism to mass higher education in Taiwan has been discussed by Wang (2003). Wang pointed out two important issues of the unemployment rate of university graduates and the increasing financial burdens on the government. Lin (2007) also investigated the education expansion and the phenomena of inequality in Taiwan. It was shown by the Gini coefficient analyses that the rapid education expansion in Taiwan from 1980 declined the educational inequality. The skill-biased technological change, however, also resulted in the rise in income inequality. The national policy of higher education expansion in Taiwan has a correct. 4.

(9) direction, but it definitely generated some negative effects. Quality assurance is becoming a major concern along with the rapid expansion of higher education. A balance between supply and demand of highly educated graduates is worthy considering in order to avoiding the problems of over-education and unemployment.. 1.1-2. The importance of quality control of higher education. Since Taiwan has a rapid higher education expansion in the past two decades, quality control of those educational organizations and professional programs. 政治大 Education Evaluation & Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT), university 立. becomes highly required. According to the message from the president of the Higher. ‧ 國. 學. evaluation is “a long term commitment and an important tool to raise the standard of higher education institutions”. The purposes of higher education evaluation or. ‧. accreditation include the following items: (1) to examine the current quality status of. Nat. sit. y. the academic programs of higher education institutions. (2) to assess the learning. n. al. er. io. environment and to suggest improvement mechanisms for those institutions. (3) to. i Un. v. assist the institutions on developing their teaching excellences. (4) to provide. Ch. engchi. evaluation results to government for future public policies.. The higher education in Taiwan faces many challenges after the education reform during the last decade. Some indexes had been suggested and quantitative comparisons had been presented with other countries (楊朝祥，徐明珠，2008). These indexes were used as the references for the formulation of policy, and as the standards of educational evaluation. The indexes they analyzed included the percentages of educational budgets out of GDP, the impact factors of SCI (Science Citation Index) and SSCI (Social Science Citation Index) research papers, and the number of foreign graduate students in the United States. Although there are many arguments on the 5.

(10) quantitative indexes, it is observed that quality control of higher education is a national policy especially in the era of globalization.. The proper function of higher education evaluation had been discussed. The higher education evaluation results had been investigated according to the announcement by HEEACT (王順民，2007). In year 2007, the percentage of passing the HEEACT evaluation was 66%. This number reflected an unqualified structure after the higher education expansion. Many institutions did not have clear educational objectives, or enough teaching facilities. The higher education evaluation should not. 政治大. become “the straw that breaks the camel’s back” (王順民，2007). The mission of. 立. higher education evaluation is not a threat or burden to the students and teachers. It. ‧ 國. 學. should provide a diagnostic function to the institutions. It should also yield advices to the policy makers of the government.. ‧. Nat. sit. y. The White Paper of University Education Policy (2001) stated that an evaluation. n. al. er. io. system should be established for the close range target of academic excellence. This. i Un. v. evaluation system is planned as a non-governmental organization to reach the quality. Ch. engchi. assurance of higher education programs. This policy has been put into effect in recent years. Further investigations are definitely required to improve the effectiveness of teaching mechanism in Taiwan. These investigations are also essential to direct the national policy for monitoring the quality of higher education in Taiwan.. 1.1-3. The impact of globalization in higher education. The progress of higher education requires initiative improvement as well as external stimulation. It is stated in the White Paper of University Education Policy, Ministry of Education, Taiwan (2001) that the international exchange and cooperation 6.

(11) are the essential parts for higher education development. This policy is implemented in many higher education institutions as they have started programs for receiving foreign students in recent years.. Globalization and the growing knowledge-based economy caused the progress of higher education as business practice with competition in a global marketplace. Mok (2003) discussed the globalization and higher education reconstructing in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China. Mok (2003) stated that the strategies in university governance included more decentralization, privatization and marketization. Although. 政治大. the state should play an important role in policy choices, there is increasing need to. 立. measure the quality assurance and to audit the performance of higher education. ‧ 國. 學. institutions. The non-governmental evaluation/accreditation institutions should be responsible for this mission.. ‧. Nat. sit. y. Although globalization is an inevitable trend, international policy and practice. n. al. er. io. for higher education have not been successfully developed in every state of the world.. i Un. v. For example, Van Damme (2001) discussed the quality issues on international higher. Ch. engchi. education. He stated that the export of higher education via branch campus and international cooperation have developed a transnational network. The following challenges have to be faced such as the recognition of foreign diplomas, degrees and credits. Lieven and Martin (2006) again discussed the situation of setting up for-profit, offshore programs and campuses of higher education institutions. They presented that higher education is becoming a global free market while its regulation is still strongly under the local national systems. The demands of the consumers (the students) may not be operated on the basis of quality. The governments have to be responsible for regulating provisions which directly affect the citizens.. 7.

(12) Julian and Ofori-Dankwa (2006) discussed that the on-line education or virtual universities led to discontinuous changes in the business school. They argued that the accreditation standards are better situated for traditional or continuous institutions rather than the discontinuous environment. The opposite argument has been presented by Zammuto (2008) that the diffusion of accreditation into the growth of for-profit universities is beneficial to part-time or international students in business school. This is because that accreditation requires the schools to identify the clarity of markets they served. The results of accreditation brought differentiation among institutions as their markets are becoming more competitive.. 立. 政治大. It is interesting to note that education is becoming a commodity, and students are. ‧ 國. 學. treated as customers (The Future Projects: Policy for Higher Education in a Changing World, 2000). Some famous companies have formed a joint venture with universities,. ‧. and described itself as a global education market. Many university leaders seek to. y. Nat. io. sit. capture higher education market abroad. It is also recognized that political and. n. al. er. economical integrations are undergoing in various regions such as the European. Ch. i Un. v. Union. Transnational education and cross-border job market are important in regional. engchi. development. Under such circumstances, accreditation of higher education programs and degrees is essential to substantial equivalence and mobility of professionals. Taiwan can not isolate itself from this worldwide trend. The discussion for the economic effects of higher education expansion such as the labor market and professional mobility are worthwhile.. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) established in 1989 has 21 members, including Chinese Taipei. The APEC Education Foundation (AEF) was incepted in 1995 with the missions to develop regional cooperation of higher. 8.

