Assuring quality of a module in human resource management: learners' perceptions

Being quality minded in education means caring about the needs and expectations of learners and ensuring that they are met. Learners' perceptions thus provide important information for lecturers if learners' needs are to be met. This awareness led the lecturers of a module in Human Resource Management which formed part of a Master's programme to pose the following research question: Did the learning material and assessment system of a module in Human Resource Management delivered by distance education meet the needs and expectations of the learners? In an attempt to answer this question, some important concepts such as quality, quality assurance, quality teaching and distance education, were clarified and an overview of the module, Human Resource Management, was provided. Learners' perceptions of the module were also determined empirically. Both quantitative (closed-form items) and qualitative data (open questions) were obtained by means of a questionnaire. Thus the article illustrates how to tackle quality assessment by considering the needs of customers (learners) and ensuring they are adequately met.