ANNUAL PROGRAMME MONITORING AND PERIODIC REVIEW
"Institutions should monitor and periodically review their programmes to ensure that they achieve the objectives set for them and respond to the needs of students and society. These reviews should lead to continuous improvement of the programme..."
(ESG, Standard 1.9)
Annual Programme Monitoring and Periodic Review are the key AQE processes that are compatible with the ESG and guided by the Annual Program Monitoring and Periodic Review policies. Both processes support ongoing quality enhancement and encourage faculty to reflect on various data sources to provide better student learning experiences.
The NU academic community is encouraged to focus not only on identifying opportunities for further course/programme enhancement, but also on noting key pedagogical successes for wider dissemination.
As an ongoing process, APM facilitates the monitoring of the effectiveness of the actions taken in response to the issues identified in the previous cycle. This helps to ensure that actions are taken in a timely manner and their impact is monitored. This presentation briefly describes the process.
The annual course/programme monitoring reports should be made available to all stakeholders, including students, via Schools’ websites or other means of communication to close feedback loops.
The templates, which are intended to support faculty in this reflective exercise, are provided below. Please note that the detailed procedures and templates are available to relevant NU stakeholders only.
Download the ACMR template.
Download the APMR template.
Download the ASQER template.
These guidelines might be helpful for completing the annual monitoring report forms.
Please follow the APM timeline for this academic year.
The University’s Quality Enhancement Plan (NUQEP) is a keystone of the APM process. It is informed by meaningful discussions at all institutional levels and emanates from the annual School Quality Enhancement Reports, which are based on a thorough review of different data sources.
The NUQEP determines key directions for enhancement and identifies good models of teaching and assessment practices for further dissemination across the University.
The Plan aims to establish an environment conducive to the collaboration of faculty, students, and staff in fostering an incremental quality enhancement culture.
NU Quality Enhancement Plans
The current NUQEP sets the following areas for improvement:
- Area 1. Supporting ethical and effective learning with artificial intelligence (AI);
- Area 2. Strengthening Assessment Practices (including assurance of learning/evidencing students’ achievement of learning outcomes;
- Area 3. Ensuring Sufficiency of Faculty Resources to Deliver Academic Quality Programs.
Read the NUQEP for more details.
Each year, the NU academic community is encouraged to implement the NU Quality Enhancement Theme, which focuses on a certain pedagogical/assessment approach to ensure a high quality of education delivery and student learning.
Current NU Quality Enhancement Theme
Recognizing the increased use of Artificial intelligence (AI), NU supports the academic community in its willingness to keep up with current trends in embedding AI teaching and assessment practices. AI is reshaping higher education by facilitating personalized learning, optimizing administrative processes, and enabling data-driven decision-making. However, ensuring that AI supports ethical and effective learning is essential for preserving academic integrity, mitigating biases, and promoting equitable access to educational opportunities. By implementing rigorous ethical frameworks and responsible AI practices, institutions can cultivate a learning environment that prioritizes fairness, transparency, and student success. The primary focus for the 2024-2025 AY is on the new NU Quality Enhancement Theme – "Supporting ethical and effective learning with artificial intelligence".
The NU faculty are welcome to collaborate with the Center for Innovation in Learning and Teaching to learn about available in-house and externally provided PD courses and workshops on this topic. Please read Nazarbayev University's Response to Generative Artificial Intelligence in Learning and Teaching.
Periodic review provides an opportunity for each School to reflect on and monitor the cumulative impact of incremental changes over an extended review period. Each School will undergo periodic review on a five-yearly basis (this might be adjusted to the School’s accreditation timelines).
Periodic review aims to ensure that the quality of learning and teaching is appropriate and compliant with recognized international and NU standards and policies (as enshrined in the NU Academic Quality Framework and ESG Standards). It is based on critical appraisal by external and peer reviewers, self-evaluation and student feedback, and evaluates the cumulative impact of revisions to programs resulting from the Annual Program Monitoring process.
This will be a helpful exercise to ensure that successful students achieve the program learning outcomes and the NU Graduate Attributes. In addition, the periodic review process focuses on ensuring student engagement in research and integration of research into teaching, sufficiency of faculty, library, IT, and other resources and student support services to sustain a favorable learning environment and deliver high quality academic programs. For more information please follow the link.