(13) education, study key regional economic issues, improve worker skills, facilitate cultural and intellectual exchange, enhance labor mobility and foster understanding of the diversity of this region (AEF website). Under the APEC system, there are committees to promote the frameworks of substantial equivalence and mutual exemption. These frameworks are aimed at the registration and licensing of professional engineers. To fulfill the targets of mutual recognition between economy members, accreditation of higher education degree is an essential step. Taiwan is also a full member of APEC Engineer. The professional engineering works (Chinese Taipei APEC Engineer Monitoring Committee, CTAEMC) are supported by the. 治政 Public Construction Commission of the Executive Yuan 大(Chu, 2006). 立 ‧ 國. 學. Taking the engineering accreditation (for 4-year programs) as an example, there is a worldwide organization of Washington Accord (WA). The WA was founded in. ‧. 1989 and has 12 full signatories including the leading countries of USA, UK and. y. Nat. io. sit. Japan, as shown in Table 1.1. The Institution of Engineer Education Taipei (IEET). n. al. er. became the full signatory (IEET, Chinese Taipei) in June of 2007. As we have. Ch. i Un. v. discussed above, higher education is becoming as a market good. We must consider. engchi. the globalization and substantial equivalence with major countries in the world. Through the global membership, the problems of transnational education, distance learning, and professional licensing can be solved.. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded in 1967 for the regional economic development. A Bali Declaration was signed in 2003 by ASEAN countries for the mobility of professionals and technologists. The ASEAN mutual recognition arrangement on engineering services was signed in 2005 for chartered engineers to conduct their works in 10 ASEAN countries. Since Taiwan is. 9.

(14) located within this region, we have to promote a clear public policy of higher education in order to meet the regional and international standards. This policy is closely related to the career of students and the economic developments of the state.. Table 1.1 The signatories of Washington Accord (WA) The following are the signatory accreditation bodies of the Washington Accord, their respective countries and territories, and years of admission:. 6.. 8.. 10.. 13.. al. n. 12.. io. 11.. Nat. 9.. ‧. 7.. 學. 5.. 立. y. 4.. sit. 3.. 政治大. er. 2.. Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (United States; 1989) Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (Canada; 1989) Engineering Council UK (United Kingdom; 1989) Institution of Engineers Australia (Australia; 1989) Institution of Engineers of Ireland (Republic of Ireland; 1989) Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (New Zealand; 1989) Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (Hong Kong; 1995) Engineering Council of South Africa (South Africa; 1999) Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education (Japan; 2005) Institution of Engineers Singapore (Singapore; 2006) Accreditation Board for Engineering Education of Korea (South Korea; 2007) Institute of Engineering Education Taiwan (Taiwan; 2007) Board of Engineers Malaysia (Malaysia; 2009). ‧ 國. 1.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. The provisional signatories include Germany, India, Russia, Sri Lanka, and Turkey. There is also an Asian-Pacific regional organization for higher education accreditation in the discipline of engineering. This regional integration is the Network of Accreditation Bodies for Engineering Education in Asia (NABEEA). It was formally established in 2007 at Penang, Malaysia. It has 9 full members and the geographical distribution is shown in Fig. 1.2 (Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education, JABEE website, 2009).. 10.

(15) 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Fig. 1.2 Distribution of full members of NABEEA.. ‧. It is shown in Fig. 1.2 that both IEET and CTAEMC of Taiwan are involved in. Nat. sit. y. the NABEEA structure. The goal of NABEEA is to form an engineering education. n. al. er. io. accreditation body or agency for Asian region, with possible extension to Pacific or. i Un. v. Middle East countries. It seems to follow the European pattern of the Bologna Process. Ch. engchi. (Shearman, 2007). Japan plays a leading role in the promotion of NABEEA. Since Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia are full signatories of WA, these jurisdictions also participate into the preparing process of NABEEA. This is another example that Taiwan is involving in the international affairs through higher education accreditation. It is observed from Fig. 1.2 that China and India are not joining the NABEEA (nor the WA) organization yet. Taiwan is in a leading position by now, but is also facing more challenges in the near future. The non-governmental accreditation commissions are key roles in the global structure like WA and NABEEA. A perspective of higher education progress and professional mobility should also be guided by the policy of. 11.

(16) state.. 1.2 Motivation and target of this research. President Ma announced his White Paper for Education in 2008. He declared it as a promise for the education of Taiwanese new generation. The basic concept of his policy is to upgrade our educational quality and international competitiveness. He decided to increase the educational investment from the currently approximate amount of 500 billion NTD per year to more than 700 billion NTD after 8 years.. 政治大 will increase from the present 3.75% to 6%. To ensure the attainment of an enhanced 立. According to this policy, the percentage of educational budget in the GDP of Taiwan. ‧ 國. 學. educational environment, a supporting mechanism of quality assurance through evaluation or accreditation must be emphasized.. ‧. sit. y. Nat. It is concretely stated in Ma’s White Paper for Education in 2008 that the higher. io. er. education is the key point for upgrading the national competitiveness. He pointed out. al. that higher education must reach the target of globalization. He also indicated the. n. iv n C problems of the present situation h that most higher education institutions considered engchi U too much on research and neglected the mission of teaching. It is stated in his policy that a higher education evaluation system should examine the balanced functions of teaching, research and public services. With appropriate evaluation process, higher education will not be self-narrowed down or edged away from the global market. Ma’s opinion is correct but further investigation is also required to fulfill the targets in the fast changing global society. The motivation of this study is thus focused on collecting and analyzing the responses for the policy, practice, and future challenges of the quality assurance processes of higher education in Taiwan.. 12.

