Training on Internal Quality Assurance (TrainIQA) in Southeast Asia 2025
TrainIQA is part of the DIES programme (Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies) which aims at strengthening higher education management structures in developing countries. DIES is jointly coordinated by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) and supported by funds of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
TrainIQA Course Background and Objectives
Higher education systems in Southeast Asia are characterised by dynamic changes in recent years. These changes relate in particular to an increasing demand for educational services and increasing student enrolment rates. Such developments are a major challenge for maintaining high quality standards in academic education and effective internal and external quality assurance (QA) systems are needed in order to create trust and transparency for higher education stakeholders. This holds true not only for the national level but also for the ASEAN region as a whole. In view of the ASEAN integration process, regional QA plays a crucial role in the regionalisation and internationalisation of higher education in ASEAN and beyond. This is especially important with regard to the comparability of student performance and degrees, as well as the promotion of mobility of students and academics between different ASEAN countries. Against this background, the TrainIQA course not only strengthens national capacities in the field of QA, it also promotes exchange and networking among higher education institutions (HEIs) and various stakeholders at regional level.
At the same time, the course offers the opportunity for exchange and dialogue both within the ASEAN region and between European and Southeast Asian partners. More specifically, TrainIQA aims at preparing QA managers (see course target group below) to become multipliers in the field of internal quality assurance (IQA) at their home institutions as well as within their countries. Leadership and management topics are combined in a holistic way in order to strengthen the structural development of higher education institutions (HEI) and to support them in their endeavour to build up systematic QA structures and processes. Therefore, effective QA structures, the implementation of QA tools and procedures, curriculum design and revision, databased information management and change management are key topics of the course.
The course offers the opportunity for exchange and dialogue both within the ASEAN region and between European and Southeast Asian partners and institutions.
Content and Methodology of the Training
TrainIQA combines leadership and management topics in a comprehensive way in order to strengthen the structural development of HEIs and to support the trainees in their endeavour to build up systematic QA structures and processes. The course consists of five different modules. Each module has accompanying self-study materials in the form of a course textbook1 and online materials.
The topics of the modules are:
- Module 1: Designing Effective Quality Management Systems
- Module 2: Tools and Procedures for Quality Assurance
- Module 3: Quality Assurance of Teaching and Learning
- Module 4: Information Management
- Module 5: Quality Management and its Linkages to Higher Education Management
TrainIQA is delivered in a blended-learning format. All topics of the different modules will be discussed during three inter-connected workshops, which shall be held in the ASEAN region, Germany and online.
The training will be hands-on with a strong practical focus. The workshops will include mixed and interactive methods such as presentations by experts, peer-learning among the participants, and case studies. Individual feedback and mentoring will also be provided.
The course teaching concept is based on a team-teaching approach. The trainer teams will consist of Southeast Asian and European QA experts. Further, the course is largely based on the exchange of QA experiences among participants. Peer-learning in small working groups and individual feedback provided by mentors are therefore important didactical elements of the training.
All training activities are supported via an online learning platform, which will provide infrastructure for online phases, enable communication with trainers, and enhance participant exchange.
After completion of the course, the participants are expected to be able to…
- understand theoretical concepts of quality, QA and quality enhancement as well as quality culture in HEI and evaluate them according to the different visions and missions of HEIs,
- design and carry out questionnaires and evaluations scientifically and to manage data collection an analysis processes effectively,
- apply appropriate techniques and scientific methods to reflect upon the results of quality assurance and to establish a quality loop with follow-up-processes on all levels of a HEI,
- address the requirements of quality assurance of study programmes and their revision, including the linkage to external quality assurance,
- recognise and evaluate cross connections between quality development, staff development and organisational development,
- formulate ideas and strategies about how quality culture can be developed at the institutional level,
- develop and organize a detailed project action plan with clear objectives and timelines.
Institutional Change Projects
All participants of the training are expected to develop and implement an institutional change project during the training in order to put theory into practice with the help of a project action plan. The PAP is a project management tool and helps in planning and documenting the projects. An introduction to project management and tools such as the PAP will be an integrative part of the training starting in the initial online-phase. The projects should be aligned with the bigger picture of the institution (in line with the own context and needs). During the entire timeframe of the training, participants receive coaching and mentoring by experts from Southeast Asia and Europe. The trainees’ superiors, e.g. the Vice-Presidents (VPs) / Deputy Vice Chancellors (DVCs) in charge of QA, are expected to support their team in carrying out their projects.
Applicants must hand in a draft project proposal, which they are asked to describe according to a template (see Annex 1). The topics of the projects can vary, as long as they are connected to the field of quality assurance and QA systems at the own institution. Projects can be proposed jointly by two or more universities (i.e. networks/benchmarking etc.). The projects should be realistically planned and be implemented within the period of the training (approx. 9 months) based on defined milestones to be reached until the final conference.
