IPAN case studies and research findings
Establishing the Integrative Programme Assessment Network (IPAN)
These are the findings of the QAA Collaborative Enhancement Project, led by the University of South Wales, that sought to build a collaborative network supporting higher education institutions (HEIs) and QAA members in adopting integrated programme assessment (IPA) approaches.
Methodology
Recruitment:
Participants were academics, and professional services staff who were recruited via a survey distributed through the IPA Network, JISC mailing lists, a QAA Collaborative Enhancement Projects advertisement and through the professional networks of the project team.
Following informed consent, participants attended online semi-structured interviews. One member of the research team carried out all interviews with a script guide as follows:
Introduction and Initial Impressions
Here the interviewer attempted to establish the setting, the instructor's general perspective, and their immediate understanding of the assessment change.
Strategic and Systemic Context
These questions prompt the interviewee to reflect on the institutional drivers and policy framework behind the assessment. This connects their practice to the "why."
Practice, Pedagogy, and Alignment
This was the core section, focusing on how the assessment affects the instructor's teaching reality. It logically followed the strategic “why” with the practical “how”.
Assessment and Feedback Mechanics
This section dealt with the practical, often sensitive, issue of workload and quality control, flowing naturally from the pedagogical discussion.
Challenges, Benefits, and Future Improvement
This final section prompted synthesis and forward-looking reflection, culminating in key takeaways and actionable suggestions.
The aim was to progress the interview smoothly from: Initial Understanding to Institutional Rationale to Classroom Practice through Grading Logistics to a final Overall Reflection.
Analysis
The transcriptions of which were thematically analysed using established methods (Braun and Clarke, 2006; Naeem et al., 2023) in NVivo (Lumivero (2023) NVivo (Version 14)).
Case studies and results
Emerged Themes
Synthesis
These data suggests that early team involvement is the "glue" that holds IPA together. Without it, the pedagogical benefits (Theme 2 & 3) are often undermined by the administrative friction (Theme 5), eventually leading the team to revert to the easier, albeit less effective, modular system.