Design of a university course quality by Teaching Experiments and Student Feedback (TESF)

Abstract

Quality of the academic system must be constantly monitored, especially under conditions of growing competition and limited resources. Those who are interested in quality, doing research and teaching on it, should ensure quality of the processes for which they are responsible. Teaching is one of the primary services offered by a university. For it, all fundamental principles of Total Quality Management (TQM) must be valid. In this article the authors propose a methodology for designing the quality of a university course, considered as a basic service of a complex educational system. The methodology is based on the concurrent use of teaching experiments performed by a teacher, and the SERVQUAL model for the evaluation of student feedback. Such methodology can be adopted in any educational context. It is a useful tool for continuous course improvement. The article presents the application of the methodology in two consecutive editions of a statistics course at the University of Palermo, Italy.