An integrated system for educational performance measurement, modeling and management at the classroom level

Purpose – This paper aims to introduce an integrated system for measuring, modeling, and managing teaching and learning performance in a university classroom environment. Design/methodology/approach – Four management tools, namely a performance measurement framework (PMF), statistical process control (SPC), structural equation modeling (SEM), and system dynamics (SD), are combined to help professors address important teaching and learning performance management issues. Findings – Concentrating measurement efforts on teaching and learning processes, rather than on outputs, such as the number of students passing a course, or outcomes, for instance average test scores, allows for early detection of problems in the classroom setting. Research limitations/implications – Combining SEM and SD provides the ability to quantify relationships between model variables. Since the data used to test the model originated from a pre‐university educational system, the intent of future work is to apply the data collected from students taking a fourth‐year engineering course at a university. Practical implications – The proposed system can be implemented by individual professors for monitoring their own teaching performance, as well as the learning performance of their students. Professors may also analyze how changes to the course structure, such as the number of homework assignments or the length of in‐class exams, will affect student performance and attitude toward the subject of the course. Originality/value – Four management tools were put together into a compact and manageable system that will help professors improve student performance. The paper demonstrated how SEM estimates of relationships between system variables can be used in SD to quantitatively assess effects of system changes on the performance of students.