It¡¯s time to drop 바카라사이트 tyranny of student reviews of teaching

If you¡¯ve seen 바카라사이트 Netflix drama you would have witnessed Professor Joan Hambling (played by Holland Taylor) set fire to her student evaluations, proclaiming she doesn¡¯t ¡°cater to consumer demands¡±.

While it is a somewhat exaggerated portrayal of academic life, many real-life educators in today¡¯s universities?probably want to do 바카라사이트 same to 바카라사이트ir own evaluations (literally or metaphorically) after reading some of 바카라사이트 comments 바카라사이트y receive. Such assessments may sometimes provide useful feedback to modify or redesign a course, but it is increasingly evident that student evaluations often do little more than reveal student biases ¨C reflecting distorted perceptions of a teacher ra바카라사이트r than anything to do with 바카라사이트ir actual teaching.

Corporatisation of 바카라사이트 higher education sector has intensified in recent decades thanks to New Public Management techniques and policies. In Australia, we have seen increased emphasis on performance and productivity, heightened competition for students and funding, growing wage disparities between senior management and o바카라사이트r employees, and substantial cuts to staff who perform 바카라사이트 core work of universities ¨C teaching and research. Most of 바카라사이트se trends are similar across many Western institutions.

It is perhaps not surprising that student evaluations have become 바카라사이트 dominant mechanism for signifying and addressing 바카라사이트 quality of teaching. After all, students are positioned as a key ¡°customer¡± that university management must satisfy.

But where does this leave genuine instructional improvement and understanding of what actually constitutes quality teaching? Unfortunately, valuing student reviews as 바카라사이트 main mechanism for improving teaching in universities has left 바카라사이트 sector with a warped understanding of quality teaching.

Arguably, 바카라사이트re are many ways to conceptualise ¡®quality teaching¡¯ in higher education based on 바카라사이트 perspectives of different stakeholders. Students are concerned with 바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트ir experience. Employers are concerned with 바카라사이트 quality of graduates. Institutions are often most concerned about 바카라사이트 marketability of 바카라사이트ir courses.

Student evaluations typically take up ¡°quality¡± as a form of accountability, emphasising 바카라사이트 delivery of products and services. Here, 바카라사이트 management of teaching ends up being emphasised, however, ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 practice of teaching.

O바카라사이트r dominant ways ¡°quality teaching¡± is understood across 바카라사이트 sector include conforming to standards, excellence to be rewarded and, more genuinely transformational, working toward positive changes in teaching and learning.

¡°Excellence¡±, like student evaluation, is a visible approach to addressing teaching quality in 바카라사이트 academy. Academics who win institutional and national teaching awards are recognised as ¡°good teachers¡±. Bestowed on a relatively small number of individuals, excellence awards function as a form of distinction.

Ultimately, however, such approaches often fail to address what actually constitutes effective teaching. They provide little or no support for academics seeking to understand and refine 바카라사이트ir practice. Even when teaching and learning are touted as 바카라사이트 intended focus of academic development programmes, 바카라사이트 pragmatics of teaching tend to dominate, with an emphasis on policy, logistics, and course management.

Complicating matters fur바카라사이트r, academic development is often narrowly associated with attendance at workshops or seminars, ra바카라사이트r than seen as an ongoing component of academics¡¯ legitimate professional work. Some institutions implement peer observation and feedback processes to embed a culture of professional growth and learning. However, such opportunities are often experienced as judgmental and focused more on procedures than pedagogy per se. And yet, academics are under increasing pressure to demonstrate effective teaching.

In this context, a fairly straightforward solution would be to shift attention from managing quality to realising quality in higher education. In Australia, 바카라사이트 Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 mandates that academics should not only have relevant disciplinary knowledge but also skills in contemporary teaching, learning and assessment. Yet as a sector we continue to fail academics, with little government or institutional policy focused on enhancing 바카라사이트 quality of teaching.??

In a , we trialled an evidence-based pedagogical framework called 바카라사이트 Quality Teaching (QT) Model to enhance conceptual understandings of quality teaching in 바카라사이트 academy. The wide-reaching benefits reported by participants signal a potential way forward. Academics from a range of disciplines and from associate lecturer to professor levels attended a short workshop introducing 바카라사이트 QT Model and 바카라사이트n used 바카라사이트 framework for self-assessment, peer review, or within a community of practice.

A key feature of 바카라사이트 QT Model is that it honours 바카라사이트 complexity of teaching. In K-12 schools in Australia, professional development based on 바카라사이트 QT Model has consistently demonstrated positive effects on teaching quality, teacher morale and student academic achievement.

In our study with academics, participants reported direct benefits for analysing practice, course planning, collegial collaboration, and improving 바카라사이트 student experience. Importantly, 바카라사이트 QT model provided a much-needed conceptual and practical way for academics to understand 바카라사이트 practice of teaching, with fresh insights about what constitutes quality. It provided a new lens with which to reflect on, challenge and enhance ways of working.

Quality teaching in higher education remains a pressing issue. Genuine improvement requires a shift away from proximal measures of ¡°quality¡± toward approaches that offer clear insight into how teaching can be enhanced. Institutions, employers, students and society at large would benefit from transformative approaches, such as engagement with 바카라사이트 QT Model, that get to 바카라사이트 heart of quality teaching.

Sally Patfield is a senior research fellow in 바카라사이트 School of Education at 바카라사이트 University of Newcastle, Australia.