Academic standards and quality assurance: the impact of COVID-19 on university degree programs

Gamage, K. A.A. , Pradeep, R. G.G.R., Najdanovic-Visak, V. and Gunawardhana, N. (2020) Academic standards and quality assurance: the impact of COVID-19 on university degree programs. Sustainability, 12(23), 10032. (doi: 10.3390/su122310032)

Abstract

COVID-19, caused by a member of the coronavirus family of viruses, has spread to most countries around the world since it was first recorded in humans in China in late 2019. Closing universities and cancelling all face-to-face activities have become a COVID-19 inevitable reality in many parts of the world. Its impact on university programs, particularly to maintain academic standards and quality assurance procedures, has become significantly more challenging and complex. New ways of working digitally, to minimize disruption to daily operations, have also led to enormous anxiety and uncertainty within the student population, and meeting students’ expectations has also become significantly more difficult. This paper reviews actions taken by universities to safeguard high academic standards and quality assurance procedures during this time and appraise the challenges and impacts on students’ academic performance.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Gamage, Professor Kelum

Creator Roles

Gamage, K. A.A.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing, Supervision, Project administration

• Authors: Gamage, K. A.A., Pradeep, R. G.G.R., Najdanovic-Visak, V., and Gunawardhana, N.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
• Journal Name: Sustainability
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2071-1050
• ISSN (Online): 2071-1050
• Published Online: 01 December 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Sustainability 12(23): 10032
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License