A Causal Model for the Effectiveness of Internal Quality Assurance for the Health Science Area(cid:31)
Kittiya Seeorn, Lt*
Affiliation : (cid:31) This research is a part of doctural dissertation of Department of Educational Research, Chulalongkorn University, which was supported by the Royal Golden Jubilee Programme of Thailand Research Fund under the advice of Prof. Dr. Somwung Pitiyanuwat and Prof. Dr. Mark L. Davison * Nurse Instructor, Naval Nursing College
The purposes of this research were 1) to study the effectiveness of Internal Quality Assurance (IQA)
of the Health science area, and 2) to study the factors affecting the effectiveness of the IQA of the Health
science area. A causal model has been developed by the researcher comprised of the 6 exogenous latent
variables: Attitude towards quality assurance, Teamwork, Staff training, Resource sufficiency, Organiza-
tional culture, and Leadership, and the 4 endogenous latent variables, which are the effectiveness of the IQA,
Student-centered approach, Decentralized administration, PDCA cycle of work (Plan-Do-Check-Act), and
Staff job satisfaction.
The research sample consisted of 108 health science faculties derived by stratified random sampling
technique. Data were collected by 10 questionnaires having reliability ranging from 0.79 to 0.96. Data
analyses were descriptive statistics, and Linear Structure Relationship (LISREL) analysis.
The major findings were as follows:
1. The 4 dimensions of effectiveness for the IQA of the Health science areas were significantly
higher at the .05 level, after the Health science faculty applied the IQA programme according to the National
Education Act of 1999.
2. The causal model of the effectiveness of the IQA was valid and fitted the empirical data. The 6
predictors accounted for 83% of the variance in the effectiveness of IQA. Culture and Leadership were the
predictors that significantly accounted for the effectiveness of the IQA.
Keywords : Causal model, Effectiveness, Internal quality assurance, Health science
