Coordinator
Ettore Felisatti
Description
The Evaluation assessment and quality at University Observatory is established within the SIRD Scientific Board with the aim of studying, investigating and improving the complex and wide field of evaluation and accreditation in Higher Education. First of all, the observatory is intended to respond to the general pedagogical need to develop a deep understanding of the key elements that nowadays concern the teaching evaluation as well as training services and systems evaluation at higher education level, offering a concrete support to SIRD Scientific Board in its wide social, political and institutional mission. Secondly, the observatory aims at strengthening the active role of SIRD in the dialogue on major topics and relevant issues with pedagogical scientific associations and, more generally, with the educational world as well as national and international organizations most active in the field of evaluation. Specifically, in relation to the institutional context and to the university representative authorities, the Observatory will contribute to the monitoring of political and legislative trends. In this direction, it is called to promote and develop opportunities and pathways for reflection and constructive debate, able to support and dialogue with institutional initiatives, offering a dialogical and hermeneutical contribution. This dialogic approach will aim at highlighting the impact and effectiveness of choices made in this field, and at helping to prepare possible developments in a hopefully shared way.
In the Observatory, research will play a central role, because, on one hand, it contributes to establish scientifically validated knowledge, and, on the other hand, it contrasts detrimental ideological positions. For this reason, research will be fostered in all its different forms (evidence-based, qualitative, mix-method …) and strengthened as much as possible by experimentations in the field.
The main interest developed by the Observatory concerns the evaluation of / in the university context – today highly connected to the activities related to AVA procedures for the programs accreditation required by ANVUR -; the evaluation is intended as a strategic device to support innovation and improvement, to raise the quality of academic institutions as well as education and training systems, to enhance and appraise the professionalism and skills of individual academics and professional communities.
The Evaluation in University Observatory, as a tool available for SIRD Scientific Board, will promote research, preparation of reports and dossiers, organization of debates, conferences and seminars, development of projects, launching and monitoring of experiences and good practices.
Research fields
- Accreditation in the university system and the impact of AVA system towards the quality enhancement of teaching and training services.
- Evaluative strategies and models in the balance between internal and external evaluation in Universities.
- Evaluation in teaching-learning processes and monitoring of learning outcomes at the end of study programs.
- Educational development and assessment/self-assessment of academics’ teaching competences and systemic approaches to qualify teaching professionalism.
- Evaluation of teaching and research in the staff recruitment systems.
Team
The Observatory team consists of the following members: Cristina Coggi, Giovanna Del Gobbo, Antonella Nuzzaci, Luca Refrigeri, Anna Serbati, Rosanna Tammaro.