Learning, Teaching and the Student Experience A Principal

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Learning, Teaching and the Student Experience
A Principals View of role of the Higher
Education AcademyReflections from both sides of
the Border

• Professor Mike Pittilo
• Principal and Vice-Chancellor
• The Robert Gordon University
• Aberdeen

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Overview

• My view of the Academys role in Scotland
  health warning
• Cross-border approaches to enhancement
• England interventionalist
• Scotland hands off
• Role of national enhancement agencies including
  the Higher Education Academy
• Sources of tension
• We all need to work together

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Learning and Teaching a New Agenda
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Predictors of the New Agenda

• Estelle Morris Speech to UUK, 22 October 2001
• Higher Education Funding and Delivery to 2003-04,
  Letter to Chair of Hefce from the Secretary of
  State, 29 November 2001
• Hefce Strategic Plan 2002-07
• Sir Howard Newby, Hefce Annual Conference 2002

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Setting the New Agenda

• The Future of Higher Education DfES White Paper
• 22 January 2003
• Higher Education Funding and Delivery to 2005-06
• Letters from Secretary of State to Hefce 22
  January 2003, 8 January 2004
• Teaching Quality Enhancement Committee
• Interim report 10 September 2002
• Final report 27 January 2003

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Prioritising Learning and Teaching 1

• There is one single issue that is central to the
  quality of everything that happens. The quality
  of teaching, and the quality of the student
  experience in terms of learning.
• We want to encourage new forms of teaching and
  learning
• We must value teaching quality as part of our
  vision for Higher Education
• I do wonder if in some way we could incentivise
  excellence in teaching in the same way as we do
  in research.
• how should you identify what is excellent
  teaching in higher education?
• Estelle Morris Speech to UUK, 22 October 2001

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Prioritising Learning and Teaching 2

• Should we have incentives in place which would
  let institutions specialise in this?
• what does that mean for the relationship
  between teaching and research?
• I sometimes get the feeling that teaching is
  still a bit of a side show compared to research.
• We need to have excellent research we need
  excellent teaching
• .we need excellence and initiative and to
  allow people to specialise in teaching
  excellently.
• Estelle Morris Speech to UUK, 22 October 2001

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Mandating Enhancement

• As we continue to promote our widening
  participation and access policies, academic
  standards and the quality of the student
  experience must be maintained and enhanced. The
  quality of teaching is the chief factor in
  determining whether students gain from higher
  education and I look to the Council to continue
  to invest in programmes designed to raise the
  quality of teaching in higher education.
• Higher Education Funding and Delivery to 2003-04,
  
• Letter to Chair of Hefce from the Secretary of
  State,
• 29 November 2001

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Rewarding Excellent Teaching

• I look to the Council to invest in programmes
  which will raise the quality of teaching, will
  reward excellent teaching, and will disseminate
  best practice widely, benchmarking against the
  best of international practice.
• Higher Education Funding and Delivery to 2005-06,
  
• Letter to Chair of Hefce from the Secretary of
  State,
• 22 January 2003

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Link Between Research and Teaching Challenged

• Connection between an institutions research
  activities and teaching is indirect
• Ample evidence of the highest quality teaching
  being achieved in institutions which are not
  research intensive
• Scale and location of research activity has to be
  justified and decided on its own merits.
• Determination to promote other sources of
  recognition besides eminence in research

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The Future of Higher EducationJanuary 2003

• Social inclusion
• Harnessing knowledge and wealth creation
• Financial stability
• Student support

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The White Paper what it said

• Effective teaching and learning is essential if
  we are to promote excellence and opportunity in
  higher education. High quality teaching must be
  recognised and rewarded, and best practice
  shared.

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The White Paper what it said

• Reform
• Teaching and learning are central to the purpose
  of higher education. We are committed to
  understanding better where and how good teaching
  and learning take place and to take steps to
  ensure that standards are high and continually
  improved, and that best practice is effectively
  shared. All students are entitled to high quality
  teaching, and to the best possible information to
  help them make the right choices about what to
  study and where. And those who teach well are
  entitled to have their success rewarded
  properly.

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Reforms included

• Additional funding not just for excellence in
  research but also in teaching with new money for
  pay modernisation, rewarding good teaching and
  providing more fellowships for the best
• Centres of Excellence to reward good teaching and
  promote best practice
• Better information for students including a new
  annual student survey and publication of
  summaries of external examiners reports to help
  student choice drive up quality
• New national professional standards for teaching
  and a new national body to develop and promote
  good teaching the Teaching Quality Academy.

