Achieving Quality Learning In Higher Education

This study argues that there is little hope of maintaining quality in higher and further education unless those in academia share common goals. It demonstrates how results can be achieved if the principles of high quality learning are applied along with total quality management-type strategies.

"This book is an exceptional introduction to some difficult ideas. It is full of downright good advice for every academic who wants to do something practical to improve his or hers students’ learning." Paul Ramsden, Brisbane, Australia "Biggs and Tang present a unified view of university teaching that is both grounded in research and theory and replete with guidance for novice and expert instructors. The book will inspire, challenge, unsettle, and in places annoy and even infuriate its readers, but it will succeed in helping them think about how high quality teaching can contribute to high quality learning." John Kirby, Queens University, Ontario, Canada This best-selling book explains the concept of constructive alignment used in implementing outcomes-based education. Constructive alignment identifies the desired learning outcomes and helps teachers design the teaching and learning activities that will help students to achieve those outcomes, and to assess how well those outcomes have been achieved. Each chapter includes tasks that offer a 'how-to' manual to implement constructive alignment in your own teaching practices. This new edition draws on the authors' experience of consulting on the implementation of constructive alignment in Australia, Hong Kong, Ireland and Malaysia including a wider range of disciplines and teaching contexts. There is also a new section on the evaluation of constructive alignment, which is now used worldwide as a framework for good teaching and assessment, as it has been shown to: Assist university teachers who wish to improve the quality of their own teaching, their students' learning and their assessment of learning outcomes Aid staff developers in providing support for departments in line with institutional policies Provide a framework for administrators interested in quality assurance and enhancement of teaching across the whole university. The authors have also included useful web links to further material. Teaching for Quality Learning at University will be of particular interest to teachers, staff developers and administrators.

This study argues that there is little hope of maintaining quality in higher and further education unless those in academia share common goals. It demonstrates how results can be achieved if the principles of high quality learning are applied along with total quality management-type strategies.

"This book is a sophisticated and insightful conceptualization of outcomes-based learning developed from the concept of constructive alignment. The first author has already made a significant contribution to the scholarship and practice of teaching and learning in universities…Together with the second author, there is now added richness through the practical implementation and practices. The ideas in this book are all tried and shown to contribute to more successful learning experience and outcome for students." Denise Chalmers, Carrick Institute of Education, Australia Teaching for Quality Learning at University focuses on implementing a constructively aligned outcomes-based model at both classroom and institutional level. The theory, which is now used worldwide as a framework for good teaching and assessment, is shown to: Assist university teachers who wish to improve the quality of their own teaching, their students' learning and their assessment of learning outcomes Aid staff developers in providing support for teachers Provide a framework for administrators interested in quality assurance and enhancement of teaching across the whole university The book's "how to" approach addresses several important issues: designing high level outcomes, the learning activities most likely to achieve them in small and large classes, and appropriate assessment and grading procedures. It is an accessible, jargon-free guide to all university teachers interested in enhancing their teaching and their students' learning, and for administrators and teaching developers who are involved in teaching-related decisions on an institution-wide basis. The authors have also included useful web links to further material.

What are the aims of higher education? What are the strategies necessary for institutional improvement? How might the student experience be improved? The emergence of the discourse around learning and teaching is one of the more remarkable phenomena of the last decade in higher education. Increasingly, universities are being required to pay greater attention to improving teaching and enhancing student learning. This book will help universities and colleges achieve these goals through an approach to institutional change that is well founded on both research and practical experience. By placing learning at the centre of organizational change, this book challenges many of the current assumptions about management of teaching, supporting students, the separation of research and teaching, the use of information technology and quality systems. It demonstrates how trust can be restored within higher education while advancing the need for change based on principles of equity and academic values for students and teachers alike. Improving Teaching and Learning in Higher Education is key reading for anyone interested in the development of teaching and learning in higher education, as well as policy makers.

This entirely new edition of a very successful book focuses on developing professional academic skills for supporting and supervising student learning and effective teaching. It is built on the premise that the roles of those who teach in higher education are complex and multi-faceted. A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education is sensitive to the competing demands of teaching, research, scholarship, and academic management. The new edition reflects and responds to the rapidly changing context of higher education and to current understanding of how to best support student learning. Drawing together a large number of expert authors, it continues to feature extensive use of case studies that show how successful teachers have implemented these ideas. It includes key topics such as student engagement and motivation, internationalisation, employability, inclusive strategies for teaching, effective use of technology and issues relating to postgraduate students and student retention. Part 1 explores a number of aspects of the context of UK higher education that affect the education of students, looking at the drivers of institutional behaviours and how to achieve success as a university teacher. Part 2 examines learning, teaching and supervising in higher education and includes chapters on working with diversity, encouraging independent learning and learning gain. Part 3 considers approaches to teaching and learning in different disciplines, covering a full range including arts and humanities, social sciences, experimental sciences through to medicine and dentistry. Written to support the excellence in teaching and learning design required to bring about student learning of the highest quality, this will be essential reading for all new lecturers, particularly anyone taking an accredited course in teaching and learning in higher education, as well as those experienced lecturers who wish to improve their teaching practice. Those working in adult learning and educational development will also find the book to be a particularly useful resource. In addition it will appeal to staff who support learning and teaching in various other roles.

Many countries now employ national evaluation systems to demonstrate publicly that universities provide a quality education. However, the current processes of quality evaluation are often detached from the practices of teaching and learning. In particular, those who teach and those who learn still have to be won over to such audit processes.This book argues that it is time for the higher education sector to concern itself with the human dimension so as to develop both academic professionalism and students’ commitment to their learning. Based on five completed research projects, which explore academics’ and students’ experiences and their views of quality evaluation, the book argues that developing the intrinsic values of teaching and learning held by academics and students is key to achieving high quality education.In this book, the author critically reviews the four most frequently used terms related to current quality evaluation: ‘fitness for purpose’, ‘value for money’, ‘student satisfaction’ and ‘students-as-customers’, and argues for a motivationally intelligent quality approach, emphasising the moral dimension and the intrinsic values of academics and students. The author also outlines an improved quality evaluation system that encourages and increases academics’ and students’ commitment to teaching and learning.

Although initially utilized in business and industrial environments, quality management systems can be adapted into higher education to assess and improve an institution’s standards. These strategies are now playing a vital role in educational areas such as teaching, learning, and institutional-level practices. However, quality management tools and models must be adapted to fit with the culture of higher education. Quality Management Implementation in Higher Education: Practices, Models, and Case Studies is a pivotal reference source that explores the challenges and solutions of designing quality management models in the current educational culture. Featuring research on topics such as Lean Six Sigma, distance education, and student supervision, this book is ideally designed for school board members, administrators, deans, policymakers, stakeholders, professors, graduate students, education professionals, and researchers seeking current research on the applications and success factors of quality management systems in various facets of higher education.