(17) Taiwan has initiated the higher education accreditation systems from 1999. The Taiwan Medical Accreditation Council, and the Taiwan Nursing Accreditation Council were founded under the National Health Research Institutes. These accreditation councils accredit the teaching quality of medical and nursing professional schools. The accreditation institute for engineering area was founded in 2002 as IEET (Institute of Engineering Education Taiwan). The accreditation process for engineering departments started in 2004, and has extended to graduate school level in 2006. The Higher Education Evaluation & Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT), established in 2005, carried out the evaluation processes from 2006 for. 治政 all areas of general and technical institutions. The 大 history for the evaluation and 立 accreditation of higher education in Taiwan is relatively much shorter than that in ‧ 國. 學. western countries like the United States. We are, however, facing an increasing. ‧. pressure of domestic higher education expansion and an inevitable challenge of. sit. y. Nat. globalization. It is necessary to review our experiences in higher education evaluation. io. al. er. and accreditation in the past few years. A clear policy to match the higher education. n. development and quality assurance has to be discussed as a national guideline for the next few decades.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. The targets of this research include the following items: (1) It is intended to understand the comments or arguments from higher education institutions in Taiwan about their evaluation or accreditation results. Their cognition of teaching assessment, quality assurance and globalization will be analyzed through interviews with professionals and administration leaders. (2) Through the interview with the evaluation and accreditation organizations in Taiwan, the long term expectations for the quality control of the higher education systems will be collected. The gaps between the institutions and commissions during the evaluation/accreditation 13.

(18) practices will be analyzed. (3) The government plays an important role to promote the evaluation and accreditation of higher education systems. The recognition of domestic or international non-governmental commissions will be an important issue. This study will investigate the related regulations, especially on the topic of global connections.. During the past two years, there have been conferences on the discussions of higher education evaluation (HEEACT, 2006), and the policy of evaluation and accreditation of professional schools (NCCU, 2007). This study will focus on the area of medical, engineering, and business administration areas. These professional areas. 政治大. are related to the issue of licensing which will receive high interest in the progress of. 立. globalization and regional integration.. ‧ 國. 學. 1.3 Scope of this research. ‧. sit. y. Nat. The objective of this research is the collection and analysis of comments and. io. er. arguments for the higher education evaluation or accreditation in Taiwan. Since all. al. higher education organizations must participate in the evaluation system, either. n. iv n C government authorized approved h e n gorc h i U institutions,. conducted by the. there must be. different opinions, criticism, and suggestions about the evaluation processes. Although there are academic research reports about the higher education evaluation in foreign countries, as described in the next chapter, systematic investigations of our own higher education evaluation results are still insufficient. The efficacy of higher education evaluation can be judged by the higher education institutions, the faculty of the institutions, the evaluators, and the organizations conducting the evaluations. The purpose of this research is to collect information or data from the above groups or specialists. The questions to those experts include: (1) What is the most proper way to conduct higher education evaluation or accreditation in Taiwan? (2) What are the 14.

(19) impacts and comments from the higher education evaluation or accreditation in Taiwan? (3) What profits concerning globalization can we really acquire from higher education evaluation or accreditation? (4) What is the most appropriate role that the government should play for the higher education evaluation or accreditation structure? (5) What are the necessary stimuli to encourage higher education institutions to participate in evaluation or accreditation with the efforts of continuous improvement?. The mostly commonly applied research methods for social sciences are interview, document analysis, and direct observation (Lin, 2005). The method of interview has. 政治大. several advantages. Firstly, it is confirmable that we are talking to the interviewee. 立. personally while questionnaires might be answered by assistant. The time period for. ‧ 國. 學. direct interview could be longer enough to complete all desired questions. The drawback is that the interviewees have no time to find reference data, but answer the. ‧. questions instantaneously. It is helpful to list the questions beforehand, and this is. y. Nat. n. er. io. al. sit. categorized as structured interview.. i Un. v. This research intends to apply the structured or in-depth interview research. Ch. engchi. method to investigate the impact of education evaluation or accreditation from members in commissions, university institutions, governmental organizations, and university faculty. The interview results will then be documented where cross comparisons around specific questions will be analyzed.. Chapter 1 of this research is the introduction of research background, motivation of this study, and the scope of this investigation. Chapter 2 is the literature review of on higher education quality control, both in Taiwan and foreign countries. Chapter 3 states the design of this research that includes the structure, method, hypothesis, and restriction and expected results. Chapters 4 to 6 present the in-depth interview results 15.

(20) for various topics. The statements were selected from each interviewee on a specific interview question. Chapter 7 expresses the quantitative interview results according to the questionnaires collected during the in-depth interviews. The differences and consensus between interviewees on 27 specific topics are illustrated. Chapter 8 gives a conclusion of this study and comments to practice of higher education evaluation and accreditation.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 16. i Un. v.

(21) Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.1 Formation of higher educational networks. 2.1-1. The Bologna Process. Starting from the last one or two decades, higher education in the world began to initiate networks. The major aim of forming the network is to reach an equivalent educational standard for professional mobility and licensure. Taking the engineering. 政治大. profession as an example, the Bologna Process undergoing in Europe is widely. 立. Union, but also on other regions of the world.. 學. ‧ 國. discussed in literature since it has resulted significant influences not only in European. ‧. The Bologna Process is a European reform process in order to create the. Nat. sit. y. European Higher Education Area. The history of this process can be dated back to the. er. io. Magna Charta Universitatum in 1988.. al. n. iv n C The Magna Charta Universitatum signed by 388 Rectors of universities all h e was ngchi U over the world. They gathered in Bologna, Italy in 1988 to celebrate the ninth centenary of the University of Bologna that is the oldest university in Europe. In the Magna Charta Universitatum, it was stated that “universities must give future generations education and training”, “to respect the great harmonies of their natural environment”. It declared that “the university is an autonomous institution”, and “teaching and research must be inseparable”. In order to attain these goals, it was stated that the universities must “preserve freedom in research and teaching”. Universities must “exchange information and documentation, and frequent joint projects”. It encouraged “mobility among teachers and students”, and considered “a 17.

