STLHE: How well do we assess & assure quality in higher education?

Presented by Ronald Smith, Professor Emeritus, Concordia University [paper abstract]

My notes here are a bit scattered. The main takeaway for me was the discussion around the importance of valuing teaching in an institution (whether that is with monetary rewards or not; although, from the discussion, it seemed clear that without the monetary reward, teaching would never be as high-profile as research). Another interesting part of the discussion is the work that’s being done in Hong Kong with TLQPR (teaching & learning quality process review) which looks like a pretty extensive instrument. Lots on the web about TLQPR.

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some of the ways assessment is currently done (examples from the room)
- student feedback
- feedback from practitioners
- retention and graduation rates
- exit surveys
- programme advisory groups
- alumni surveys
- programme review
- peer review & feedback
- accreditation review
- teaching awards
- performance review, tenure & promotion

Ronald’s experience:
- institutions don’t do it well
- there are lots of issues with assessing quality (what’s quality?)
- productivity
- accountability
- honouring the trust – parents trust us with their kids. are we honouring that trust?

Ronald’s experience in Hong Kong:
- teaching development grants were given out generously
- having the money wasn’t the only answer
- everything was focused on research so that got all the money
- TLQPR was put into place to swing the pendulum back to teaching

what would a culture of quality teaching & learning look like?
- teaching and learning are our primary functions
- continued efforts to assure and enhance the quality of teaching and learning within the institution (at the institutional level, at the individual level)

the purpose of TLQBR
- to maintain the focus on teaching and learning as the primary mission of the institution
- to inform funding (because if money is not attached to it, all the extra money goes to research)
- some faculty members think of the teaching part of their job as philanthropy. what they’re really there for is the research

- quality has two facets: did you design it and did you do it?
- how do you use the results of student assessment to improve teaching and learning?
- define quality in terms of student outcomes, not in terms of teaching
- substitute low cost for high cost resources where possible without hurting quality
- work collaboratively to achieve mutual involvement and support