International expert(s) to provide technical assistance on Learning Outcomes Assessment for Academic Programs

USAID Partnership for Higher Education Reform (PHER)

SCOPE OF WORK

for international expert(s) to provide technical assistance on
Learning Outcomes Assessment for Academic Programs
with three public higher education institutions:

• Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM)
• Vietnam National University – Hanoi (VNU)
• The University of Da Nang (the UD)

I. BACKGROUND

The Partnership for Higher Education Reform (PHER) is a five-year initiative to help strengthen Vietnam's leading public universities. The project activities are funded by USAID to support targeted reforms to improve institutional leadership and administrative capacity, improve teaching practices to enhance student learning outcomes, elevate university research capacity to international standards, network Vietnamese researchers to maximize access to global knowledge, enable university graduates to better engage with the labor market, and help university faculty to leverage their research for innovation.

To achieve these objectives, PHER activities focus on:     

• Governance: This pillar supports the building and strengthening of institutional performance management systems based on agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) supported by a comprehensive Management Information System (MIS) that provides consistent, reliable data for decision making and for accreditation of institutions and programs. This includes the establishment of a robust internal quality assurance (IQA) system at each of the target universities. Improved governance will help the leadership of public universities in Vietnam to make better informed decisions as they exercise greater autonomy and focus on academic quality. 
• Teaching & Learning: This pillar supports the growing of faculty professional development opportunities through the establishment of formalized Centers for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL) as well as supporting the work of less formal, more specialized faculty-driven affinity groups through Faculty Academies on Excellence in Teaching (FACET). The goals are to support expansion of faculty capacity to design state-of-the-art courses, digitize curricula, support the development of priority online courses and programs, improve student learning assessment techniques, and develop graduate students in the teaching profession. This pillar will also support technical assistance to help prepare faculty and administration for international accreditation reviews of academic programs and institutions. The objective is for improved teaching and learning at Vietnam’s public universities to increase learning outcomes, enhance recognition of high-quality academic programs, and improve the employability of graduates.
• Research & Innovation: This pillar supports the enhancing of research capacity so that the scientific outputs of public universities in Vietnam meet international standards, increase knowledge sharing among specialists, grow the number of publications in recognized journals, and align research activities to the social and economic needs of the country.  This will take place through faculty exchanges, visiting scholar programs, research conferences, webinars, workshops, and short course training on research methodologies and academic specialties. The key vehicle for this pillar is the establishment of Vietnam International Academic Networks (VIAN) to help scientists across Vietnam to connect more readily with fellow experts from around the world. The objective is for VIAN activity to lead to greater knowledge sharing, broader promotion of research taking place in Vietnam, and enhanced opportunities for joint research and publications with partners abroad.

The PHER project also seeks deeper exploration of policy areas vital to the improvement of Vietnamese public higher education by supporting analytical work on the areas of technology and digitization, as well as gender equity. These cross-cutting policy areas are essential to success across the four pillars and to support the long-term sustainability of higher education reforms in Vietnam.  

PHER focuses on reforms at three major Vietnamese public universities and their member universities and respective institutes and academic programs:

• Vietnam National University-Hanoi (VNU),
• Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City (VNUHCM), and
• The University of Danang (the UD).         

II. OBJECTIVE OF ASSIGNMENT

Student learning is the bedrock of academic instruction. Measuring the skills, abilities, knowledge or values that students should be able to demonstrate after completing a lesson, course, or program is essential for determining quality of instruction. This gets at the heart of what many institutions define as student-centered learning. Clear articulation of learning outcomes helps determine what a student should learn and how to assess what they learn. Course design must be developed according to expected learning outcomes to help students focus on essential aspects of instruction in a subject or methodology.  Analysis of student learning outcomes helps university leaders and accreditation agencies evaluate the effectiveness of their programs and institutions, helping to identify quality gaps and develop strategies for continuous improvement. Ensuring that universities systematically collect, process, analyze, and respond to data about student learning is a critical part of quality assurance.  Universities must demonstrate to external accreditation agencies and internal university leadership that they have a systematic way of assessing, collecting, and analyzing information about student learning. 

There are many forms of assessment, but these all begin with development of learning outcomes for each class, course, and program.  The most commonly applied framework for developing a roster of learning outcomes for higher education instruction and programming is Bloom’s Taxonomy: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create.  Such a framework is typically organized and implemented through curricular mapping to distinguish which courses emphasize introductory learning outcomes, reinforcement / practice of learning, and mastery of a subject matter or skill set.  The taxonomy and organization are often applied through embedded assessment practices (direct and indirect) and milestone frameworks.  Like many countries, Vietnam has developed a national qualification framework that standardizes expected learning outcomes and skills acquisition for various professions and degree programs. For Vietnam, given that the accreditation mandate in higher education requires regular external review of all academic programs, universities must be able to demonstrate a systematic approach to measurement of learning outcomes, and whether curricula and content enable students to achieve the stated / intended learning outcomes. The universities have been developing degree program learning outcomes and relevant assessments, and seek guidance to ensure that the current practices will be the most effective.

The PHER project seeks an international consultant(s) to provide technical assistance to IQA staff from VNU corporate level and the UD and member institutions by providing training, coaching, feedback, comments and recommendations to help universities review their existing learning outcomes assessment practices, ensure that each university has a systematic way of developing outcomes and documenting measurement practices, procedures, and tools to assess learning.  Ultimately each university should develop a guideline for their own systematic process for documenting the learning outcomes of all students. This assignment ultimately contributes to building accreditation readiness while strengthening institutional performance management systems.

The work of this assignment should be conducted in English. Translation and interpretation services will be supported by PHER as needed.  All activities should ensure equitable treatment irrespective of gender, disability or ethnic background.

III. TIME AND LOCATION

The timing is negotiable but the work is expected to commence in February 2024. Working days are planned for both face-to-face and online working sessions over the period February to November 2024. The expert will lead and conduct in-person technical missions to 3 partner universities and their member universities (MUs). Further details to be provided below.

IV. TASKS, DELIVERABLES, TIMELINE AND LEVEL OF EFFORT

The primary responsibility of the consultant(s) is to offer technical assistance, ensuring that the participating universities successfully develop tools, procedures, and guidelines for assessing program threshold learning outcomes and graduate attributes.

See the table below for specific tasks, deliverables, and a tentative timeline for the assignment of consultant.

V. SUPERVISION AND REPORTING

The consultant will work under the direction of the PHER team and 3Us.

VI. BUDGET

Applicants should submit separate financial and technical proposals describing the approach to expected interventions along with the proposed consultancy fee (daily rate).

VII. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCES

Essential:

• holds a doctorate level of education or related field;
• has expertise and experience in the field of internal quality assurance/institutional effectiveness and including learning outcomes assessment;
• has experience organizing and delivering training in higher education learning outcomes assessment;
• has demonstrated international and/or intercultural experience;

Preferred:

• has experience working at Vietnamese universities;
• has experience in learning outcomes assessment;
• can commit to a mutually agreed schedule for workshops and coaching.

VIII. APPLICATION

The application documents include:

• A letter of motivation
• CV with three references
• A technical proposal
• Financial proposal, indicating the expected consultancy fee (daily rate)

Application documents should be sent to phe[email protected] titled “IQA Consultancy for Learning Outcome Assessment Application” no later than 20 February, 2024. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.