Back

Course Assessment

Course Assessment

1. Designing the Course Syllabus:
1.1- Process and Role: the reviewing and approving the course syllabus consists of some phases:
• The faculty member has to present the first draft of the course syllabus within the departmental meeting before  starting the semester. This is to check the following points:
  1. How the course contents were linked between prerequisite and corequisite courses.
  2. How the Course learning outcomes (Clos) were designed based on the course level in the academic flowchart and link them with Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) provided by the Accreditation Agencies.
  3. How the student-Centered Approach are merged with the teaching and learning process.
  4. How Learning-by-doing are applied in all the courses.
  5. How different type of Assessments will be applied based on the nature of the course.
• The chainman and QA will review the first draft, using the appropriate checklist and approve it.
• Then the approved version of the course syllabus will be uploaded to the students in Google Classroom.
• The first class will be an orientation session regrading the course syllabus in order to provide a clear explanation for the students about the course from the beginning of the semester.

The follow-up process will be conducted by QA in collaboration with the department chairs.

For the new faculty members, the QA has an training session for TWO complete days which will cover the following:
  • KUST Policy and Regulation (Flowchart, Course Syllabus, CAD and FP).
  • Designing course syllabus. (With presentation session by participants)
  • Innovative Pedagogy (Traditional Methods of Teaching VS Modern Teaching methods). Blended Learning Methods.
  • Presentation will be conducted by the participants using modern teaching methods.
2. Managing the Course Syllabus:
2.1 The Office of Quality Assurance and Accreditation (OQAA) will check the fulfillment of courses syllabi periodically by reviewing:
• Availability of the softcopy in Google Classroom,
• Covering materials according to the Study Plan,
• Status of achieving learning outcomes,
• Quality of Assessment tools in achieving learning outcomes
2.2 Covering materials according to the Study Plan: In addition to the availability of the course material  on Google Classroom, the OQAA is verifying if the material was covered according to the study plan submitted in the course syllabus. The following indicators are used:
• The gap in covering the material
• The gap in assessment tools
2.3  Status of the Course Outcomes:
The QA is following the course learning outcomes theoretical achievement through the semester by following up the CLOs Timeline via considering each activity or Assessment Tools done each week verse the coverage of CLOs.
2.4  The QA will take samples from each course’s coverage of the materials and assessment tools verse the number of CLOs that are covered so far. In case of weakness in any course; the department plus the instructor will be informed immediately in order to submit the recovery plan.
2.5 The Final Exam questions will be checked in terms of quality and format of the questions verse the coverage of CLOs. In case if the questions do not meet the QA requirement, the revision and corrective action by the instructor and the department is required.
3. Students’ Surveys Feedback:
The QA Office at Komar University (KUST) will mainly conduct Two types of survey as following:
  1. Students’ Feedback Survey on Academy
  2. Students’ Feedback Survey on KUST services

Both surveys are designed based on the requirement of ISO 9001 for Quality Management.

  1. Students’ Feedback Survey on Academy
• The QA will conduct the survey in Two different ways:
– There will be an Online survey; one by the mid of each semester. This will inform the QA about the complains from the students regarding any course. The result will be shared with the instructor of the course and the department to take the necessary action. This will be optional for the students to answer. Another Online survey will be conducted by the end of the semester and will be mandatory for all the students via “Mykomar” and they have to submit the feedback in order to see the result of final exam.
– Another one will be a random (Paper-based survey) which will be distributed only with the courses that students complain a lot. this will be mandatory for the specific courses with high level of complaining.
• The questions for the student’s feedback for Academy mainly focusing on the following areas:
1- Teaching Content (TC),
2- Teaching Methods (TM) and
3- Teaching Effect (TE)

 

Student Feedback Rubric/ 2021-2022

                Category Points QA Criteria/KUST
  A* 4.5 – 5 Very satisfactory
A 4 – 4.4 Satisfactory
B 3 – 3.9 Neutral
C 2 – 2.9 Concern
D 1 – 1.9 Weakness

 

The result of each survey will be shared with the top management and head of the relevant units at KUST for making necessary actions.
The Office of Quality Assurance will follow-up the teaching and learning process via different mechanisms:
1. Class visit check.
2. Google Classroom Check.
3. Random meetings with the students from different departments.
4. Random meetings with the faculty members from different departments.
5. Faculty Performance Evaluation.
6. Checking different samples of the assessment tools including Final Exam papers.

Faculty Assessment

Continuous Academic Development (CAD)

Continuous Academic Development is designed by ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MHESR) in KRI for encouraging the faculty members to enhance their academic performance at the University level via their contribution in escalating the quality of education, doing more scientific research for solving the current local problems and publishing it in the local and international journals, Conferences, Workshops and so on.
Komar University is also following this method via having an online platform where the full-time faculty members can access and add their activities within one Academic year.