(22) general policy of equivalent status, titles, examinations (without prejudices to national diplomas)”. This can be taken as a first step for the integration of higher education worldwide.. Following the Magna Charta Universitatum, The Lisbon Recognition Convention was signed in 1997. The Lisbon Recognition Convention is an international convention signed by 47 states, who are the members of the Council of Europe, in Lisbon, Portugal. This convention stipulates that degrees and periods of study are recognized if no substantial differences can be proved. A committee and a. 政治大. network were created to promote the application and implementation of this. 立. convention. This is one further step to integrate the higher education system in Europe. ‧ 國. 學. by making academic degree and quality assurance standards. Non-members of the Council of Europe such as Australia, Canada and USA also signed this convention.. ‧. We can hence consider it as a milestone for the globalization of higher education. In. y. Nat. io. sit. year 1998, the education ministers of France, Germany, Italy and United Kingdom. n. al. er. signed the Sorbonne Declaration in Paris to commit that they will harmonize the. Ch. i Un. architecture of the European Higher Education System.. engchi. v. In 1999, 29 Ministers of Education from European countries signed the Bologna Declaration at the University of Bologna, Italy. The basic framework of the Bologna Process is the adoption of three cycles of higher education qualification. The three cycles include: (1) First cycle, awarding a Bachelor’s degree with typically 180-240 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation Systems (ECTS), usually in 3 years. (2) Second cycle, awarding a Master’s degree with typically 90-120 ECTS, usually in 2 years. (3) Third cycle, awarding a Doctoral degree without ECTS range, usually in 3 years. The new system gives greater emphasis on practical training and research. 18.

(23) projects. The new evaluation method also attaches importance to the lab skills, presentations and innovation capabilities of students.. There are substantial changes of the higher education systems in European countries after the Bologna Process. Taking Austria as an example, its original system was similar to that in Germany with the lowest degree (Magister or Diplom-Ingenieur) that needed 4 to 6 years. From year 2000, its higher education system was converted to separate bachelor (3 years), master (1.5 to 2 years) and doctoral degree (2 to 3 years). In Germany, the old professional (non-academic) degree courses are declining,. 政治大. and will be replaced by the new degree system in year 2010. Fig. 2.1 illustrates the. 立. European Higher Education Area, and the involvement in the three-level status in. ‧ 國. 學. 2007 (Bologna with Student Eyes, 2007).. ‧. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Fig. 2-1. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Involvement of three-level higher education in Europe. The aim of the Bologna Process is the creation of a European Higher Education 19.

(24) Area. The advantages include: (1) to facilitate mobility of students, graduates and staff. (2) to prepare students for their future career. (3) to offer access to high quality higher education based on its democratic principle. As listed in the Bologna Declaration (June 19, 1999), it offers “a key way to promote citizens’ mobility and employability”. It looks “the objective of increasing international competitiveness”, and “acquires a world-wide degree of attraction”.. The Bologna Process is an intergovernmental agreement for higher education in Europe. It is not a treaty or convention, and the participation is totally voluntary. It. 政治大. changes the traditional Germany education system with clear difference of vocational. 立. and academic training to the American-like system. There also existed criticism about. ‧ 國. 學. the Bologna Process. It is argued that the development of such process is similar to the economic treaties like WTO and GATS (Wikipedia Bologna Process). The. ‧. students’ workload will increase with their sacrifice of extracurricular activities, life. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. 2.1-2. sit. experiences and personal networks.. Effects of the Bologna Process. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. The introduction to the Bologna Process has been published in Chinese by Prof. Yang (2007a). The author stated that the European Union (EU) has promoted the quality control of higher education. The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) has been established in 2004. In year 2006-2007, two thirds of states in the Bologna Process have at least one independent quality assurance organization. Almost all of these organizations have internal and external evaluation functions. Prof. Yang (2007b) also presented that several declaration and communiqués have been signed after the Bologna Declaration. For example, there are the Prague Declaration in 2001, The Berlin Communiqué in 2003, the Bergen 20.

(25) Communiqué in 2005, and the London Communiqué in 2007. These meetings continue to operate the stocktaking for the members in the Bologna Process. It is concluded that learning from the Bologna Process, Taiwan should also establish a quality assurance system to meet up the trend of globalization Fig. 2.2 shows the 2009 stocktaking report of the Bologna Process in Europe by considering three indicators: implementation of the first and second cycle system, access to the next cycle, and the establishment of national qualification framework (Bologna Process stocktaking report 2009). It is observed that most European countries have participated in the integrated degree system, but there is still a large space to establish the quality control mechanism.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Fig. 2.2. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Number and percentage of countries for the three indicators in the degree system of the Bologna Process. One recent paper (Konjic and Sarajlic, 2007) from the Electrical Engineering 21.

(26) Department in Bosnia discussed the process that changed from the traditional education system to meet the requirements of the Bologna Process. Its faculty has started the undergraduate program from 2003/2004 that is in complete accordance with the Bologna Declaration. It spent two years hard work on the revision, preparation and adjustment of its undergraduate curriculum to meet the European Standards and establish its ECTS (European Credits Transfer and Accumulation System) system. The author stated that this technical sciences university of 14,000 undergraduates and 1500 postgraduate students will fully apply the Bologna Declaration in year 2010. It will also adopt the international accreditation and. 治政 verification of the teaching process. The university has 大endeavored to cooperate with 立 foreign institutions on the following items: (1) transfer of knowledge, (2) participation ‧ 國. 學. of international projects, (3) mobility of students and teaching staff. For example, this. ‧. university has worked together with Netherlands to form a Summer University. This. io. sit. y. Nat. initiated a good environment for students in the Eastern Europe and further regions.. n. al. er. Konjic and Sarajlic (2007) listed an example for the undergraduate and graduate. Ch. i Un. v. course structures of Power Engineering (a sub-course in the Faculty of Electrical. engchi. Engineering) that are in accordance with ECTS. The structure presented a 4+1 scheme leading to a Master degree. The first two years are common courses for all sub-regions in Electrical Engineering. Each semester of the first two years has 30 credits (obligatory plus additional credits) including lectures, seminar exercises and practical exercises. The third and fourth years are specific courses for the sub-area, also with 30 credits per semester. Table 2.2 lists an example of the fourth year undergraduate program.. Even for the fourth year of the undergraduate program, there are still 30 credits. 22.

