Next Steps in Developing an Educational Programme: Determining When to Take Actions

The development and implementation of educational programmes that meet the demands of the labour market, state and international standards require the attention of university leaders and researchers. Higher education institutions and programme managers may have a need to determine the current state of the programme, redesign it, identify the target audience, etc., however they may lack tools. This study presents a model for the expertise of higher education programmes and the results of its aprobation based on master’s degree programmes. In addition, the analysis of various approaches to determining the quality of education and existing approaches to the expert evaluation of educational programmes is carried out. The findings revealed the key characteristics and features of the studied programmes, including the uniqueness of educational outcomes, the emphasis on an evidence-based approach, and the commitment to updating the content and teaching methods. The study also identified challenges, such as the discrepancy between the names of the programmes and the actual educational practices expected by students. The considerable value and potential of the proposed model for the exert evaluation and enhancement of educational programmes has been demonstrated by the conducted expertise, rendering it useful in the context of managerial decisions related to the educational process modernisation. The development of simplified version of the model for wider implementation is a prospect of the research.