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Professional Standards for Academic Practice and
Continuing Professional Development

• from 2006 all new teaching staff should obtain a
  teaching qualification that incorporates agreed
  professional teaching standards
• DfES White Paper
• 22 January 2003

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Teaching Quality Enhancement Committee
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Higher Education Academy

• Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN)
• and
• Institute for Learning and Teaching in HE

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merged on 30 April 2004 to form..

• 'The Higher Education Academy is concerned with
  every aspect of the student experience. It will
  provide coherence, added value, inclusivity and a
  powerful emphasis on the needs of stakeholders.'
• Paul Ramsden, Chief Executive designate

 
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HEFCE Strategic Plan 2003-8
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What HEFCE is doing
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What HEFCE is doing
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Hefce Objectives (selected) 1

• To promote continuous improvement in learning and
  teaching through
• investing in excellence
• refining the arrangements for quality assurance
  and strengthening their connection with quality
  enhancement
• supporting the professional development of those
  who contribute to the effectiveness of student
  learning

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Hefce Objectives (selected) 2

• To facilitate engagement with employers,
• students and other stakeholders to ensure
• a high-quality learning experience that meets
• the needs of students, the economy
• and society.
• To support the sector to be internationally
• competitive in learning and teaching and to
• play a leading role in co-operation and good
• practice at European and international levels.
• To develop further a funding policy that supports
  these objectives

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Hefce Risks (selected) 1

• That developments in quality assurance and
  quality enhancement procedures fail to retain the
  confidence of the sector and/or restrict our
  ability to fulfil our statutory role.

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Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund

• 158.5m over three years
• Engagement with Higher Education Academy essential

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Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund

• Three strands of the TQEF
• the institutional strand formula funding to
  support the development and implementation of
  institutional learning and teaching strategies,
  and our investment in Centres for Excellence in
  Teaching and Learning (CETLs)
• the subject strand supporting a network of HEA
  subject centres and the Fund for the Development
  of Teaching and Learning (FDTL).
• the individual strand the National Teaching
  Fellowship Scheme.
• Evaluation
• HEIs encouraged to reflect on whether they are
  maximising the potential benefits from the
  outputs of each strand in achieving their
  learning and teaching strategies.

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HEFCE TQEF Institutional Priorities

• ensuring that teaching is informed and enriched
  by research
• supporting continuing professional development
  activity, enabling staff to meet agreed national
  teaching standards and building a record of
  attainment against these standards
• broadening the learning experience through
  support for student volunteering
• supporting success and progression for students
  with diverse needs.

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HEFCE TQEF Funding

• Priority Areas
• Staff development for new academic staff
• Staff development and career progression for
  existing staff
• Engagement with the new Higher Education Academy

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Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

• 2m capital
• 0.5m per annum for each of 5 years
• Engagement with Higher Education Academy essential

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HEA supports CETLs
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National Teaching Fellowship Scheme Extended

• 2003
• 20 winners from 81 nominations
• 2004
• 3 categories
• Experienced staff
• Rising stars
• Support staff

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Change Academy

• Scottish Involvement

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HE Academy recognises the unique Scottish
landscape

• Partnership
• Quality Working Group
• Quality Enhancement Framework

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The Scottish Higher Education Enhancement
Committee (SHEEC)

• The role of SHEEC is to
• support the embedding of effective
  enhancement-led approaches to managing quality
• support the sharing of good practice
• enable the continuing review of the area to be
  pursued through the topic-based themes in feeding
  into HEIs enhancement work
• support the evaluation of the effectiveness of
  the topic-based themes in feeding into HEIs
  enhancement work.

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In Scotland the HE Academy seeks to

• support the professional development of
  individual staff
• support institutions
• contribute to and influence national policy
• support communities of practice through the
  Academy's Subject Centres
• with the overall aim of enhancing students'
  learning experience in Scottish HE.

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Quality Enhancement Network

• a means of enabling people to communicate so that
  they can learn from each other
• a forum for discussion about contemporary issues
  and for sharing ideas, experiences, practices and
  solutions
• a democratic structure for gathering and
  representing the views of the practitioner
  community to policy makers on key issues relating
  to the further enhancement of UK Higher
  Education.
• a means by which policy thinkers and formers can
  gain feedback on ideas.

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Subject Centres

• Dissemination of good practice
• Subject benchmarking
• Health policy
• Interprofessional education

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Key roles for Higher Education Academy

• Evaluation
• Research
• Networking
• Sharing of good practice
• UK-wide engagement

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Thank you