(27) for both semesters. Many courses have seminar and practical exercises. The list of courses in Table 2.2 gives a warning message to the present system in Taiwan. We have much less obligatory courses in the senior year for all universities. This may result in insufficient graduate attributes in comparison to the European system. Konjic and Sarajlic (2007) expressed that their post graduate study has been changed to one year that included 30 credits of coursed with ECTS and 30 credits for the preparation of Master’s thesis. This is a reform from the old system that consisted of 2 years of lectures plus 1 to 3 years for passing exams and preparing a Master’s thesis.. 立. 政治大. Table 2.2 A typical fourth year undergraduate program under Bologna Process. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 23. i Un. v.

(28) Konjic and Sarajlic (2007) stated that the new postgraduate system has been cooperated with European partners. The financial support from European Union provided professors and students with mobility, especially important for the weak regional partners. The University of Tuzla has a Quality Implementation Steering Committee to monitor and evaluate the quality of postgraduate studies. There are five members in this committee including two from European Union (Greece and Portugal) and the other three from regional partner institutions.. Konjic and Sarajlic (2007) stated that there existed weakness for the universities. 政治大. to fit into the Bologna process, “the absence of state law on higher education makes. 立. things very difficult”. This should be the same situation for all countries that are. ‧ 國. 學. adopting the globalization systems.. ‧. The Bologna Process is also the European Union’s challenge for the. Nat. sit. y. globalized world, as presented by Contractor (2009). It offers a competition to China,. n. al. er. io. India, United States and Australia both academically and financially. Under the. i Un. v. common structure of higher education and comparable degree, the Bologna Process. Ch. engchi. could attract overseas students and provide mobility of teachers and students.. Contractor (2009) stated that the Bologna Process is, however, an enormous task. Each institution will protect its “back yard”. There are also four major critical issues as stated by the author for the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) to become a reality: (1) immigration laws, (2) inflexible curriculum, (3) insufficient financial incentives, (4) rigid pension arrangements. Although the EHEA is expected to be completed in 2010, the author expressed that “leaps of faith are not easy”, and there is a long road to Bologna.. 24.

(29) Students in Europe, for example in Barcelona, Spain, had demonstrations for anti-Bologna. They are against the process for the privatization of universities, and the devaluation of degrees. Paul Bennett, a vice-president of the Pan-European structure of Educational International stated that other regional relationships will follow the Bologna Process. The Bologna Process posed a threat to US and developing Asia. This is what Bennett said: “higher education systems elsewhere are responding”.. 2.2 The accreditation systems for quality assurance. 2.2-1. 政治大. Importance of quality assurance. 立. Following the formation of educational networks in the world, the equivalence of. ‧ 國. 學. educational standards and quality assurance become important issues for mutual. ‧. recognition of degrees. This goal can be reached by the formation of accreditation. sit. y. Nat. systems. The International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) Policy Forum. io. er. was supported by the United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. al. (UNESCO). In the information note of its 2005 policy forum, the background of. n. iv n C establishing a regional integration h process for educational e n g c h i U accreditation was declared (Information notes, IIEP, 2005).. In this information note, it was pointed out that higher education is expanding for both the developed and developing countries. For the developed countries, higher education provided part of the national innovation system. On the other hand, the social demand for higher education in developing countries is very high. Since the state cannot have enough financial capacity for higher education expansion, liberation of public sector in many countries resulted in rapid growth in the private provision particularly in the developing countries. Higher education is changing into a private 25.

(30) good rather than the benefits of the whole society. An external quality assurance (EQA) system for higher education is essentially required.. It was stated that the effect of globalization was enhanced by the information and communication technology. Transnational education, distance learning and mobility of professionals are becoming more and more popular. The concern of compatibility of educational standards and the international market for accreditation services are emerging.. 政治大 Process. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) under the World 立. There was a creation of European Higher Education Area through the Bologna. ‧ 國. 學. Trade Organization (WTO) was developing another international market for higher education services. From these actions in recent years, it is clearly observed that the. ‧. design of an EQA system is actually needed for an international good practice. This. Nat. er. io. sit. y. design should also be in line with the policy of each state in a regional network.. al. Mok (2003) stated that the character and function of higher education in East. n. iv n C Asia countries (Hong Kong, Taiwan have been changed due to the effect h eandnChina) gchi U. of globalization and the evolution of knowledge-based economy. Under the inevitable trend of globalization, there are decline of state and territory, also the governance without government. The role of the state changed from one-way command and control to the social-political governance model. It is also transformed from a provider of welfare to the builder of market. The role of the universities acted less as critics of society, but functioned as supply of qualified manpower for market demand.. The author discussed that there are common challenges for the higher education development in the three countries: (1) Comprehensive review of education systems 26.

