1. Outlining the changing landscape of global and
UK higher education in the context of teaching
quality
Raj Dhimar

2. 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
2
Some issues for us to consider…

3. 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
3
The professionalisation of academics
as teachers in higher education –
European drivers
The European
Science Foundation
(ESF), position
paper, (2010)

4. • 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
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Suggested steps to improving teaching
quality across Europe (ESF, 2010)

5. 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)

6. 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?

7. • The National Student
Survey (NSS)
• The Key Information Set
(KIS)
• Quality Assurance
Agency (QAA) audits
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Pag
es/default.aspx
• Emphasis on
training, qualifications, ac
creditation, 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)

8. 8
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

9. 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

10.  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

11. 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

12. • 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_informe
d_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_informe
d_practice/Implications_of_Dimensions_of_quality
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References

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