Quality Assurance in Universities has become a world-wide priority and also in South Africa. There is, however, an obvious lack of information technology systems to support the process of Quality Assurance in universities.
A fundamental study is done of the needs for Quality Assurance in universities in South Africa as well as the methodologies and procedures involved in Quality Assurance. A deeper understanding of the complexities of the structures and factors affecting quality in a university is obtained through a fundamental analysis of the university as an organization as well as of the basic structures, objects and concepts and the intricate cause/effect relationships between them, with emphasis on the Management of Teaching and the Management of Research in the academic department. A new concept , not found in the literature, is developed, namely that an academic department's perceptions of quality in the department can be validated through the extent to which activities necessary for quality are actually being performed in the department.
The fundamental study provides a sound scientific basis for five hypotheses that Quality Assurance in an academic department can be supported by means of a Knowledge-based System (KBS), which can also cater for the South African situation.
The KBS leads the academic department through a series of descriptive indicators in the form of questions on conditions of quality and the extent to which activities, necessary for quality, are being performed. It displays trends in quantitative indicators and interprets the extent of goal attainment in respect of quantitative indicators. The KBS analyses the knowledge obtained through descriptive indicators statistically and identify the department's strong and weak points. Based on this knowledge and knowledge on cause/effect relationships, previously built into the system, the KBS identifies areas of poor quality, the probable causes thereof and provides advice on how to improve the quality of the problem areas.
Knowledgeable support for Quality Assurance in a University is accomplished with the proposed KBS.
