Triple Impact of Internal Quality Assurance Mechanism: A Comparative Assessment of Learner Evaluation, Research Performance, and Institutional Efficiency in Ghanaian Universities
Abstract:
This study investigates the influence of Internal Quality Assurance Mechanisms (IQAM) on learners’ evaluation, research performance, and institutional efficiency in Ghanaian universities. Adopting a quantitative research approach, purposive and systematic random sampling techniques were used to select lecturers from four public and two private universities. Data were collected through structured questionnaires rated on a five-point Likert scale. Descriptive statistics revealed that IQAM, learners’ evaluation, research performance, and institutional efficiency were functioning effectively, with mean scores ranging between 3.468 and 4.129. Further analysis indicated that IQAM significantly predicted learners’ evaluation (F=90.68, p<0.01), research performance (F=141, p<0.01), and institutional efficiency (F=80.451, p<0.01), explaining 39.1%, 50.1%, and 36.3% of the variance, respectively. These findings demonstrate the central role of IQAM in promoting quality assessment practices, improved research output, and enhanced institutional operations. The study offers practical implications for policymakers and university administrators to strengthen IQA systems for sustainable academic and operational excellence in higher education.
KeyWords:
academic standards, evaluation, institutional performance, quality assurance, governance
References:
- Acquah, A. (2021). HigherEducation Finance BetweenGhana and the United States.Current Issues in Comparative Education 23(1), 90-108. 10.52214/cice.v23i1.8143
- Agir, N., Effendi,M., Matore, E. M., Faamanatu-Eteuati, N., & Marquez,N. (2023). Outcome- based assessment in the evaluation of education programs through a systematic literature review. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 12(2), 2662-2677. 10.6007/IJARPED/v12-i2/18095
- Ahasu, E. K., Kwao,M. P., Anim, C. L., & Zang, P. L (2024).Role of Community Resources in Education Planningand Delivery in Ghana. Acta Educationis Generalis.14(1)62-76. https://doi.org/10.2478/atd-2024-0004
- Alam, G. M. (2020). Quality assurance for private universities in Bangladesh: a quest for specialised institutional governance, management and regulatory mechanisms. International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, 22(1), 1-15. 10.1108/IJCED-01-2019-0006
- Alvarez-Sández, D., Velázquez-Victorica, K., Mungaray-Moctezuma, A., & López-Guerrero, A. (2023). Administrative processes efficiency measurement in higher education institutions:A scoping review. Education Sciences, 13(9), 855. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13090855
- Alzafari, K., & Ursin, J. (2019). Implementation of quality assurance standards in European higher education: does context matter?. Quality in Higher Education, 25(1), 58-75. https://doi.org/10.1080/13538322.2019.1578069
- Anyidoho, E.D. (2021). Exploring internal quality assurance management practices: Experiences of some quality assurance actors at the University of Ghana. Ghana Journal of Higher Education Management Vol. 9, pp 1-13 Print ISSN: 0855-6156
- Arthur, A. G. (2022). Empirical Assessment of Quality Assurance Practices in Ghana Higher Education of Learning: A Focus on Private Universities. International Journal of Public Administration and Management Research, 7(4):1-15. https://doi.org/10.36758/ijpamr/v7n4.2022/01
- Arthur, G. A., & Kuranchie, A. (2022). Quality Assurance in Private Higher Education Institutions in Ghana: Practices and Challenges. Social Education Research, 342-353. 10.37256/ser.3220221604
- Asim, S., Chase,R., Dar, A. & Schmillen, A. (2017). Improving Learning Outcomesin South Asia: Findings from a Decade of Impact Evaluations. Oxford University Press/World Bank. RePEc:oup:wbrobs:v:32:y:2017:i:1:p:75-106.
- Aweso D.M. (2023). Internal Quality Assurance Policies and Practices in Colleges of Education in Ghana: Resource Dependency Theory Perspective. British Journal of Education, 11 (5): 39-54. 10.37745/bje.2013/vol11n53954
- Aydın, O. T. (2017). Research performance of higher education institutions: A review on the measurements and affecting factors of research performance. Yükseköğretim ve Bilim Dergisi, (2), 312-320. 10.5961/jhes.2017.210
- Benavides, L. M. C., Tamayo Arias, J. A., Arango Serna, M. D., Branch Bedoya, J. W., & Burgos, D. (2020). Digitaltransformation in highereducation institutions: A systematic literature review. Sensors, 20(11), 3291. 10.3390/s20113291
- Boud, D. (2020). Challenges in reforming higher education assessment: a perspective from afar. Revista Electrónica de Investigación y Evaluación Educativa, 26(1). https://doi.org/10.7203/relieve.26.1.17088
- Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) 2022. Ensures quality assurances. Retrieved from https://www.chea.org/accreditation-ensures-quality-assurance. Accessed: June, 9, 2025.
