A Network Approach to Curriculum Quality Assessment

This paper argues for an alternative approach to quality assurance in New Zealand universities that locates evaluation not with external auditors but with members of the teaching team. In the process, aspects of network theories are introduced as the basis for an approach to quality assurance. From this, the concept of networks is extended to curriculum design and implementation by communities of practice and a critically reflective model of curriculum and programme quality assessment situated within communities of practice is proposed. An example of a teaching team in a university science context is provided that highlights the characteristics of communities of practice and the tensions associated with programme quality assessment. It is suggested that the adoption of the proposed quality assurance approach would result in recommendations that are more likely to be positively implemented than current methods and hence lead to quality enhancement more rapidly.