Outlining the changing landscape of global and UK higher education in the context of teaching quality

Raj Dhimar

What are the characteristics of

higher education - an international perspective?

What challenges does higher education face

in preparing new lecturers for various dimensions of their role and developing

experienced lecturers?

Does quality teaching in higher education

matter?

Looking at and critiquing emerging trends in addressing

and enhancing teaching quality

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Some issues for us to consider…

Preparing academics for

teaching careers

National and international competition

between institutions

Marketisation of higher

education

New technologies,

online learning and student mobility, e.g.

Bologna

The role of effective

teaching to help disseminate

research

Social, economic,

political, cultural changes

Recognising the importance of quality teaching e.g. teacher development

programmes in Ireland, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, USA, Australia, Canada

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The professionalisation of academics as teachers in higher education – European drivers

The European Science Foundation (ESF), position paper, (2010)

• Define professional standards for higher education teachers

• Measure teaching effectiveness and provide constructive feedback for academics

• Establish the institutional support base for educational development locally

• Recognise teaching excellence in hiring and promotion decisions

• Promote the idea of the ‘teacher researcher’

• Recognise research on teaching as research activity

• Allocate meaningful funding for educational development

• Establish a European forum within a currently existing institution that pools and shares resources and existing expertise on educational development across borders

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Suggested steps to improving teaching quality across Europe (ESF, 2010)

OECD research study of 29 institutions across 20 countries.

Key findings - major initiatives that support teaching quality:

1. Institution-wide and quality assurance policies

2. Programme monitoring

3. Teaching and learning support

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Review of quality teaching in higher education

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , (2010)

HEA research: Dimensions of Quality (Gibbs, 2011) examined quality factors impacting student learning experiences:

Use of institutional resources impacts educational outcomes. Gibbs picks out:

• class size• level of student effort &

engagement• who does the teaching• quality of feedback

as significant & valid process indicators

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Does excellent teaching matter?

• The National Student Survey (NSS)

• The Key Information Set (KIS)

• Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) auditshttp://www.qaa.ac.uk/Pages/default.aspx

• Emphasis on training, qualifications, accreditation, continuing professional development of individuals since Dearing (1997)

• Changing institutional missions and values – competitive markets, Unique Selling Point (USP)

• League tables – e.g. Guardian, Times Higher

• Student engagement initiatives

• Competing demands on research and teaching

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Quality performance indicators in the UK (Gibbs, 2012)

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Impact of teaching development programmes in higher education review (2010, UK)

1) A review of the context to

understanding programme impact

including programme evaluation and impact assessment in the UK

and more widely

2) A synthesis of the available evidence on achieved impacts – for teachers and students,

and on other programme impacts

3) An assessment of impact research

methods and models, and the strengths and merits of the available

evidence including improvement opportunities

4) A concluding assessment looking

across the review and also setting out

emerging evidence needs and gaps,

possible priorities and next steps

Recommendations:

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Impact of teaching development programmes in higher education review (2010, UK)

Prioritise the development of an impact assessment guide/toolkit for higher education

Establish a national focus for further research to improve impact evidence

Establish a national focus for further research to improve policy formation

Establish a study to map use of tools and evaluate approaches

Establish a national development project to produce “generic impact assessment tools and instruments

Establish a cross-sector ‘benchmarking’ study

Basic questions: who is teaching? should they be ‘qualified’? Why?

Excellence in teaching should be a personal ambition; but reward and recognition can be useful in encouraging and developing practice.

Excellent teaching is an essential ingredient in the creation of an outstanding student learning experience.

Teaching quality most important variable in increasing student achievement.

Are student outcomes an appropriate judgement of teaching success?

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Excellent teaching: A brief focus

From your perspective:

• What is the sector context?

• Who are the higher education teaching and learning staff in your institutions?

• Identify the development needs of different teaching staff?

• Explore the issues, challenges, approaches , developments and aspirations of higher education teaching in Thailand – where do you want to be in the future?

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Exploring the Thailand higher education learning and teaching context – group discussion

• Dearing (1997), Higher Education in the Learning Society, Report of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, URL: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/ncihe/

• ESF

• Gibbs, G. (2011), Dimensions of quality, The Higher Education Academy, URL: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/evidence_informed_practice/Dimensions_of_Quality

• Gibbs, G. (2012), Implications of ‘Dimensions of quality’ in a market environment, The Higher Education Academy, URL: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/evidence_informed_practice/Implications_of_Dimensions_of_quality

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References

• HEA, (2012), Impact of teaching development programmes in higher education, URL: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/news/detail/2012/teaching_development_programmes

• OECD, (2010), Review of quality teaching in higher education. An overview of institutional policies and initiatives aimed at enhancing the quality of teaching (phase 1): Learning Our Lesson: Review of Quality Teaching in Higher Education

• European Science Foundation (2010), The Professionalisation of Academics as Teachers in Higher Education, Science position paper, URL, http://www.esf.org/social

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References…