Gátt - 2014, Page 46

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F R Æ Ð S L U M I Ð S T Ö Ð A T V I N N U L Í F S I N S
g á t t – á r s r i t – 2 0 1 4
A b S T R A C T
It can be difficult to assess the quality of the activity of schools
and other educational institutions where the real results, the
learning outcomes, are created through the cooperation with
the participants: that is those who are to reap the benefits.
The activity of an educational institution focuses on the
participants acquiring learning. It involves that people who
participate in events that are organised by the institution
who know, understand and are able to do something after
the events that they didn’t know and couldn’t do before,
or that they know and are able to do better than before.
Without active participants, the outcome will obviously be
poor. Consequently, the cooperation of the employees of the
educational institutions and the participants is crucial for the
learning outcomes, including the quality of the education. It
is of little use if the facilities satisfy all quality requirements,
every procedure is precise, documented and transparent but
the participants do not learn. Now that many educational
institution involved in adult education in Iceland have quality
assurance, it is pertinent to ask what influence the quality
assurance, and especially the work put into acquiring the
assurance, had on their activities.
The article describes the findings of a survey that stu-
dents of the study line “Adult Education” at the University
of Iceland conducted during the spring term 2014. They
interviewed eight teachers and programme managers at
three continuous education centres regarding their attitudes
towards the results of the work that the centres put into
acquiring the quality assurance and its effect on the studies,
teaching and other services of the centres. These findings are
discussed with regard to the ideas of other scholars concern-
ing student participation in creating educational quality.