- De-Graft, J. D. 2019. Assessing Quality Assurance Practices in Institutions of Higher Learnings. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 18(12): 30-45. 10.26803/ijlter.18.12.3
- Duan, S. X. (2019). Measuring university efficiency: An application of data envelopment analysis and strategic group analysis to Australian universities. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 26(4), 1161–1173. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-10-2017-0274
- Dudin, M. N., Smirnova, O. O., Vysotskaya, N. V., Frolova, E. E., & Vilkova, N. G. (2017). The demingcycle (PDCA) conceptas a tool for the transition to the innovative path of the continuous quality improvement in production processes of the agro-industrial sector. O10, O31, O32, Q13
- Elbadiansyah, E., & Masyni, M. (2021). The implementation of internal quality assurance (IQA) in three private universities in Samarinda. Erudio Journal of Educational Innovation, 8(1), 53-60. 10.18551/erudio.8-1.5
- Eshun, P., Dampson, D. G., & Dzakadzie, Y. (2020). Evaluation of Effectiveness of Internal Quality Assurance System in Public Universities in Ghana. Education Quarterly Reviews, 3(2), 237-248. 10.31014/aior.1993.03.02.136
- European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (2021). About Quality Assurance. Retrieved from https://www.enqa.eu/about-quality-assurance/. Accessed: June, 9, 2025.
- Ferdousi, F., Ahmed, A., & Momen,M. A. (2022). Evolution of quality assurance practices in enhancing the quality of open and distance education in a developing nation: a case study. Asian Association of Open Universities Journal, 17(2), 147-160. 10.1108/AAOUJ-02-2022-0025
- Flores, M. A., Brown, G., Pereira, D., Coutinho, C., Santos, P., & Pinheiro, C. (2020). Portuguese university students’ conceptions of assessment: taking responsibility for achievement. Higher Education, 79(3), 377–394. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00415-2
- Georgiou, A. & Galanakis, M. (2022). Organizational Psychology Revisited. Goal Setting Theory in Recent Years: A Systematic Literature Review. Psychology Research, 12(12): 919-924. 10.17265/2159-5542/2022.12.001
- Government of Ghana. (1994). National Board for Professional and Technician Examination Act 492. Accra: Ghana Publishing Corporation.
- Government of Ghana. (2007). National Accreditation Board Act 744. Accra: Ghana Publishing Corporation.
- Government of Ghana. (2013).Implementation of the Ghana Shared Growthand Development Agenda (GSGDA): 2012 Annual Progress Report. Accra: National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).
- Government of Ghana. (2016).Technical Universities Act 2016 (ACT 992) Accra: Government of Ghana
- Hidayah, A., & Syahrani, S. (2022). Internalquality assurance systemof education in financing standards and assessment standards. Indonesian Journal of Education (INJOE), 2(3), 291-300. Retrieved from https://injoe.org/index.php/INJOE/article/view/35
- Jahantab, Z. (2021). Role of education in national development. Pakistan Journal of Applied Social Sciences, 12(1), 87-108. https://doi.org/10.46568/pjass.v12i1.543
- Javed, Y., Ahmad, S., & Khahro, S. H. (2020). Evaluating the research performance of Islamabad-based higher education institutes. Sage Open, 10(1), 2158244020902085.
- Karakhanyan, S., & Stensaker, B. (2020). External quality assurance: The landscape, the players and developmental trends. In Global trends in higher education quality assurance (pp. 11-36). Brill.
- Khalil, M. (2021). Responsiveness to quality assurance implementation: an institutional theory perspective. QualityAssurance in Education, 29(1), 41-52. https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-06-2020-0074
- Konstantara, M. K., & Galanakis, M. (2022). Organizational & Industrial Psychology in the 21st Century-Goal-Setting Theory and Performance Management: A Systematic Literature Review. Psychology, 13, 790-797.
