A joint webinar of INQAAHE, National Accreditation Council - Colombia (CNA), and the Red Iberoamericana para el Aseguramiento de la Calidad en la Educación Superior (RIACES)

This installment of the INQAAHE Talks series, Outcomes-Based Education and Quality Assurance is co-organised with the National Accreditation Council - Colombia (CNA) and Red Iberoamericana para el Aseguramiento de la Calidad en la Educación Superior (RIACES). The session will focus on the role and value of articulated, implemented and assessed student learning outcomes on teaching, learning, and quality assurance practices. 

We have invited speakers from various continents to share their views on how learning outcomes are currently being utilized, considerations on the costs and benefits of implementation and what lessons have been learned. The intention of the discussion is to support quality assurance agencies and Higher Education Institutions in Latin America and around the globe that may be grappling with introducing learning outcomes measures.

We will hear from Irene Durante, from Universidad Autónoma de México and COMAEM about student outcomes in accreditation of Medicine programs in México; from Damien Owens, from Engineers Ireland, IEA and ENAEE, who will explain how engineering accreditation incorporates learning outcomes; from Mary Catharine Lennon, from the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board (PEQAB), who will share international trends and activities, and Iván Ramos who will discuss the implementation experiences of the National Accreditation Council - Colombia (CNA).

This will be an interactive webinar with opportunities for participants to ask questions to the panel. Simultaneous Spanish/English translation provided.

The following speakers joined us in this session:

Dr. Durante is a founding member of the National System for the Accreditation of Medical Education in Mexico and has held several university positions in the Mexican Association of Medical Schools and Faculties, the Mexican Council for the Accreditation of Medical Education and the General Health Council of Mexico. She currently serves as Secretary General of the Facultad de Medicina, UNAM. 

Damien Owens is Registrar, Chief Risk Officer, and Fellow of Engineers Ireland. A significant focus of Damien’s role involves implementing an accreditation process for engineering programmes delivered in Ireland. This involves close work across Higher Education Authorities, as well as professional bodies, in order to improve education on the Engineers Ireland Code of Ethics and ensure that engineering courses in Ireland meet the highest international ethical standards. Damien represents Engineers Ireland in several international organisations. He was elected Chair of the International Engineering Alliance (2021-2023); is President of the European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education (2020-2021);. In Ireland, Damien was elected to the Council of Engineers Ireland; he also been a representative on a number of government appointed projects,contributes to the EU Directive on Professional Qualifications; and is a member of the Medical Devices committee of the National Office for Research Ethics Committees. 

Prior to joining Engineers Ireland in 2010, Damien worked in the telecommunications sector, largely in the area of product development. A Chartered Engineer and alma matter of Trinity College Dublin, Damien earned a Bachelor Degree in Engineering (1983) Master in Engineering in 1991 and MBA with the Open University (2000). Damien was motivated to join the committee in order to share his broad-based experience of ethics education and professional practice; gain a wider perspective on the intersection between technology and process, and a fuller understanding of the different cultural, social and technology impacts on ethics review.