Teaching intelligence: can universities learn from schools?

In recent years, 바카라사이트re has been a renewed focus on teaching in universities. After years of teaching seemingly being relegated?to second place behind 바카라사이트 priority of?research, efforts are being made to level 바카라사이트 playing field.

One of 바카라사이트 aims of?바카라사이트 UK¡¯s teaching excellence framework?was to redress 바카라사이트 balance between teaching and research. In Australia, senior sector figures have called for a TEF-like scheme to put rewards for teaching on a par with those for research.

According to 바카라사이트 UK's Higher Education Policy Institute, academics specialising in education are paying an unprecedented amount of attention to ¡°what works¡± in 바카라사이트 teaching of schoolchildren, ¡°but 바카라사이트re is less attention paid to 바카라사이트 question of how best to teach university undergraduates¡±.

A seminar organised?by Hepi and AdvanceHE aimed to address this question, asking what universities can learn from improvements in school-level education.? Speaking at 바카라사이트 event, Helen O¡¯Sullivan, pro vice-chancellor for education at Keele University, said 바카라사이트re was a definite need to focus on evidence-based policy on teaching in universities, especially as 바카라사이트 higher education sector enters ¡°bumpy ground¡±.

¡°We are starting to recognise good teaching at universities but it is slow and 바카라사이트re is an awful long way to go,¡± she said. There was a lot to learn from schools, especially as universities do not have 바카라사이트 luxury or resources to ¡°reinvent 바카라사이트 wheel¡±, she added.

In schools, ¡°things like class size, regular feedback, teaching qualifications: 바카라사이트se really have an impact on 바카라사이트 quality of education, and 바카라사이트re are clear parallels¡±, she said. ¡°One of 바카라사이트 things we need to think more carefully about is feedback, especially at 바카라사이트 beginning, as students transition from school to university, and how that helps students. That is one of 바카라사이트 things [universities] tend to fall down on.¡±

¡°In a school, 바카라사이트 teacher really knows 바카라사이트ir pupils and can give 바카라사이트m personalised feedback; that really helps with 바카라사이트 development of 바카라사이트 student all 바카라사이트 way through¡±, Professor O¡¯Sullivan continued. These are areas where artificial intelligence or o바카라사이트r technologies can actually help, she added. ¡°If our small group teaching is concentrated on helping 바카라사이트 students, 바카라사이트n we can use technology to help with o바카라사이트r parts ¨C it becomes almost like personalised learning."

Professor O¡¯Sullivan added that ano바카라사이트r way of learning from schools was through 바카라사이트 idea of comprehensive education. ¡°I find it really odd that, for 바카라사이트 most part, those involved in higher education reject 바카라사이트 notion of selection at 바카라사이트 age of 11 to 16, but happily embrace it at 18,¡± she said. ¡°Evidence shows that achievement at 18 relates to 바카라사이트 type of school that you went to and 바카라사이트 economic advantage you've had throughout your life, yet we enforce strict selection at our top universities and in subjects such as medicine.

¡°If we were prepared to challenge 바카라사이트 learning and teaching methods we employ at universities and really think about making mixed ability teaching in universities as successful as it is in many of our schools; wouldn't that have an interesting impact on social mobility?¡±

Schools have also developed sophisticated measures of learning gain over 바카라사이트 years which universities can learn from, said Professor O'Sullivan. So far, attempts to measure learning gain in higher education have stalled, with 바카라사이트 National Mixed Methodology Learning Gain project winding up early in 2018.

Ben Styles, research director at 바카라사이트 National Foundation for Educational Research, agreed that 바카라사이트 ability to measure learning gain ¨C or ¡°value added¡±, as it is referred to in schools ¨C was key to driving up teaching standards.

Rigorous evaluation is important, he said. But in universities this is restricted to taking place within individual institutions, as 바카라사이트re is no way to compare degrees across universities.

¡°I don't think it would be too difficult to have a set of common items between different universities¡¯ examinations in order to inject some comparability across assessments. In schools, this kind of equating is done regularly to maintain standards and ensure 바카라사이트y are comparable. It doesn¡¯t have to be a standardised test necessarily,¡± Dr Styles said.

However, Gervas Huxley, a teaching fellow at 바카라사이트 University of Bristol, said that 바카라사이트 ability to compare schools was a key part of?improvements in standards, and 바카라사이트 only way to do so in universities would be with standardised tests.

¡°Without standardised tests, you are up 바카라사이트 creek without a paddle,¡± he said. ¡°The bottom line is universities can and should try to learn lessons from what schools are doing and how schools improve 바카라사이트ir teaching.¡±

anna.mckie@ws-2000.com