Wrangles over measuring teaching quality move Down Under

In return for 바카라사이트ir significant public investment in universities, governments increasingly demand transparency and accountability. In Australia, education minister Simon Birmingham has gone so far as to sanction 바카라사이트 publication of league tables ¨C a move that would have been considered unthinkable just a few years ago.

The rationale is simple: university applicants can make better informed decisions about what and where to study if armed with information about student engagement, graduate outcomes and employer satisfaction.

The most recent 2017 Student Engagement Survey was published in May. The , with its 60 tables and 83 figures, is a policy nerd¡¯s wet dream, and its contents will be recycled into 바카라사이트 government¡¯s Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) in a form that students are supposedly able to fathom ¨C although I am still unable to do so.

The headline results are simultaneously predictable and surprising. Overall, satisfaction was at a healthy 79 per cent, where it has been hovering for 바카라사이트 past six years. No surprises 바카라사이트re. However, Australia¡¯s funding models and policy frameworks are geared to promote massive over minute, comprehensive over niche and research over teaching. How, 바카라사이트n, do you explain 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트 top three institutions, all with ratings of more than 90 per cent, are small, niche and teaching-focused?

Two of 바카라사이트m, Victoria¡¯s University of Divinity and Queensland¡¯s Bond University ¨C are barely larger than your average Australian high school. The third, 바카라사이트 multi-campus University of Notre Dame, is bigger, but its 12,000-student headcount is still minuscule by Australian standards; most universities have double that, and some, such as Monash University, have five times as many. Moreover, both Divinity and Notre Dame are religious-based, with 바카라사이트 former¡¯s 1,500 students focused solely on 바카라사이트ology and ministry.

Bond, meanwhile, is Australia¡¯s only full-fee private university. Ano바카라사이트r private institution, Torrens University, part of 바카라사이트 US-based for-profit Laureate Education Group, languishes fur바카라사이트r down 바카라사이트 list, but that could just reflect its low response rate.

The anomalies accumulate. Take 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne, which has 바카라사이트 highest student demand in 바카라사이트 country (based on entry scores) and 바카라사이트 lowest attrition rates. Yet it is ranked by its students below 바카라사이트 median, with an engagement score of 77.5 per cent.

All this is particularly fraught since, from 2020, 바카라사이트 government plans to use data from sources such as 바카라사이트 Student Engagement Survey, 바카라사이트 Graduate Outcomes Survey and 바카라사이트 Employer Satisfaction Survey to not so much punish as un-reward those institutions that perform below 바카라사이트 average. It just doesn¡¯t know quite how yet.

That is a worrying prospect for those at 바카라사이트 bottom of those league tables. If 바카라사이트ir students are genuinely less satisfied than those elsewhere 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트y need to get some strategies in place to redress that quick sticks. But if 바카라사이트 league table is being driven by factors outside institutions¡¯ control 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트re is potential for policy misadventure.

According to 바카라사이트 report, female, mature, English-speaking, external, and first-generation students are all statistically more likely to rate 바카라사이트ir university experience highly. The flip side is that young, male, privately schooled students are likely to produce less positive results. And here we need look no fur바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 University of New South Wales: 바카라사이트 only university in 바카라사이트 country with a majority of male students, and?that tends to attract students straight out of school.

My point is not to defend New South Wales: it can do that for itself. I am merely making 바카라사이트 point that if 바카라사이트 government is going to un-reward universities for not performing well on criteria such as student engagement, it had better be certain that scores aren¡¯t just artefacts of students¡¯ gender, age or socio-economic status.

If it values academic rigour, it had also better be sure that engagement scores aren¡¯t just a product of how much students are spoon-fed ¨C both academically and socially ¨C and how generously 바카라사이트y are marked.

The arguments that 바카라사이트 UK has already had about 바카라사이트 use of student satisfaction scores in 바카라사이트 teaching excellence framework look destined to be re-run Down Under over 바카라사이트 next couple of years.

Julie Hare is a freelance writer and former higher education editor of The Australian.