FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT ON AN INDIVIDUAL AND AN INSTITUTIONAL LEVEL ON THE WAY TO QUALITY CULTURE IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Several issues are always on the agenda in higher education, most notably quality assessment methods and whether this methodology has a direct influence on teaching, and the improvement of teaching quality by including effectiveness, efficiency, reliability, responsiveness as well as empathy. On the one hand it is a logical and a justified movement towards the standardisation of quality assessment procedures, but on the other hand, integration of an individualised approach, which would allow assessing one's performance in essence and providing solutions for different higher education practice specifics, which we can see both in higher education institutions internationally as well as locally. The purpose of quality assessment is to define must-do and must-have things, so that higher education institutions would integrate emerging tendencies. Transforming assessment is crucial for the performance of the entire institution, both in planning and in managing the everyday work of the institution, as well as by applying assessment methods to the academic staff and students individually. By acknowledging the results, additional decisions should be made, e.g., what strategies and methods should be used to promote teacher motivation, what should be done to achieve better study results, what do better performing students need, and how to approach those students who are performing poorly. This research aims to explore the formative assessment experience at the Rīga Stradiņš University (hereinafter RSU), which is crucial to nurture quality culture in higher education. The formative approach in quality allows you to build and strengthen the understanding of quality within the organisation showing that quality assessment is quality forming and altogether it is a continuous process.