Training of External Evaluating Peers at a virtual distance. First experience in Paraguay

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to analyze the main characteristics of the first virtual distance training process of Institutional Evaluators Peers, carried out by the National Agency for the Evaluation and Accreditation of Higher Education (ANEAES, Paraguay), within the framework of the quality assurance processes, implemented in the country. The documentary study of an exploratory nature used as a primary source of information all the documentation related to the country’s national evaluation and accreditation model, the guiding and regulatory documents, as well as all that related to the design of the training course for Institutional Evaluating Peers to Universities and Higher Institutes in its first virtual distance edition, its implementation and the results obtained. The analysis showed that the course was highly positive in terms of the number of participants, level of achievement, and the degree of satisfaction of the participants, at the same time verifying that the training of the Peer Evaluators as a guarantee of their efficient performance, it’s not enough. The experience has been positive in terms of the number of trained people, the level of participation in face-to-face activities, and online discussion forums. The participants had a good performance, a total of 49 were selected to be part of the Agency Peer bank data.