(31) and fundamental reforms. (2) Policies of decentralization and educational governance. (3) The marketization and privatization of higher education.. Firstly, all countries have comprehensive review systems for higher education. In Hong Kong, it is conducted by the University Grants Committee (UGC). Taiwan has reviewed the higher education since the 1990s to improve the efficiency and effectiveness. The State Education Commission (SEC) performs the guiding and monitoring for the whole sector of higher education in China.. 政治大 decentralization policy. Taking Taiwan as an example, the state control model has 立 There is a common change in the Chinese society: the adoption of a. ‧ 國. 學. been replaced by the state supervision pattern. Universities have more autonomy to operate and manage their institutions. This liberalization (song-bang), however, does. ‧. not mean the total withdraw of the state. The government is still the major provider of. Nat. sit. y. education services. In Hong Kong, the UGC also maintain a close watch over the. er. io. individual performance of institutions.. al. n. iv n C All three countries are affected tide of marketization and privatization. h ebynthe gchi U This reduces the financial burden of the state, and created market-related strategies between university sector and business sector. The multiple channels of higher education development in Taiwan enable the government to provide only 75 to 80 percent of the total national higher education budget. The rapid expansion of private higher education in Taiwan also causes the concern for assuring the quality.. 2.2-2. Different opinions on accreditation. Although accreditation system has been emphasized to assure the quality of. 27.

(32) higher education, there are still many arguments if the accreditation is really helpful for various professional fields. Discussions from business schools are taken as examples in this section. Julian and Ofori-Dankwa (2006) described the accreditation process for business schools, and discusses the disadvantages of it to the strategic decision making. Although the discussion is for business schools, their arguments are also valuable to the general accreditation processes for other academic fields.. The authors firstly introduced the three major accreditation organizations for business school: the Association for the Advancement of Collegiate Schools of. 政治大. Business (AACSB), the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs. 立. (ACBSP), and the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education. ‧ 國. 學. (IACBE). The AACSB was founded in 1916 and has more than 670 member educational institutions by late 1990s. ASBSP, founded in 1988, and IACBE, founded. ‧. in 1998, also has more than 369 and 65 members, respectively. These three agencies. y. Nat. io. sit. have different areas of emphasis. AACSB is the mostly renowned one all over the. n. al. er. world. Several Taiwanese business schools have joint its accreditation program.. Ch. i Un. v. ACBSP has a more teaching-oriented emphasis, and IACBE has put more attention on. engchi. the outcomes rather than the inputs. All three agencies require the business schools have their clearly defined education missions. The business schools have to provide supporting data to demonstrate that their curriculum, activities, modes of instruction, course offerings, research productivities and facilities can reflect their stated missions.. The authors argued that accreditation might not be good to business school for the strategic decision making, mainly because we are facing a discontinuously changing society. They ascribed the accreditation agencies to “accreditocracy” as these agencies are better suited for the continuous environment. The authors pointed. 28.

(33) out two trends for the higher education in business schools: the first trend toward turbulence, and the second toward “accreditocracy”.. The authors stated that the traditional business schools are in a stable and continuous environment. They have destabilizing factors due to the modern technologies such as internet, non-classroom distant education enrollment, and market-driven corporate universities. This is what the authors called the discontinuous and. turbulent. “accreditocracy”. environment. because. The. authors. also. blamed. the. trend. toward. the accreditation agencies require “formalization,. 政治大. documentation, hard data use and continuous improvement”.. 立. ‧ 國. 學. The authors stated that accreditation is a “formal and systematic process to develop, monitor, evaluate and revise the substance and delivery of curricula”. ‧. (AACSB, 2004). The business schools have to perform their assessments in a. Nat. sit. y. formalized structure. The authors indicated, however, that the market is highly. n. al. er. io. dynamic and turbulent. They need rapid responses and it is “likely to be inadvertently. i Un. v. curtailed by the formalized assessment processes” (Zaheer and Zaheer, 1995).. Ch. engchi. The authors discussed the second item of documentation for external accountability. This means that a written self-evaluation report and necessary supporting documentation are required from the accreditation agency. The authors indicated their doubt that the performance data collected from stakeholders might result in the customer-led of business schools. The authors gave an example that if Sony depends on the feedback from customers, the product of Walkman would not be developed. This means that “the customer doesn’t know, or couldn’t express a product that doesn’t exist” (Dreyfack, 1981). The authors hence stated that documentation would decrease the level of appropriate strategic decision making of business schools. 29.

(34) The so-called “latent” need should not be ignored. The authors introduced another example of the Wallace Company that went bankrupt by taking too much attention on documentation (Hill, 1993).. The third concern of the authors is the use of hard data. Hard data are quantifiable, numerical and objective evidences. They are generally presented by tabulation or statistical summarization. Accredited programs gathered these data from students, graduates and stakeholders as the outcome-based assessment. The authors argued that these hard data might bring negative influence on innovation in the. 政治大. discontinuous environment. They expressed that “strategic decision makers have. 立. difficulty knowing what data are, or are going to be, relevant for the future, thus. ‧ 國. 學. rendering unclear the boundary between what is signal and what is noise”. The authors claimed that soft data is important in the new and potentially unpredictable. ‧. trend (Barr et al., 1992).. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. Finally, the authors stated their opinion on the continuous improvement that is. i Un. v. one feature of all accreditation agencies. The authors stated that “accreditation. Ch. engchi. standards seek to instill significant improvement over time through continuous and cumulative, rather than episodic processes” (Kerby and Weber, 2000). In the rapidly changing and turbulent world, consistent major changes are desired by the authors.. The authors recommended that either theoretical or empirical academic researches for the accreditation process should be conducted. This conclusion is also needed for other fields than the business schools, and is in agreement with the motivation of this study.. Zammuto (2008) published a response to the paper of Julian and Ofori-Dankwa 30.

(35) (2006). Zammuto concluded that accreditation is beneficial to business schools by two major reasons: (1) the accredited institutions gained clarity about the markets they can serve and the services they can offer, (2) the accredited institutions differentiated themselves in quality from other schools, and increased their potential to attract students.. Zammuto stated the rise of accreditation agencies in the world. In the first 75 years of AACSB, it standards focused on the “inputs” such as the resources, faculty quantifications and curriculum. The AACSB accredited institutions tended to be. 政治大. larger and research-oriented schools. The other agency, ACBSP, was later founded. 立. with mission-based and more teaching-oriented accreditation standards. This is a. ‧ 國. 學. change of the “one-size-fits-all” accreditation model of the original AACSB. The AACSB finally adopted the flexible and mission-based standards in 1991. The. ‧. IACBE further changed towards the outcomes-driven direction (Roller et al., 2003).. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. Zammuto stated that the educational accreditation is similar to the diffusion of. i Un. v. ISO quality standards into various countries. He quoted the words of Guler et al.. Ch. engchi. (2002) that “Firms in country B may learn from firms in country A (ISO certified) how to make their products more attractive”, and firms in country B may feel “the risk of loosing export markets or import resources in a competing country”. Similar to the ISO certification, when one business school is accredited, the other schools would like to follow. The author takes China as an example that five business schools obtained accreditation by the end of 2006, and “over twice that number were in the accreditation pipeline”. The author made the conclusion that the mission-driven accreditation is beneficial for business schools because it “explicitly answered two questions: who are our customers and what services do we provide for them”.. 31.

(36) Romeo (2008) presented another paper to respond what Julian and Ofori-Dankwa claimed in 2006. The author stated that AACSB facilitated the strategies of business schools, and encouraged the flexibility and creativity. He also holds a contrary viewpoint that the documentation of AACSB provided values to the performance of business schools.. Romeo showed the program growth profiles for the undergraduate and MBA programs from year 2000 to 2006 according to the AACSB’s DataDirect. The data presented that four program categories (distance learning, online program, off-campus. 政治大. program, partnership program) had increasing trend. The author stated that the. 立. diversity of accredited schools cannot be possible if the accreditation inhibited. ‧ 國. 學. flexibility. The author disagreed with Julian and Ofori-Dankwa about the word “accreditocracy” that they used in 2006. He stated that “it is hard to imagine any. ‧. organization that would reward the accomplishment of major performance goal. y. Nat. io. sit. without verifiable evidence”. The accreditation doesn’t require useless paperwork as. n. al. er. so called bureaucracy. Data collection is “useful for the school’s strategic planning. Ch. i Un. v. and decision making”. The author pointed out that accreditation is a baseline for. engchi. quality control and continuous improvement. This is an important feature and should be recognized by all programs of higher education.. 2.3 Higher education evaluation in Taiwan. 2.3-1. Development of the evaluation system. The evaluation of education in Taiwan dated back to 1963 (盧緒增，1995) for elementary schools. The broad evaluation for higher education was first started in 1973 (潘慧玲，2002). At the present time, there are four types of evaluation: (1) 32.

(37) Administration evaluation, (2) Department evaluation, (3) Technical university evaluation, and (4) Technology college evaluation. (高教評鑑中心， 2008). Among these evaluations, the department evaluation is based on the spirit of approval, while the other three are based the ranking system.. The president of HEEACT, Dr. Liu stated the relationship between higher education evaluation and the policy of admission (劉維琪，2008). The first evaluation program for 4-year ordinary universities and military universities was initiated in 2006 on the basis of approval. For departments not approved by the evaluation, they. 政治大. had the second chance to improve themselves before any penalty from the Ministry of. 立. Education (MOE). The MOE, however, changed the policy on the next year that there. ‧ 國. 學. was a reduction of enrollment of new students for those departments failed in evaluation. Liu argued that the evaluation should persist in the spirit of approval, and. ‧. provide the weak departments necessary advices to improve their teaching and. y. Nat. io. sit. research quality. He suggested that well qualified universities can increase the number. n. al. er. of enrollment, and let the disqualified organizations be eliminated by the market.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Lin (林尚平，2008) discussed the orientation of higher education evaluation in Taiwan. He pointed out some contradictory choices in the process of evaluation. For example, an evaluator might have an overall grading for the institution, and then dispersed the numbers into each items in the evaluation list. The evaluator could choose the other way by adding the numbers of each examined items to yield an overall grade. Although the final number was the same, it did have differences in the evaluation standards. Another concern raised by Lin was the diversified natures of various institutions. They might be different as public or private schools, in the number of students, or in urban or rural locations. The evaluations could be conducted. 33.

(38) by different grouping, or by setting anchor points to reflect those differences.. Lin (林尚平，2008) pointed out one very important issue that was the orientation of evaluation. The first type was accreditation-oriented as was conducted by IEET or AACSB. The accredited institutions were on the substantially equivalent basis. The second form was contest-oriented as was done by the American media for the ranking of various institutions. The contest-oriented evaluation compared the amounts of input and output as the standards of ranking. The accreditation-oriented evaluation judged if the program met the proclaimed criteria. The criteria might be adjusted with the. 政治大. changes of macro environment. Lin presented a very common example of student to. 立. instructor ratio that was often an argument in evaluations. The contest-oriented. ‧ 國. 學. evaluation definitely would think that 17.8:1 was better than 18:1. Both ratios would be accepted by the accreditation-oriented evaluation if the minimum standard was. ‧. 20:1 regulated by the government. The accreditation-oriented evaluation would. y. Nat. io. sit. further judge which one is more appropriate for programs with distinguished. n. al. er. objectives. Lin stated that the trend of business management has shifted from the past. Ch. i Un. v. performance appraisal to performance management. The continuous growth of an. engchi. individual or an organization to match with the goal or objective is now more emphasized. It is the right time for the government to make a decision about the orientation of higher education evaluation. Lin’s conclusion is consistent with the statements from Liu (劉維琪，2008).. 2.3-2. Arguments from higher education evaluation. The higher education evaluation results announced by HEEACT have resulted in tremendous opposition. For example, the Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Science of National Tsing Hua University was ranked as under inspection. The major reason 34.