- Kwarteng, A. J. (2022).Ensuring quality in higher educationinstitutions: going beyond quality assurance system. International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 36(4), 569-588. http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJPQM.2022.124896
- Kwao, M.P & Toolo, L.L. (2025). Efficacy of Quality Assurance Practices in Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education Institutions. International Journal of Scientific Research and Management (IJSRM). 13. 4147-4157. 10.18535/ijsrm/v13i07.el01.
- Lemaitre, M. J., & Karakhanyan, S. (2020). Quality assurance in higher education, a global perspective. In The international encyclopedia of higher education systems and institutions (pp. 2400-2410). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.
- Losada-Vazquez, A. (2022). Organizational Learning at Purpose Driven Enterprise: Action– Research Model for Leadership Improvement. Sustainability, 14:1-15.
- Lucander, H., & Christersson, C. (2020). Engagement for quality development in higher education: a process for quality assurance of assessment. Quality in Higher Education, 26(2), 135-155. 10.1080/13538322.2020.1761008
- Madani, R. A. (2019).Analysis of educational quality, a goal of education for all policy.Higher Education Studies, 9(1), 100-109. 10.5539/hes.v9n1p100
- Manatos, M., Sarrico, C. S. & Rosa, M. J. (2017). The integration of quality management in higher education institutions: a systematic literature review,” Total Quality Management, vol. 28, no. 1/2, pp. 159–75.
- Martin, M. (2018). Internal Quality Assurance: Enhancing higher education quality and graduate employability. UNESCO.
- Mensah, M. A. (2022).Internal quality assurancepractices in highereducation: Evidence from a Ghanaian university. European Journal of Education Studies, 9(7), ISSN: 2501 – 1111.
- Narayanan, R. K., & Nair, M. P. (2018). Internal quality assurance mechanisms in higher education institutions: An empirical study. Journal of Education and Learning, 7(2), 129-139.
- Njui, H. W. (2018). Enhancing quality education in universities through innovative IQA tools.European Journal of Education Studies, 2,1-13. http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v0i0.1707
- Nyamwesa, A. M., Magambo, E. F., & Onyango, D. O. (2020). Impact of external quality assurance practices on higher education institutions in Tanzania: A reviewpaper. East African Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 1(3), 191-196.10.46606/eajess2020v01i03.0059
- Qamar, S. Z., Al-Hinai, N., & Márquez, F. P. G. (2024). Quality Control and Quality Assurance: Techniques and Applications. BoD–Books on Demand.
- Rehman, M. U., Nizami, I. F., Ullah, F., & Hussain, I. (2024). IQA Vision Transformed: A Survey of Transformer Architectures in Perceptual Image Quality Assessment. IEEE Access. 10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3506273
- Smolentseva, A. (2023). The contributions of higher educationto society: a conceptual approach.Studiesin Higher Education, 48(1), 232-247.10.4337/9781035307173.00011
- Ta, H. T. T., & Pham, H. T. (2024). Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) Tools and Processes Used by Vietnamese Universities: Implications for Continuous Improvement. Vietnam Journal of Education, 138-151. 10.52296/vje.2024.391
- Tetteh, G. A., Amoako-Gyampah, K., & Twumasi, J. (2021). Developing a quality assurance identity in a university: a grounded theory approach. QualityAssurance in Education, 29(2/3), 238-258. 10.1108/QAE-12-2020-0141
- Tsevi, L. (2014). Private Higher Education’s Quality Assurance in Ghana. International Higher Education, 75:22-24. https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2014.75.5437
- UNESCO (2022). Beyond Limits. New Ways to Reinvent Higher Education. Working document for the World Higher Education Conference. 18-20 May 2022.
- Wolszczak-Derlacz, J. (2017). An evaluation and explanation of (in)efficiency in higher education institutions in Europe and the U.S. with the application of two-stage semi- parametric DEA. Research Policy, 46(9), 1595–1605. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2017.07.010
- Zang, P. L., Kwao, M. P., Anim, C. L., & Ahasu, E. K. (2024).Socio-economic characteristics of parents on learners’ educational aspiration: Exploring mechanisms of impact. American Journal of Education and Learning, 9(1), 38–48. 10.55284/ajel.v9i1.1029