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Tracer Studies and Curriculum Design – a fruitful alliance
Petra Pistor, M.A. | Dr. Sylvia Ruschin
Centre for Higher Education Development and Quality Enhancement (CHEDQE), University of Duisburg-Essen
3rd East African Quality Assurance Forum, May 13th – 17th Kigali, Rwanda
Graduate surveys help us to ...
evaluate the employability of our graduates (Did our graduates find an
adequate job?)
get to know the demands of the job market (Which competences do they need
in their current job?)
collect information for the improvement of our study programmes (Which
contents and conditions of study did support the development of these
competences?)
Objectives and key questions
20.06.2013 www.uni-due.de/en
JOB
Alignment of concept and practice
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concept mapping
questionnaire design
data analysis
!
Questions to ask and decisions to take,
when developing a graduate tracer study:
PURPOSE - What do you want to do with the survey
results?
FOCUS AND SURVEY DIMENSIONS - What do you want
to know?
SAMPLE - Whom do you want to ask?
TECHNICAL APPROACH - How do you want to ask?
SURVEY ORGANIZATION - How can you reach your
graduates?
Concept development
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Questionnaire design
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A questionnaire fit to your purpose requires a
clear-cut concept.
Do not reinvent the wheel, but always adapt
questionnaires to your own demands / concept
of the survey.
Take time for thorough thought and discussing
with different stakeholders.
Stick to the rules of question wording and
questionnaire design to achieve high data
quality.
Have an expert on data analysis within
your team.
Go for multivariate analysis linked to the
focus of your interest and the demands of
the stakeholders, who should deal with the
data.
Validate data trough combination with
other data available at your University and
through communication with different
stakeholders.
Data analysis and dissemination of results
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Use of data
Dialogue with job market / Developmental planning
information about the whereabouts of the graduates
information about requirements of the job market
Accountabilty
information about transition rate and job-adeqancy
Career service / student counceling
valuation of transition period and process of job search
Study programme evaluation & curriculum development
retrospective assessment of study process and study
conditions
assessment of relationship between qualifications acquired
during course of study and needed in job
Closing the loop – relevance of data
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Backward Design
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Study Programme Design
What kind of
knowledge
and/or
which
qualifications
are the
students
expected to
bring along?
Admission
Requirements
Which
qualifications is
the programme
aiming at?
What are the
students able to
know and to do
after completing
the programme?
Qualifications of
study programme
Course 1
Course
2
Course 3
Course 4
Course 5
Course
7
Course 8
Course 9
Course
13
Course
11
Course
12
Course
10
Course
14
Course 6
Bachelor-
Thesis
km.bayern.de
computacenter.de
http://www.mimaj
a.de
are there any (study)
conditions harmful to
student success?
Are there „crucial“
courses, students fail
regularly?
How many students
graduate the
programme … and do
so in time?
How do our graduates
perform on the labour
market?
data-based review of study programmes
Do exam assignments
match upt to the learning
outcomes of the course?
What is the drop-out
ratio? And is it linked to
certain sociographic or
other aspects?
course evaluation
University‘s statistics
student surveys
tracer studies employer surveys
It‘s a
mixed
bag!!
Keep in mind
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1. Graduate tracer studies are useful only in combination
with other data
2. It is helpful to involve different perspectives from
different stakeholders, including stakeholders from the
job market
remember: interests of labor market are short-
termed and oeconomics-driven; HEIs should rather
focus on sustainability and personality building
Keep in mind
20.06.2013 www.uni-due.de/en
3. don‘t overestimate the subjective view of selected
alumni no objective image of reality:
oftentimes low response rate
excellent and difficult experiences are remembered
better
graduates are experts on their own learning
experiences, but not necessarily on the alignment of
learning outcome and study programme
retrospective assessment is dependent on the jobs
obtained and success on the job market
Demands and requests
of the labor market
Universities mandate:
Education for sustainable
Development
cost efficiency vs. effectiveness of process & results
How to go about negative results? vs. Marketing of study programmes
Promoting QA, sometimes against
apprehensions and critique
vs. Not being an expert on QA, its
tools and results
Ownership of Process
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www.uni-due.de/en
• go for different (external) perspectives
• use different sources
But: keep the ownership of process
• The university holds the expertise :
• on the subject matter and
• on the study programme
• on (internal) QA
• and is being held responsible for the
sucess of a programme!
The view from inside should always come
first!
Thank you very much for
your attention!
Petra Pistor & Sylvia Ruschin
Centre for Higher Education Development and Quality
Enhancement (CHEDQE)
Duisburg-Essen University
E-Mail: [email protected] & [email protected]
www.uni-due.de/zfh
