Impact of external accreditation on students’ performance: Insights from a full accreditation cycle
Background: The process of external academic accreditation involves quality control and auditing measures that focus on the design, delivery, and outcomes of education. It is a demanding and disruptive process in terms of effort, time, money, and human resources. Nevertheless, the extent to which ex...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Heliyon |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023030220 |
| _version_ | 1797815637912846336 |
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| author | Shuliweeh Alenezi Ayman Al-Eadhy Rana Barasain Trad S. AlWakeel Abdullah AlEidan Hadeel N. Abohumid |
| author_facet | Shuliweeh Alenezi Ayman Al-Eadhy Rana Barasain Trad S. AlWakeel Abdullah AlEidan Hadeel N. Abohumid |
| author_sort | Shuliweeh Alenezi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: The process of external academic accreditation involves quality control and auditing measures that focus on the design, delivery, and outcomes of education. It is a demanding and disruptive process in terms of effort, time, money, and human resources. Nevertheless, the extent to which external quality assurance and accreditation procedures affect students’ performance at the end of the learning cycle has not been well studied thus far. Methods: A retrospective quantitative secondary data analysis was conducted in The King Saud University (KSU) undergraduate medical program, with a before–after comparison research design to assess the impact of external accreditation on students’ mean grade scores during an accreditation cycle. Results: Overall, the data pertaining to 1090 students who attended 32,677 examination encounters were included in the analysis. The pre- and post-accreditation analysis revealed a statistically significant improvement in the students' mean scores—80 ± 9 (pre) versus 87 ± 11 (post), with a p-value of (p = 0.003) and a Cohen's d value of 0.591. On the other hand, there was no statistically significant difference in the students' mean passing percentages—96 ± 5 (pre) versus 96 ± 9 (post), with a p-value of (p = 0.815) and a Cohen's d value of 0.043. Conclusion: The actions involved in the planning phase and the journey through the self-study evaluation not only verify the program's competencies but also functioned as critical boosters for quality improvement processes and, hence, students' learning experiences. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:25:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-78e7a241e1a7462b82cdf1e54a6748f3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:25:49Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-78e7a241e1a7462b82cdf1e54a6748f32023-05-31T04:45:38ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402023-05-0195e15815Impact of external accreditation on students’ performance: Insights from a full accreditation cycleShuliweeh Alenezi0Ayman Al-Eadhy1Rana Barasain2Trad S. AlWakeel3Abdullah AlEidan4Hadeel N. Abohumid5College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11362, Saudi Arabia; Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, King Saud University Medical City, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11362, Saudi Arabia; King Saud University Chair for Medical Education Research and Development, Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University; Vice-Deanship of Quality and Development, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Corresponding author. College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11362, Saudi Arabia.College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11362, Saudi Arabia; Pediatric Department, King Saud University Medical City, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11362, Saudi Arabia; Vice-Deanship of Quality and Development, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11362, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11362, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11362, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11362, Saudi Arabia; Vice-Deanship of Quality and Development, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaBackground: The process of external academic accreditation involves quality control and auditing measures that focus on the design, delivery, and outcomes of education. It is a demanding and disruptive process in terms of effort, time, money, and human resources. Nevertheless, the extent to which external quality assurance and accreditation procedures affect students’ performance at the end of the learning cycle has not been well studied thus far. Methods: A retrospective quantitative secondary data analysis was conducted in The King Saud University (KSU) undergraduate medical program, with a before–after comparison research design to assess the impact of external accreditation on students’ mean grade scores during an accreditation cycle. Results: Overall, the data pertaining to 1090 students who attended 32,677 examination encounters were included in the analysis. The pre- and post-accreditation analysis revealed a statistically significant improvement in the students' mean scores—80 ± 9 (pre) versus 87 ± 11 (post), with a p-value of (p = 0.003) and a Cohen's d value of 0.591. On the other hand, there was no statistically significant difference in the students' mean passing percentages—96 ± 5 (pre) versus 96 ± 9 (post), with a p-value of (p = 0.815) and a Cohen's d value of 0.043. Conclusion: The actions involved in the planning phase and the journey through the self-study evaluation not only verify the program's competencies but also functioned as critical boosters for quality improvement processes and, hence, students' learning experiences.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023030220Undergraduate medical programAcademic qualityStudent satisfactionInstitutional accreditationSaudi Arabia |
| spellingShingle | Shuliweeh Alenezi Ayman Al-Eadhy Rana Barasain Trad S. AlWakeel Abdullah AlEidan Hadeel N. Abohumid Impact of external accreditation on students’ performance: Insights from a full accreditation cycle Heliyon Undergraduate medical program Academic quality Student satisfaction Institutional accreditation Saudi Arabia |
| title | Impact of external accreditation on students’ performance: Insights from a full accreditation cycle |
| title_full | Impact of external accreditation on students’ performance: Insights from a full accreditation cycle |
| title_fullStr | Impact of external accreditation on students’ performance: Insights from a full accreditation cycle |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of external accreditation on students’ performance: Insights from a full accreditation cycle |
| title_short | Impact of external accreditation on students’ performance: Insights from a full accreditation cycle |
| title_sort | impact of external accreditation on students performance insights from a full accreditation cycle |
| topic | Undergraduate medical program Academic quality Student satisfaction Institutional accreditation Saudi Arabia |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023030220 |
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