2. QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEMS
INTRODUCTION
AccordingtotheOECD (OrganisationforEconomic Co-
operationandDevelopment)andIMHE (Institutional Management in
HigherEducation), overthelastfifteenyears more than 60
countrieshaveestablishedtheirownnationalqualityassurancesystemsf
oreducation(El-Khawas, 2001)
As a result, thereisanincrease in publicassessments
andinternationalcomparisonsofeducationinstitutions.
Evaluationmechanismgoodteachingpractices. (outcomesindicators)
3. QUALITY ASSURANCE
QUALITY TEACHING INITIATIVES:
(theretwomainapproaches)
Thetop-downapproach, thosequalityteachinginitiativestaken by
theinstitutioncollectivelyanddeterminated by itsleadership.
Andthebottom-up approach, thosequalityteachinginitiativestaken by
theteachers.
The concrete mechanismsusedtoputthemintopractice,
heavilydependonthecircumstancesofeachinstitutions
http://www.oecd.org/edu/imhe/qualityteaching
4. QUALITYTEACHING EVALUATION
Theevaluationofqualityteachingisoftenchallenged in reality,
althoughaccepted.
Thedemonstrationofthe casual link, betweenteachingandlearning,
remainschallengingformostinstitutions.
Itisdifficulttoisolatetherightfactorsthatmostaffectlearningoutcomes.
In theabsenceofappropiateevaluationtools,
someinstitutionshavebeenimaginative.
Anincreasingnumberofinstitutions are
convincedthattheywillmakequalityteachingprogress by
combiningprofessionalorientationsandresearch.
6. EVALUATION
THERE ARE TWO GENERAL TYPES OF EVALUATION BASED ON
THEIR TIMING (FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE EVALUATION)
o FORMATIVE, DURING THE COURSE OF TEACHING, ALLOWS
ADJUSTMENTS ACCORDINGLY.
o SUMMATIVE, AT THE COMPLETION OF THE UNIT, LARGELY FOR
JUDGMENTS, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED AND
STANDARDS REACHED
FINDINGS INFORM ABOUT QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE
NEXT TEACHING PERIOD.
7. WHY?
COURSE, UNIT ANDTEACHING EVALUATION
WHY TO EVALUATE?
IN TERMS OF STUDENT PARTICIPATION AND ACHIEVEMENTS
1. TO CRITICALLY REFLECT ON ACTIVITIES
2. TO JUDGE THE QUALITY OF METHODOLOGY
3. TO SEEK QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS
4. UNIT EVALUATION IS ONE IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF
THE TEACHING QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEM
8. WHAT?
COURSE, UNIT ANDTEACHING EVALUATION
WHAT TO EVALUATE?
DEFINING THE PURPOSE WILL DETERMINE THE FOCUS OF YOUR
EVALUATION, WHICH MIGHT INCLUDE:
1. THE IMPACT OF ONES’ TEACHING
2. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COURSE DESIGN, INCLUDING ITS CONTENT
AND ASSESSMENT METHODS
3. ADEQUACY OF STUDENT SUPPORT (ACADEMIC, TECHNICAL,
ADMINISTRATIVE)
4. COURSE DELIVERY MATTERS (e.g. Withrespecttowebdelivery)
9. WHEN?
COURSE, UNIT ANDTEACHING EVALUATION
WHEN TO EVALUATE?
DECISIONS ON WHEN TO FORMALLY EVALUATE A UNIT DEPENS ON
NUMEROUS FACTORS:
1. TO EVALUATE A UNIT OFFERED FOR THE FIRST TIME
2. THE LAST TIME THE UNIT WAS REVIEWED
3. HIGH SCHOOL, STATE AND SCHEDULE REQUIREMENTS (CURRICULUM)
4. THE PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION
10. TEACHING UNIT EVALUATION
THE UNIT ADDRESSED THE LEARNING OUTCOMES
STATED IN THE UNIT OUTLINE (LIST OF “LEARNING
OUTCOMES” AND THE CHANCE TO DEMONSTRATE TO
YOUR TEACHER)
THE CRITERIA FOR EACH ASSESSMENT COMPONENT
WERE CLEARLY IDENTIFIED (STATEMENTS)
THE WORKLOAD IN THIS UNIT WAS APPROPIATE
THERE WAS REASONABLE OPPORTUNITY FOR
INTERACTION WITH TEACHING STAFF
I WAS GIVEN USEFUL FEEDBACK ON MY
ASSESSMENT WORK (HELPFUL COMMENTS OR
ADVICES FROM YOUR TEACHERS. WHAT YOU HAVE
DONE WELL, OR WHAT YOU NEED TO IMPROVE ON)
11. TEACHING UNIT EVALUATION
SUBMITTED WORK WAS RETURNED TO ME
IN A REASONABLE TIME FRAME
THE UNIT STIMULED MY INTEREST IN THE
SUBJECT
I GAINED A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THE
SUBJECT MATTER
I ENHANCED MY COMPETENCIES IN THIS
UNIT
THE UNIT WAS WELL TAUGHT
12. TEACHING EVALUATION
HE WAS WELL ORGANISED (arriveson
time, has lecture notes/
handouts/materials,
overheadpresentations, a
goodunderstandingofthings he has to
do, likesequencyor dates)
HE MADE THE SUBJECT MATTER
INTERESTING (use goodexamples,
adequationofthesubjectmattertothelev
els, enthusiastic, set
challengingandrewardingassessmenttas
ks, use
effectiveresourcesandteachingstategies
such as discussionorsmallgroupwork)
13. TEACHING EVALUATION
HE GAVE HELPFUL FEEDBACK ON MY PROGRESS,
aboutyourassessmentworkandclasscontributions, writtenor
verbal, at different times, onyourcompletedassessmentor in
theprocessofbeingcompleted, orduringtheclass time, e.g.
