Enhancing our understanding of the potential of international peer review benchmarking for quality improvement

This paper will provide an overview of an international benchmarking project with seven universities across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom (UK). Ako Aotearoa commissioned a proof-of-concept project to specifically enhance understanding of peer review process benchmarking for quality improvement purposes. This aligns with the aims of New Zealand’s Academic Quality Agency’s (AQA) quality assurance processes and is a useful tool which universities may choose to employ.

The aims of the benchmarking project were to:

• Compare five key performance indicators:
  1. Support for priority learners and pathways into higher education;
  2. Teaching quality;
  3. Curriculum quality;
  4. Assessment; and
  5. Support for academic staff;
• Identify areas of good practice, areas for improvement/or further development and areas for sharing; and
• Enhance understanding of process benchmarking for quality improvement purposes.

Outcomes from the face-to-face peer review workshop in New Zealand will be discussed as well the lessons learnt from the comparison of international strategies in learning and teaching.