(39) was that this institute didn’t have 7 full time faculties as required by the Ministry of Education. The rebuttal from Tsing Hua University was very strong. The University argued that nuclear engineering was the first and specially designated department since its reactivation in Taiwan. Since the anti-nuclear movement in recent years, the department changed its name to Engineering and System Science. The graduate school remained as the old name with the same faculty in the department. It was reported by United Daily News (January 1, 2009) that the Dean of Academic Affairs of National Tsing Hua University did not accept the results, and he claimed it was HEEACT itself that really need evaluation. The previous Minister of Education, Dr.. 治政 Cheng, was also criticized by many members of the 大 Academia Sinica, owing to the 立 results of evaluation by HEEACT, when he delivered a speech there on January 19, ‧ 國. 學. 2009. Although Dr. Cheng confessed that the requirement of a fixed number of. io. sit. y. Nat. be based on the development target designated by the program.. ‧. faculties in an institution was formalism, he did not agree that the evaluation should. n. al. er. The similar situation was encountered by the Institute of Law and. Ch. i Un. v. Inter-Discipline of National Chengchi University. The evaluators criticized that this. engchi. institute didn’t have enough (eg. seven) full time faculties. They also didn’t agree with that this program had future focus on the combination of medical science and law, or engineering and law, simply because this university didn’t have colleges of medicine or engineering. There was response in newspaper (方嘉麟，2009) that the evaluations from HEEACT and the job market were totally different. This inter-disciplinary program attracted many undergraduate students from various undergraduate fields, and the special objectives of the institute were not respected by the evaluation. The chairman of this institution indicated (郭明政，2009a) that HEEACT should challenge the policy of Ministry of Education, instead of putting 35.

(40) cruel evaluation results to this innocent graduate program. He also pointed out (郭明政，2009b) that the evaluation should not count the number of academic publications listed by SCI (Science Citation Index) or SSCI (Social Science Citation Index). The journals and impact factors collected in those indexes were managed by a commercial organization. It was stated (郭明政 2009b) that the ranking of law journals by Washington and Lee University School of Law were quite different from that by SSCI. He demonstrated clearly that higher education evaluation should not judge the quality of research only by SSCI papers.. 政治大. The Editorial of Economic Daily News (經濟日報社論，2009) commented that. 立. the higher education evaluation by HEEACT protruded the careless of policy, and. ‧ 國. 學. resulted in the profound harm to the development of human resources. The origin of the recent evaluation was the bubble effect of higher education in the past ten years.. ‧. The Ministry of Education hoped to terminate unqualified programs through. y. Nat. io. sit. evaluation, although those programs were established under the national policy of. n. al. er. higher education expansion. It was stated that some private universities invited retired. Ch. i Un. v. distinguished scholars in order to strengthen the structure of faculty for formality’s. engchi. sake. This editorial concluded that the neglect of diversified developments and overflowing of formalism significantly decreased the competitive potential of Taiwan’s higher education.. 2.3-3. Perspective of higher education. The Ministry of Education made an announcement on March 25, 2009 about the recognition of professional evaluation organizations for higher education (大學自我評鑑結果及國內外專業評鑑機構認可要點，2009). According to this announcement, the evaluation could be executed by the individual university itself, or by the 36.

(41) organizations recognized by the Ministry of Education. The role of HEEACT might be changed to that of CHEA (Council for Higher Education Accreditation) in the United States. CHEA is not the executer of higher education evaluation, but stands as the role of supervisor (牟宗燦，2007). The former CEO of HEEACT stated the division of labor of evaluation from the viewpoints of planning, execution and feedback control (陳振遠，2009). The HEEACT will be responsible for the planning and feedback control parts. The practical execution of evaluation will be entrusted to other commissions.. 政治大. From the literature review of the higher education evaluation in Taiwan, we can. 立. conclude as follow: (1) The evaluation is required to control the quality of education,. ‧ 國. 學. (2) The present evaluation results are broadly criticized by institutions or programs under review, (3) The HEEACT suggested to divide the labor of evaluation to. ‧. n. er. io. al. sit. Nat. announcement released by the Ministry on March 25, 2009.. y. professional organizations, (4) The national policy is becoming clearer since the. i Un. v. There are still many interesting topics that desire investigation. For example,. Ch. engchi. more opinions from the programs being reviewed should be collected and analyzed. The accreditation oriented evaluation is worthy of detail discussion. Finally, the outcomes-based evaluation, continuous improvement mechanism, and the strategy of global connection should also be studied. This research intends to analyze these topics through interview of professionals and administration leaders. The objective of this study is to supply a feasible direction to enhance the quality of higher education in Taiwan through appropriate evaluation processes.. 37.

(42) Chapter 3 Design of This Research 3.1 Structure of this research. 3.1-1. Investigation through interview. There are six models of evaluation as described by Dr. Pan（潘慧玲，2002). The first one is the objected-directed evaluation that emphasizes the formulation of objectives and the extent of achievement. The applicant should define the targets or. 政治大. objectives, find the scenarios to display the targets, collect data to compare whether. 立. the targets have been fulfilled. The second is the CIPP (context, input, process, and. ‧ 國. 學. product) model. This is the management-oriented model that provides necessary information for the decision makers. The third is the consumer-oriented product. ‧. evaluation. The purpose of the product evaluation is to supply information for. y. Nat. io. sit. consumers in selecting desired products. The fourth one is the defense-oriented. n. al. er. evaluation. The evaluators present opinions to support and against a specific subject.. Ch. i Un. v. The evaluation is a debate process and the final result is determined by an arbiter. The. engchi. fifth type is the responsive or naturalistic evaluation. This model considers the participation of the applicants and judges the evaluation scenario as a whole.. The most important model in this research is the professional comments oriented evaluation. The accreditation system is the most common one belonging to this model. Kells (1983, also translated by 王保進，2002) defined this model as: It is a voluntary process operated by a non-governmental organization. It applies the peer evaluation to examine the self-study report, and determine if the applicant has matched his objective and the standards of evaluation. The non-governmental organization has to. 38.