Comment about how
yourcontributionstoclassdiscussionhaveimprovedduringtheunit,
or even writeaboutyourprogress in an email toyou) In fact,
isWhatyou are doingwell,whatyou mean with “helpfull
feedback” orWhatyouneedtoimproveonthatis even more
important.
14. TEACHING EVALUATION
HE TREATED STUDENTS WITH RESPECT,
theyspeakandwritepolitelyandkindlytostudents, they listen
attentivelywhenstudentsspeaktothem,
theyalwaysvaluethecontributionsthatstudentsmake in class,
andtheytryto be helpfultostudents.
HE KNEW THE SUBJECT MATTER WELL,
isusuallyabletoanswerstudents’ questionsconfidently.
HE COMMUNICATED ENTHUSIASM FOR THE SUBJECT MATTER,
theyhavetheabilitytomakestudentsfeelexcitedandinteresting in
thesubject.
15. TEACHING EVALUATION
HE ASSISTED ME IN GAINING A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THE
SUBJECT MATTER, are abletohelpstudentsseetheways in
whichdifferentpartsofthesubject are linkedorconnected.
Theyalsohelpstudentsfeelconfidentabouttheirknowledgeofsubje
ctmatter.
HE WAS GOOD AT EXPLAINING THE SUBJECT MATTER, are
abletohelpstudentsunderstandcomplexanddifficultinformation.,
toexplainthingsclearlyandsimply.
16. TEACHING EVALUATION
YOU HAD REASONABLE OPPORTUNITY FOR INTERACTION WITH
THE TEACHER, can also mean emailingthem,
orotherwiseinteractingwiththem in an online environment, e.g.
Moodle, blogging, chatting, networking… In fact, ifyouhad fair
andacceptableopportunitiestospeakwiththoughouttheunit.
HE MOTIVATED ME TO LEARN,
thathelpsyoufeelexcitedandinterested in yourwork,
andtheyencourageyouto do well.
18. CONCLUSIONS
QUALITY TEACHING INITIATIVES PROVIDE AN OCCASION FOR TEACHERS TO THINK ABOUT THEIR OWN ROLE IN THE
ENHANCEMENT OF QUALITY: THESE INITIATIVES HELP THEM TO TEACH BETTER.
GAINING TEACHERS’ COMMITMENT TO REFLECTIVE PRACTICE AND CONSEQUENTIAL ADAPTATION IS VITAL.
TECHNOLOGY-BASED TEACHING (E.G. E-LEARNING PLATFORM), INTRANETS AND DISCUSSION FORUMS ARE PEDAGOGICAL
TOOLS THAT CAN IMPROVE STUDENT-TO-TEACHER INTERACTION AND ASSESS STUDENT PROGRESS.
COLLABORATION WITH THE QUALITY UNITS IN THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CURRICULA CAN BE A GOOD STARTING
POINT
THE DEFINITION OF QUALITY TEACHING IS RELATED TO EACH TEACHER’S VALUES, APTITUDES AND ATTITUDES: TEACHING IS A
DYNAMIC ACTIVITY, WHICH HAS STRONGLY SUBJECTIVE ASPECTS THAT DEPEND ON PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE PHILOSOPHY
AND VALUES.
TEACHERS’ CAREER PROGRESSION MAY BE INFLUENCED BY THE FACT THAT QUALITY TEACHING ISSUES ARE GAINED
IMPORTANCE, AND INSTITUTIONS ARE SEEKING WAYS OF REWARDING TEACHERS WHO ARE COMMITED TO QUALITY
TEACHING.
THE EXPECTATION IS THAT TEACHERS ENGAGING IN REFLECTIVE PRACTICE, STUDYING THEIR OWN
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT, AND SHARING THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH THEIR PEERS IN
SCHOOLS, BECOMES REGULAR A ROUTINE PART OF PROFESSIONAL LIFE.