Teaching quality | mechanical engineering

Quality Assurance is an indispensable process that involves all those who work in the University, in which each individual's progress benefits the entire University and stimulates the kind of fruitful debate the university must aspire to in order to ensure its social role is effective and tangible.
QUALITY ASSURANCE means: defining quality policies that are aligned with the University's strategic directions, and reliable and robust procedures through which the governing bodies can implement them; implementing activities to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in all the University's internal processes, first and foremost in the service of the quality of education and research; creating awareness in all those who work in the University so that everyone's tasks are carried out competently and promptly, the services provided are effective, and a record is kept of what has been done to monitor and measure results.
For more information on Quality Assurance, please consult this page: https://www.unipr.it/en/AQ

Student Opinion Survey Questionnaire (OPIS)

The Student Opinion Survey Questionnaire (OPIS) is a tool designed to detect student opinion with a view to improving teaching, quality and the organisation of degree courses and is an integral part of the assessment system; for students it is an important opportunity to make their voices heard and actively participate in the life of their course, as a guarantee of better Quality Assurance: for this reason the University recommends that it is filled in punctually and accurately.
For more information on OPIS questionnaires, please visit the following page: https://www.unipr.it/en/didattica/i-corsi-di-studio/compilazione-del-questionario-di-valutazione-della-didattica-line

Organisation and responsibility for Course QA

The organisational structure and responsibilities of QA are described in the documents published at the address below (see link).
The key figures for the quality of the degree course are currently held by:
- President of the degree course: Prof. Fabio Bozzoli
- RAQ: Prof. Claudio Favi
- GdR: Profs. Fabio Bozzoli, Claudio Favi, Gianni Nicoletto, Giorgio Pagliarini, Ms Ilaria Magnati (Didactic Spec. Service), Mr Farouk Nsangou (Student Representative) - CCS: and composed of tenured or contract professors/instructors who hold teaching positions on the degree course in Mechanical Engineering or who carry out supplementary teaching activities within the above-mentioned course units, and of student representatives. It should be emphasised that the degree course is responsible for analysing and discussing the Annual Monitoring Form, checking the contents of the Single Annual Course Report Card (SUA-CdS), and periodically drafting the Cyclical Review Report.

Work scheduling and implementation deadlines for initiatives

The quality assurance of the degree course consists in the implementation of the QA Model proposed and coordinated by the Quality Assurance Body and in the planning and implementation of corrective actions, the effectiveness of which is assessed annually through the analysis of indicator trends in the Annual Monitoring Form and, in depth, periodically in the Cyclic Review Report.
Corrective actions under the control of the Department and/or the degree course are planned according to the organisational and management arrangements of the Department and/or the degree course and are coordinated and monitored by the Quality Assurance Manager (RAQ).
The degree course appoints an internal Review Group (GdR) whose activities are organised as follows:
- annually drafts the Annual Monitoring Form for the following academic year within the deadlines set by the Ministry

annually drafts the SUA-CdS for the following academic year within the deadlines set by the Ministry
periodically verifies the state of implementation of the improvement measures proposed in the Cyclical Review Report and assesses the overall trend of students' careers, on the basis of the data provided by ANVUR
analyses the report of the Joint Commission of Teachers and Students.

In addition, the following actions are planned:
- survey on the demand for training (involvement of stakeholders): every year by 31 December

definition/update of training objectives: every year by 31 January
redesigning of the course catalogue: every year, if necessary, within the ministerial deadlines for the modification of the organisational frameworks
harmonisation of the programmes of the course units: every year by 31 July
updating of the syllabus for the following academic year: every year by 31 July
evaluation, by the RAQ/Course President of the student questionnaires: every year by 31 October;

based on the above schedule, the Review Group meets, as a rule, at least three times a year:

- once in January - analysis of the survey on the demand for training and possible redesign of the course catalogue, analysis of the Evaluation Committee's annual report, monitoring of drop-outs and proposals for improvement (didactic tutoring);

- once in March/April - analysis of the report of the Joint Professor/Instructor and Student Committee, preparation of the SUA-CdS, harmonisation of programmes, updating of the syllabus, preparation of the Prospectus;

- once in September/October - analysis of the results of the student opinion survey, analysis of the degree course indicators and preparation of the Annual Monitoring Form, assessment of the status of the actions reported in the Cyclical Review Report, preparation of the Single Annual Degree Course Report Card.
The general planning of QA activities leads to daily contact with student representatives, tutors, professors/instructors and staff in the Academic Office and central offices. In correspondence with deadlines for documents or fulfilments (review, SUA form, beginning and end of semesters, examination and graduation sessions), activities intensify and take the form of drafting texts or collecting information.