Quality management for the postsecondary classroom.

Abstract

This study examines faculty views regarding the adaptability of industrially-based quality management principles to the college classroom. A set of conceptually similar principles of quality management and of classroom teaching and learning were first derived from the literature in both fields. Thirty-two faculty from two institutions and four academic disciplines were asked in semi-structured interviews to discuss the translation and application to teaching and learning of nine principles of quality management. Based on practices and adapted language that they suggested, the tentative list of literature-based principles for teaching and learning was refined. These principles were then integrated into a quality management process model for the college classroom. The set of adapted teaching and learning principles fit into a three-phase quality management process model. The three phases are: organization, planning and communication; teaching methods and learning environments; and process improvement. This three-phase model corresponds to quality improvement processes commonly presented in the quality literature. Course planning, active learning, and classroom research are emphasized in this model. Faculty were able to translate most of the quality management principles to the classroom setting either directly or by suggesting language adaptations. In addition to identifying congruent principles between the two settings, faculty members underscored differences between education and industry, not only in language but in basic assumptions and emphases. Attitudes toward variation and diversity emerged as the most significant issue separating industrial and educational efforts to improve quality. Faculty felt that diversity (variation) was desired in the classroom, not something to be controlled as is emphasized in the quality literature. Views regarding student participation and self-regulated learning varied among faculty in different disciplines. Faculty in the two institutions tended to respond similarly to questions about the applicability to the classroom of quality management principles. This study suggests that quality principles from industry are adaptable and potentially useful for improving teaching and learning as long as these principles are carefully adapted to the college setting. A second and expanded study is necessary to refine the details of the teaching and learning principles found in this study to be conceptually similar to industrial quality management.