Higher education mobility assurance of quality and standards with reference to computing and it programes heme quality assurance in training it specialists in he

This paper concerns the establishment of equivalences iii quality assurance merhods, curncula and standards across higher educational institutions, considering different countries and cultures. and with a particular focus on computing and IT. The evidence underpinning this study is taken from the experience of over hyenty-five years of exchange and partnership activities, bet\veen Coventry University, UK and many EU and international partner institutions, and draws on many pubhshed giiidelines and recommendations from both UK and EU committees and woiking groups. Much research to date ha s concentrated on high level aspects of EU QA standards, but this paper focuses on practicalities and differences in QA systems at the programine or faculty level. The English HE QA framework is used in this study as a basis to explore some of the systems and procedures that could be adopted for specifying. assessing and assuring standards and levels of achievement. There is specific regard for matters associated with programines in computing and IT. Some of the major cultural and educational differences benveen national HE QA policies are discussed. in order to understand variations that can mfluence quality systems and standards. The subsequent analysis reveals some typical quality issues for partnerships. The paper concludes with a proposal and starting point for further collaborative research.