1. The Improvement and Changes of Peer Review Mechanism in New Cycle Program Accreditation in Taiwan
Presented by Dr. Jackson Chun-Chi Chih
29th March, 2019
Associate Research Fellow of
Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT)

2. Outline of Presentation2
Outline of Presentation
Introduction of Peer Review and its Mechanism
What is peer and peer review?
Why we need peer review mechanism?
Improvement and Changes of peer review mechanism in Taiwan
Conclusion
© 2019 Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan, HEEACT

3. I
Introduction of Peer Review and its Mechanism

4. 4
Introduction
Self evaluation combined with the external evaluation model based on peer review is an internationally recognized quality assurance method for higher education the performance of peer reviewers is the key factor to the success and reliability of higher education evaluation.
© 2019 Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan, HEEACT

5. What is peer and peer review?5
What is peer and peer review?
Peer, in the context of quality in higher education, is a person who understands the context in which a quality review is being undertaken and is able to contribute to the process.
Peer review is the process of evaluating the provision, work process, or output of an individual or collective operating in the same milieu as the reviewer(s).
© 2019 Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan, HEEACT

6. Why we need peer review mechanism?6
Why we need peer review mechanism?
Quality control ,error detection system and advancing quality in this field are quality assurance agencies need peer reviewers to do in a objective manner.
The main model of higher education quality assurance nowadays implies peer review mechanism to play a very important role to validate and be a quality gatekeeper.
In short, peer reviewer plays a validity conformer
and an insight giver.
© 2019 Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan, HEEACT

7. II
Improvement and Changes of Peer Review Mechanism in Taiwan

8. What forces us to improve?8
What forces us to improve?
Two main reasons, one is complaints from the universities, the other is the change of government’s program evaluation policy.
1.The main complaints are as below:
The reviewers are unfair and objective
The reviewers don’t do their job well, especially unread the self evaluation report.
The violation of the evaluation ethics
Lack of experienced and trained reviewers and the reviewer training needs to be indeed implemented.
© 2019 Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan, HEEACT

9. What forces us to improve?(II)9
What forces us to improve?(II)
2. The program evaluation policy has been changed
our government changed the program evaluation
policy from compulsory to voluntary in 2017 and it
gives the QA agencies flexibilities to do the program
evaluation.
- HEEACT can make suitable changes to recruit peer reviewers, to regulate more about the quality of reviewer’s work, to help programs more before they apply our QA plans.
© 2019 Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan, HEEACT

10. Comparison of two cycle Peer Review Mechanisms10
Comparison of two cycle Peer Review Mechanisms
Second cycle( )
Third cycle( )
1.Implement the
program
accreditation
Compulsory
Voluntary
2.Number of Standards and Indicators
4 Standards,14 Core Indicators
3 Standards,12 Core Indicators
3.Number of Peer
Reviewers 5
3(one can be the recommender from the evaluated program)
4.Recommend
Reviewer
mechanism No
Yes, each program can recommend 10 reviewer candidates
5. Reviewer
Avoidance
Yes, but only can avoid the HEEACT reviewer list, and must have a specific reason.
Yes, each program can list 5 avoid reviewers
© 2019 Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan, HEEACT

11. Comparison of two cycle Peer Review mechanism11
Comparison of two cycle Peer Review mechanism
Second cycle( )
Third cycle( )
6.Document Review
Reviewers verify the self- evaluation reports, and file the questions to the evaluated Programs
Reviewers should discuss the self-evaluation reports on line, and must write the draft reports before the on-site visit.
7.Self evaluation report
questions
Send to university one week before onsite visit.
Then verify the reply in the on-site day.
Send to university and verify the reply, if the reviewers are satisfied with the answers, then proceed onsite visit. If not, do the procedure again.
8.Online review mechanism No
Program and Peer reviewers should upload and download documents related to reviews
9.On-site days 2 1
10. Comprehensive discussions with faculty procedure before writing the report
Yes(to clarify key findings with the evaluated program)
© 2019 Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan, HEEACT

12. 12
3 Viewpoints to Share
※ The QA agencies must regulate and help peer reviewers responsible for their duties and roles.
※The QA agencies must reduce the evaluation administrative loadings and strive for evidence-based quality of program
※The relationship between QA agencies and the evaluated program is more like a partner than a regulator.
© 2019 Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan, HEEACT

13. 13
Conclusion
Peer review mechanism has become the key success factor of higher education quality assurance nowadays. Professionalism is the main reasons quality assurance agencies imply peer review mechanism.
How to make this mechanism work and success is the quality assurance agencies’ responsibilities and professionalism.
© 2019 Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan, HEEACT

14. Thank you for your attention!!!
Higher Education Evaluation & Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT)