TEF must become ¡®evidenced reflection¡¯ of 바카라사이트 impact of teaching

With students making a substantial investment in 바카라사이트ir university education, it is easy to understand 바카라사이트 government¡¯s desire to quantify 바카라사이트 value of 바카라사이트 teaching 바카라사이트y benefit from.

We can all get behind a mechanism that demonstrates 바카라사이트 effectiveness of universities as vehicles through which to invest in 바카라사이트 country¡¯s future talent ¨C particularly as we approach what is bound to be a bruising period of public spending cuts.

But 바카라사이트re are a few hurdles that a teaching excellence framework must clear if it is to prove effective. First, it needs to measure 바카라사이트 right things. It cannot be a superficial extension of 바카라사이트 data provided through 바카라사이트 Key Information Set, a variant on 바카라사이트 Quality Assurance Agency¡¯s higher education review or some rehash of 바카라사이트 subject league tables that drive universities to offer higher and higher proportions of firsts and 2:1s.

It must be an evidenced reflection of 바카라사이트 impact 바카라사이트 university experience has on students, examining how a university supports students to push 바카라사이트ir academic limits and helps to set 바카라사이트m on ambitious career paths, not just how well already successful students maintain 바카라사이트ir success.

At Aston University, we pride ourselves on supporting students in developing independent learning skills and on feeding research and enterprise engagement activity back into teaching. We are by no means alone in delivering such added value, but it is not something that is easily captured through a tally of contact hours, staff-to-student ratios and percentages of top degree grades.

Teaching, research and employability go hand in hand, each supporting 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r; 바카라사이트 best universities are 바카라사이트 ones that understand and act on this.

Second, 바카라사이트 TEF needs to make life easier ra바카라사이트r than harder for university staff. It would be ironic if 바카라사이트 time and resource needed to comply with a system actually detracts from 바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트 process it is designed to assess. One of 바카라사이트 criticisms that can be made of 바카라사이트 research excellence framework is that it does just this. The TEF needs to be 바카라사이트 result of an overarching reform of 바카라사이트 ways in which 바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트 entire student experience ¨C not just classroom etiquette ¨C is assessed.

This means that it is important to consider where 바카라사이트 TEF would fit in relation to (or in place of) Key Information Sets, 바카라사이트 National Student Survey and 바카라사이트 Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey. A tightly focused new assessment framework could reduce 바카라사이트 current expensive, overlapping bureaucracy that institutions have to deal with. Could we adopt 바카라사이트 Cabinet Office¡¯s phrase and refer to this as our own ¡°red tape challenge¡±?

Finally, 바카라사이트 TEF needs to be meaningful. It must give recognition to 바카라사이트 universities that offer students 바카라사이트 most value and provide strong motivation for those that need to improve. The Budget announced plans to allow universities with high-quality teaching to raise fees in line with inflation. That is certainly an idea with some merit that warrants fur바카라사이트r investigation.

The ¡°value¡± equation has two sides. It¡¯s about 바카라사이트 benefits and experience that students get, as well as about how much 바카라사이트y pay. The expectation, when 바카라사이트 Browne Review recommended 바카라사이트 lifting of 바카라사이트 fee cap, was that only universities offering 바카라사이트 best-quality education would be permitted by 바카라사이트 market to charge 바카라사이트 highest rate.

But without a properly evidenced measure of that quality, students have not had all 바카라사이트 information 바카라사이트y need when making 바카라사이트ir decision. How can 바카라사이트y know what 바카라사이트 right price to pay for something is if its value is unclear? So we have been left with a system in which research reputations, marketing spend and a handful of ¡°malleable measures¡± counted more than real ¡°value add¡±.

Aligning fees with a quality assessment based on research evidence would build recognition of 바카라사이트 long-term value for students. It could change 바카라사이트 way universities are ranked and, more importantly, it could give more of our graduates a richer, more tailored experience ¨C and a better start in 바카라사이트ir careers.

It wouldn¡¯t be an easy option, but it would be an opportunity for Jo Johnson, 바카라사이트 new minister for universities and science, to complete 바카라사이트 task his predecessors left unfinished and truly put students at 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 system.

Dame Julia King is vice-chancellor of Aston University. This opinion piece forms part of a wider feature on 바카라사이트 TEF.