Quality assurance in Latin America: current situation and future challenges

Abstract

Quality assurance processes have developed in Latin America since the beginning of the 1990s, trying to deal with the changes in higher education. This article is organized from two main perspectives: the first is mostly descriptive, and it focuses first on a brief outline of structural changes, that impact on the features of higher education in the region; the response from Latin America, in terms of national systems and subregional and regional arrangements; and then on the perceived effects of the implementation of quality assurance mechanisms on higher education institutions. Based on that information, the second part has a prospective approach: it identifies some of the main challenges, that have to do with the need not to do 'more of the same' but rather, to develop a second generation of quality assurance processes, and makes suggestions about possible actions for policy makers, higher education institutions and quality assurance agencies.

Towards learning analytics adoption: A mixed methods study of data‐related practices and policies in Latin American universities

“…These students, who were previously underrepresented, constitute a critical piece for greater quality and equity of higher education systems. To ensure high‐quality programmes to all students, governmental agencies have implemented or improved quality assurance mechanisms throughout the region (Lemaitre, 2017). For example, Perú and Ecuador have recently proposed new higher education laws, while Chile and Colombia have reformed their quality assurance systems (Ferreyra et al ., 2017).…”

“…This strong emphasis on quality assurance in past years has recently become an opportunity for LA adoption in LATAM universities. First, quality assurances mechanisms have highlighted the importance of universities' teaching role, giving greater relevance to quality criteria associated with the improvement of T&L (Lemaitre, 2017). Second, universities have invested significant efforts in assessing learning outcomes to comply with accountability demands, besides collecting information to monitor graduate performance (Fischman & Ott, 2018).…”

“…As a consequence, most universities have strengthened their institutional capacity for collecting and analysing educational data for responding to the quality demands (Ferreyra et al ., 2017). This new capacity has not only increased the availability of information about students' progress, but has also raised awareness about the importance of improving curricular and teaching practices based on educational evidence (Lemaitre, 2017).…”

“…However, LATAM universities still need to scale up their capacity before adopting LA at an institutional level. First, they need to install valid and reliable information systems to integrate data that are currently stored and managed separately (Lemaitre, 2017). Second, they need to understand stakeholders' perspectives regarding data protection and privacy, besides implementing institutional policies in accordance with constitutional rights or regulations that are currently being revised in light of the GDPR (Cobo & Aguerrebere, 2018; Villan, 2019).…”

“…However, LATAM institutions interested in adopting LA services have to deal with several challenges related to the use of educational data (Alexander et al ., 2019). First, there is a limited number of LA researchers and LA initiatives in the region (Cobo & Aguerrebere, 2018; Lemos dos Santos, Cechinel, Carvalho Nunes & Ochoa, 2017), so institutions do not usually have data experts who know how to use LA or managers and teaching staff with data analysis and interpretation skills (Fischman & Ott, 2018; Lemaitre, 2017). Second, LATAM lacks regional policies such as the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to ensure procedures of data protection in institutions (Cobo & Aguerrebere, 2018).…”