1.      Undergraduate education evaluation: research and assessment practices

 

Research on and conduction of undergraduate education evaluation are major services offered by the West China Higher Education Evaluation Center. Since 2016, the West China Higher Education Evaluation Center has carried out a series of projects commissioned by the Higher Education Evaluation Center of the Ministry of Education China, and the Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial government, including:

 

·       ‘The Development of an Undergraduate Education Auditing Evaluation Model in the New Era’

 

The Higher Education Evaluation Center of the Ministry of Education China commissioned this research project. The West China Higher Education Evaluation Center researched and developed an auditing evaluation model for quality improvement in undergraduate education in the new era.

 

·       ‘Final Report of 2013-2018 National Auditing Evaluation in Undergraduate Education’

 

The Higher Education Evaluation Center of the Ministry of Education China commissioned this research project. The West China Higher Education Evaluation Center played a central role in writing up the final report of the national auditing evaluation in undergraduate education.

 

·       ‘2018 Report on Quality in Undergraduate Education in China’

 

The Higher Education Evaluation Center of the Ministry of Education China commissioned this project. As a leading party in the project, the West China Higher Education Evaluation Center participated in drafting the report outline, and completed the chapters of the final report on undergraduate teaching reform and development of undergraduate teaching with institutional characteristics.

 

·       ‘The Evaluation of Teaching Quality in Undergraduate Education in Shaanxi Province’

 

The Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial government commissioned this project. As an independent third-party agency, the West China Higher Education Evaluation Center conducted an auditing evaluation of teaching quality in undergraduate education at 22 universities administered by Shaanxi Province. The Center built a provincial information system of undergraduate education evaluation, organized the specialist panel’s campus visits, implemented mid-term inspection and conducted re-inspection after one year from the final date of the review report. The Center explored and innovated higher education evaluation practices, in terms of evaluation scope and its core elements, composition of the specialist panel, systematic design, rectification and re-inspection. The Center’s evaluation practices took into consideration Shaanxi local universities’ characteristics. The quality of the project completed by the Center is highly recognised by the local government, universities and evaluation specialists.

 

·       ‘The Selection of Undergraduate Programmes for the Construction of Provincial Key Disciplines: Design and Implementation’

 

The Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial government commissioned this project. The West China Higher Education Evaluation Center developed an evaluation plan, proposed an evaluation indicator system, collected teaching data from Shaanxi local universities, and organised evaluation specialists within and outside Shaanxi province to assess the collected teaching data. Based on the evaluation results, the Center recommended 500 undergraduate programmes for the construction of first-tier provincial key disciplines, and 200 undergraduate programmes for the construction of second-tier provincial key disciplines.

 

·       ‘Comprehensive Quality Evaluation of Undergraduate Programmes’

 

Commissioned by individual colleges and universities, the West China Higher Education Evaluation Center developed an undergraduate programme quality evaluation index system, established an undergraduate programme quality evaluation information system, and carried out comprehensive quality evaluation of undergraduate programmes at the colleges and universities.

 

2.      Evaluation research on postgraduate education

 

Research on and conduction of postgraduate education evaluation are major services offered by the West China Higher Education Evaluation Center. Since 2016, the West China Higher Education Evaluation Center has carried out a number of projects commissioned by China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center, and the Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial government, including:

 

·       ‘Quality in Postgraduate Education: A National Big Data Analysis Initiative’

 

China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center commissioned this project. The West China Higher Education Evaluation Center developed a national postgraduate education evaluation index system, established a big data analysis model and conducted big data analysis.

 

·       ‘The Design and Development of a National Quality Monitoring and Analysis System of Postgraduate Education’

 

China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center commissioned this project. The West China Higher Education Evaluation Center designed and developed the national postgraduate education quality monitoring and analysis system.

 

·       ‘National Quality Assessment of Postgraduate Theses’

 

China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center commissioned this project. The West China Higher Education Evaluation Center qualitatively and quantitatively assessed the quality of postgraduate theses at Chinese higher education institutions.

 

·       ‘National Evaluation Research on Postgraduate Students’ Innovation Ability’

 

The West China Higher Education Evaluation Center developed an index system to evaluate innovation abilities of postgraduate students at Chinese higher education institutions. The Center designed the data collection methods and procedure, and will release the results soon.

 

·       ‘Report on Postgraduate Education Quality in Shaanxi province’

 

The Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial government commissioned this project. The West China Higher Education Evaluation Center summarised, evaluated and published the report on the effectiveness of discipline construction, the development of postgraduate education and the quality of postgraduate education in Shaanxi province.

 

3.      Research on student learning and development

 

The West China Higher Education Evaluation Center has been researching college student learning and development. Since the 1980s, the Center has conducted theoretical research on college student learning, and promoted institutional support for college student development throughout the country. In recent years, the Center, in collaboration with the University of California at Berkeley, conducted research on student experience at research-centered universities in China (SERU). The Center also carried out surveys on college students’ employability and entrepreneurship in Shaanxi province. The research projects, which have been carried out since 2016, include:

 

·       ‘Employability and Entrepreneurship of College Students in Shaanxi Province’

 

The Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial government commissioned this project. Since 2016 the West China Higher Education Evaluation Center has conducted a longitudinal study on college graduates’ employability and entrepreneurship in Shaanxi province. The Center released the ‘2016 report on college graduate employability in Shaanxi province’ and the ‘2017 report on college graduate employability in Shaanxi province’ jointly with the Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial government.

 

·       ‘Shaanxi Graduate Employment Quality Index Rankings’

 

The West China Higher Education Evaluation Center developed a college graduate employment quality index and released Shaanxi university and discipline rankings, based on the results of a survey on college graduate employability and entrepreneurship in Shaanxi province.

 

·       ‘Research Report on College Student Learning and Research Experience in Shaanxi Province’

 

The West China Higher Education Evaluation Center conducted research on college graduates in Shaanxi and released the report of ‘learning experience of students in non-degree and undergraduate programmes in Shaanxi’ and ‘research experience of postgraduate students in Shaanxi’.

 

·       ‘Undergraduate Students’ Employability and Entrepreneurial Intention: Structure, Influencing Factors and Development Strategies’

 

Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the project discussed the conceptualisation and measurement of college student employability, analysed the factors influencing undergraduates’ employability and entrepreneurial intention, and proposed strategies to promote undergraduates’ employability and entrepreneurial intention.

 

4.      Postgraduate programmes

 

The West China Higher Education Evaluation Center provides postgraduate programmes at master's and doctoral levels in the fields of education, educational sociology, and educational economics and management.