The quality assurance procedures at the Department of Electronic Systems
are in line with the quality assurance system at Aalborg University. Below are descriptions of the department's procedures regarding, planning, execution and evaluation of semesters, annual study programme evaluations and self evaluations of study programmes made every five/six years.
See also the QA tools (yearly cycle, plan for selvevaluation etc.) at AAU
Until 2018 each study programme was evaluated every three years following the AAU procedure for self-evaluations of study programmes. However as of 2019, the selfevaluation cycle has changed to each five/six years depend on the number of study programmes each department has. The self-evaluation of a study programme is based on analysis of systematically collected information on the programme, the student performance, the graduates, the collaboration with industry and society in general, the research environment and the pedagogical competence development of the teachers. The chairman of the study board and the head of studies prepare a self-evaluation report based on information provided by the QA Unit at AAU, the relevant departments, and others. After adjustment of the report based on comments from the study board, an evaluation meeting is then held with external experts and a representatives from industry that comments on the self-evaluation report. Based on the comments, the head of studies and the chairmanship of the study board work out a draft plan of actions that gets presented to the study board for approval. Following that, the revised plan of actions and the annual KPI report (see above) is discussed with the vice dean, and a final plan of actions is worked out. The following years, the head of studies works out a status report concerning the fulfilment of the plan of actions. The status report and the annual KPI report are then discussed with the vice dean, and a revised plan of actions is possibly made.
Read more about the AAU self evaluation procedure here.
The semester and teaching evaluation report prepared by the semester coordinator will be based partly on the general experience of the semester and on how the courses and project modules have been perceived. All the semester and teaching evaluations are available here.
In short, the procedure consists of the following steps:
The department sends out a short questionnaire to each student in the middle of June for the spring semester, and in the middle of January for the fall semester.
Based on the answers to the questionnaire, minutes of semester group meetings and other kinds of written feedback from students, lecturers and project supervisors, the semester coordinator prepares a draft semester and teaching evaluation report.
The semester coordinator sends the draft report to the members of the semester group and the study secretary for comments.
After a possible adjustment of the draft, the semester coordinator then sends the final evaluation report to the study board no later than October 1 for the spring semester and March 1 for the fall semester.
Based on the semester evaluation report the study board evaluates the past semester’s planning, execution and evaluation at a study board meeting in March and October, respectively, and prepares conclusions that are the basis for possible adjustments of the planning, execution and/or evaluation of the next iteration of that semester.
The conclusions are published at the study board’s homepage and is sent to relevant parties including semester coordinators, department heads, study board secretaries, and (via study secretaries) subsequently to the coming semester coordinator.
Shortly after the study board meeting, the students are informed that the semester coordinator's summary and recommendations as well as the study board's conclusions can be accessed at the homepage of the department.
Depending on the nature of the conclusions for the individual programme semesters, the study board contacts relevant parties (department heads, semester coordinators, course lecturers, project supervisors, study programme groups) and initiates the required adjustments in due time before the next semester’s iteration.
The implementation of adjustments is carried out by the semester coordinator, course lecturers, project supervisors and/or the study board, semester group or study programme group depending on the type of adjustment.
The semester starts by the semester coordinator and the teachers of the semester presenting the prepared semester description, introducing the courses, presenting project proposals, etc. for the students, and by the students forming project groups. The semester coordinator asks the students to appoint a representative from each project group to enter into the semester group, which will be meeting 2-3 times during the semester to make a status on the course teaching, the project work, etc. Minutes from these meetings will be published at the semester’s room in Moodle, and will form part of the basis for the semester coordinator’s subsequent preparation of the semester evaluation report.
Read more about semester execution here.
The individual items of the annual cycle of quality assurance pertaining to the planning, execution and evaluation of semesters are described in detail in the Department of Electronic Systems's semester management handbook. The handbook also contains templates for detailing the students' workload in courses, agenda for the semester group meetings, minutes of semester group meetings and semester evaluation.
All the templates are available here.
The semester management cycle starts in April and October for autumn and spring semesters, respectively, and is initiated by the release of teaching requisitions. The department then appoint semester coordinators and later course teachers, project supervisors etc. The semester coordinator’s first task is to prepare the semester description, following the study board’s conclusions on the evaluation of last year’s iteration of the semester, and in agreement with the other teachers of the semester. The study board approves the semester description on its June, respectively, December meetings. Other tasks involved in the semester planning includes preparation of information and teaching material to be published on the Moodle platform for the students, to make teaching and meeting schedules, make appointments with external guest lecturers, ensure the availability of equipment, etc.
In October each year, each study board receives an automatically generated report on key performance indicators (KPIs) of the study programmes that the study board is responsible for. The chairman of the study board makes sure that the report is discussed at a study board meeting along with information on the latest analysis and guidance of students behind schedule. The chairman of the study board works out a brief report on the study board’s conclusions on the KPI report and sends the report to the head of studies that subsequently forwards the report to the QA Unit at AAU. The vice dean calls for a meeting with the head of studies and the chairman of the study board in December, where the report and the plan of actions resulting from the self-evaluation procedure are discussed.
Read more about the AAU procedure for study board reports here.
As part of the procedure “Follow-up on identified problems in the study environment at ENG and TECH”, which describes the role of the study boards and head of department/deputy head of department in connection with the handling and registration of study environment problems you can here read how the Department of Electronic Systems handles the follow-up on feedback regarding the study environment.
The study board collects and registers problems about the physical, psychological and aesthetic study environment once each semester. Apart from that the study board continuously registers minor problems concerning the study environment, which can be solved (e.g. via reporting to CAS or ITS).
The remaining problems are collected via two different sources:
The problems collected are registered in the department's overview of study environment problems, and the study board indicates if the problems can be solved by the study board. The completed overview is sent to the head of department/deputy head of department no later than in the middle of March for fall semesters and the middle of October for spring semesters.
The head of department and deputy head of department identifies problems and shortcomings in the physical study environment (in cooperation with other departments/first year of studies) and they are discussed with the Study Council. They are reported to CAS no later than April 1 and November 1. The complete overview of problems/wishes are sent to the vice dean in the fall semester.
After this, the students receive feedback about the problems and wishes if any via es.aau.dk and Moodle.
The feedback is available here.
Study programme evaluation is carried out each year, based on responses from graduating bachelor's and master's students on a questionnaire. The questionnaire contains questions within the following main areas on the individual student's experience of the coherence and progression of the entire study programme:
The graduates' answers are discussed at a study board meeting and may result in adjustments of the planning, execution and evaluation of teaching as well as changes in the curriculum. The results of the study board's discussions of the evaluations are available here.
Students who participated in the evaluations are informed beforehand that the results of the evaluations will be available in October at es.aau.dk.
CONTACT INFORMATION
For general questions about education please use:esn@es.aau.dk
Otherwise you are welcome to contact:
Deputy Head of Department / Head of Studies
Ove Kjeld Andersen
Telefon: +45 99 40 86 33
E-mail: oa@es.aau.dk
ADMINISTRATION
Mette Billeskov
Telefon: +45 99 40 87 14
E-mail: mbi@es.aau.dk