Teaching assessment handbooks
Introduction and timeline
Since 2003, AQU Catalunya has been working together with the Catalan public and private universities to develop handbooks for the assessment of merits in teaching. These handbooks are the formal and consensual documents that include the universities' teaching assessment policy. These documents specify the methodology, agents, instruments and purposes of teaching assessment. The universities establish their assessment model and the Agency certifies that the teaching assessment model is applied in accordance with their criteria.
The assessment of the teaching activity has been one of the Agency's priorities. Thus, in 2002, together with the Interuniversity Council of Catalonia and the Catalan public universities, the “experimental stage” began, in which the shared criteria and benchmarks were established so that the universities could be provided with assessment handbooks. This was a pioneering programme throughout Spain.
Subsequently, the programme evolved and in 2007, the Agency signed a collaboration agreement with the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA) for the implementation of the DOCENTIA programme, created to support universities across the state in designing their own mechanisms to manage the quality of teaching and promote their own development and recognition. That is, to provide a frame of reference, a model and procedures for addressing the teaching assessment that takes place in universities.
Thus, during the “implementation stage” the universities revised their teaching assessment handbooks, which were later certified by AQU Catalunya within the framework of the DOCENTIA programme. During this stage all Catalan universities actively participated in the programme. In 2009, the first accreditation of teaching assessment handbooks was carried out. From that moment on, every five years the AQU promotes accreditation renewal.
It is, therefore, an established and fully consolidated programme.
Aim and phases of the programme
AQU Catalunya accredits the teaching assessment handbooks of universities that voluntarily request it. The aim of the programme is to help design mechanisms that contribute to the improvement of the teaching activity of teachers. In the case of the Catalan public universities, teaching assessment handbooks allow for teaching assessment for the remuneration purposes provided for in Decree 405/2006, of 24 October.
The teacher assessment support programme consists of four phases:
- the design phase in which the institution prepares its handbook proposal;
- the assessment or verification phase of the designs in which the agency validates the handbook proposal;
- the implementation phase in which two follow-ups of the teaching assessment procedure set out in the teaching assessment handbooks are carried out;
- the accreditation phase. This accreditation is valid for 5 years, at the end of which the renewal procedure must be initiated.
Programme status
Currently, the status of the teaching assessment handbooks programme in Catalan universities is as follows:
University | Status | Handbook | EUC Reports |
---|---|---|---|
Universitat de Barcelona | Model accredited | Handbook | Universitat de Barcelona's reports |
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona | Model accredited | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona's reports | |
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya | Model accredited | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya's reports | |
Universitat Pompeu Fabra | Model accredited | Universitat Pompeu Fabra's reports | |
Universitat de Lleida | Model accredited | Universitat de Lleida's reports | |
Universitat de Girona | Model accredited | Universitat de Girona's reports | |
Universitat Rovira i Virgili | Model accredited | Universitat Rovira i Virgili's reports | |
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya | Monitoring prior to certification | Universitat Oberta de Catalunya's reports | |
Universitat Ramon Llull | Model validated | Universitat Ramon Llull's reports | |
Universitat de Vic - Universitat Central de Catalunya | Model accredited | Universitat de Vic - Universitat Central de Catalunya's reports | |
Universitat Internacional de Catalunya | Model accredited | Universitat Internacional de Catalunya's reports | |
Universitat Abat Oliba CEU | Monitoring prior to certification | Universitat Abat Oliba CEU's reports |
Submission of applications for accreditation
AQU Catalunya, in coordination with Catalan universities, establishes the periods for accreditation or renewal of the accreditation of teaching handbooks, depending on the needs and deadlines agreed.
Within the established deadlines, Catalan universities, public and private, may request the accreditation or renewal of the accreditation of teaching assessment handbooks by means of a request from the rector addressed to the president of the Specific Commission for the Assessment of the Teaching and Management Activity of the Agency for the Quality of the University System of Catalonia.
This application must be submitted through the Catalan Administrations Extranet, the EACAT, together with the required documentation stating the date and the body that approved it.
Regarding the accreditation phase, the next assessment period is as follows:
- The accreditation of the teaching assessment handbooks of the following universities is to be renewed in 2027: University of Barcelona, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Pompeu Fabra University, University of Lleida, University of Girona and Rovira i Virgili University.
- In 2028, it is planned to renew the accreditation of the teaching assessment handbooks of the following universities: Ramon Llull University and International University of Catalonia.
For universities that are in the stages prior to the final phase of accreditation (verification, monitoring, etc.) the Agency will establish the timetable in coordination with the participating universities.
The accreditation procedure
The phases of the accreditation procedure or the renewal of the accreditation are:
- Internal phase: preparation of a self-assessment report, which must be approved by the competent body of the university, on the application of the teaching assessment handbook and its results.
- External phase: external visit by a review commission appointed by AQU Catalunya that will analyse the self-assessment report, the accreditation reports, the proposal, if any, of a new handbook, and the public information at the university. The Commission will hold interviews with the main agents involved in the teaching assessment procedure and will issue a report with the results of its analysis.
- Accreditation or renewal of the accreditation phase: from the final assessment report prepared by the external review committee, the Specific Commission for the Assessment of Teaching and Management Activity will accredit, if applicable, the teaching assessment model included in the handbook.
The deadline for accreditation is 6 months from the submission of the application.
The agreement adopted by the specific Commission may be the subject of an appeal to the AQU Catalunya Appeals Commission. The Resolution resolving the appeal exhausts the administrative route.
The accreditation obtained is valid for a period of 5 years.
Methodology
The methodology applied to this procedure is as follows:
- Guide to the accreditation of the teaching assessment procedure set out in the teaching assessment handbooks. Internal assessment stage (1st edition, 2008)
- Guide to the accreditation of the teaching assessment procedure set out in the teaching assessment handbooks. External review phase (2nd edition, 2014)
Reference and regulatory documents
The reference documents are as follows:
- DOCENTIA Support Programme for the assessment of the quality of the Teaching Activity of university teachers (2021).
- Guidelines for the design and implementation of an institutional model for assessing the teaching competence of academic staff at public universities in Catalonia (2007)
- Minimum standards for the assessment of teaching handbooks
- CEMAI Agreement 2015
The regulations that apply to this procedure are:
- RESOLUCIÓ REU/3294/2023, of 27 September, publicising the renewal of accreditation of teaching assessment handbooks of the Uni versitat Ramon Llull i la Universitat Internacional deCatalu nya
- RESOLUTION REU/3573/2021, of 22 November, publicising the renewal of accreditation of teaching assessment handbooks of the Catalan public universities
Results
The reports resulting from the accreditation procedures or the renewal of the accreditation of the teaching assessment handbooks can be consulted on the AQU Catalunya reports website by selecting the search by university and the specific university to be consulted.
EUC Reports, see the assessment reports on degrees, centres and universities in the Catalan university system issued by AQU Catalunya.