Faculty Portfolio (FP)

Faculty Portfolio (FP)

In this part, faculty members will fill-up the form which has been provided by MHESR and have an online platform at KUST for each full-time faculty members. Hence, the instructors  states his/her philosophy and vision of teaching and academic lifetime. They also add all the Academic achievements within one Academic year.

KUST already designed a form for evaluating the FP beside the requirements mentioned by MHESR. This rubric will be used for evaluating the faculty member’s performance per each semester and the average will be taken for one Academic year later.

Overall Assessment Criteria

Program Assessment

Program Assessment

Program Assessment

All the programs at KUST already been studied and designed based on the American Accreditation Agencies requirement. Despite all the challenges, KUST for the last Ten years as a successful example of a private institution in Iraq attempted to prepare its graduates up to the International level. The evidence for that are those graduates whom already joint reputable International Universities in USA, Canada, UK, France, Poland, Hungary and others to compete at the International level and successfully finishing their postgrad studies.

There are some academic principles that KUST follows to enhance the quality of education. The first principle is that KUST has depended on some international criteria in designing its academic programs. Some such criteria are: ABET (www.abet.org), which is set by Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology for degrees in Engineering; AACSB (www.aacsb.edu), which is set by Association to Advance Collegiate and Schools of Business for degrees in Business; NAACLS (www.naacls.org), which is set by Unique Standards Medical Laboratory Scientist for degrees in Medical Laboratory Science; ACPE (www.acpe-accredit.org), which is set by Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education for degrees in Pharmacy; and CODA (www.ada.org), which is set by the Commission on Dental Accreditation for degrees in Dentistry. These accreditation agencies require linking course learning outcomes (CLOs) to program outcomes (PLOs) and then to the university learning outcomes (ULOs). The faculty members and chairpersons should study the link between Course Assessment tools with Course learning outcomes and link them to the Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs).

The second principle is that the academic departments and the Office of Quality Assurance and Accreditation (OQAA) conduct activities and surveys throughout the year to assess and evaluate the learning progress of students. These surveys and assessments are formative and used to make necessary changes to ascertain the quality of the educational process.

The steps for evaluating the Program Assessment are well-explained inside the Academic Catalog at KUST/ Quality Assurance section.

ISO 9001

ISO 9001

KUST commits itself to the highest standards of quality by striving to meet its Student’s expectations in its services. The employees of KUST share a common goal of identifying and continually meeting student requirements and exceeding the student’s standards of quality in service through a process of continuous quality improvement.

KUST appreciates that this commitment to quality requires investment in quality and improvement. This investment reflects our commitment to maintaining our position as a leader in private universities. Everything we do , from choosing the high educational standards , and qualified staff – aims at achieving the Gold standard of Excellence.
Policy
Komar University of Science and Technology strives to become a leading higher education institution in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq by contributing to the development of the Region and the nation. As a private non-governmental institution, the university seeks to serve the community through the application of advanced.
It is the permanent aim of Komar University to provide services that consistently meet the needs and expectations of its Students, interested parties and the applicable statutory and regulatory requirements and other requirements, if any, determined from time to time.
This aim will be achieved through effective implementation of a management system compliant with ISO 9001:2015.
We undertake to define, establish and achieve targets and objectives periodically in accordance with the requirements, and concerns of all interested parties. We will integrate quality objectives with the our objectives and day to day requirements of our processes.
The management system and its processes will be systematically reviewed to identify opportunities for improving its effectiveness and enhancing our students satisfaction
This policy is promoted and implemented within the University through its documented quality management system and the training of its staff in its implementation.
KUST is passionate about quality. Quality is achieved through the comprehensive and simultaneous improvement of the following:

Student
 Identifying and continually meeting student’s expectations and agreed requirements.
 Following through efficient an constantly updated processes , aimed towards satisfying our most valuable asset- the customer.

Education

Having a competitive edge through the continuous development and improvement of the educational environment. (As a reference, Komar University Quality Assurance Handbook & Student Handbook are used)

Human Resources ( Personnel)
 Training and qualifying personnel , making them consciously aware of all quality related issues.
 Providing a challenging working environment aimed at motivating people and encouraging new skills and practices. (As a reference, Komar University Staff Handbook is used)

Continuous improvement
Measuring , reviewing and improving the above mentioned targeted performances. (As a reference, KUST – Quality Management System – Procedures will be use)

 

 

Objectives:

KUST has established the Quality Manual in order to meet the following objectives:
1. To raise standards in Quality.
2. To provide/meet continuing education requirements for all the Staff as per accreditation requirements.
3. To decrease staff turnover and maintain stable, qualified and committed team of competent staff.
4. To reduce the number of customer complaints detected for each Units to the minimum as per benchmarking.
5. To prepare and implant local and international standards of excellence as per relevant accrediting agency ( ISO 15189)

-