Title: Evidence, understanding and practice: the Higher Education Academy's role in supporting institutiona
1Evidence, understanding and practice the Higher
Education Academy's role in supporting
institutional change
- Nick Hammond
- The Higher Education Academy, York, UK
- Nick.Hammond_at_HEAcademy.ac.uk
- 25 June 2008
2Plan for the talk (overview)
- Multiple representations for multiple purposes
- Framework for research on the student learning
experience - HEA and its strategy
- Quality assurance and quality enhancement
- Evidence-informed policy practice
- Towards a research observatory
- Questions discussion
3Plan for the talk (state-transition model)
Slide 1 Title
Slide 3 oview2
Slide 2 oview1
etc
(If too slow or audience bored)
End
Impressive slides for planted questions
4Plan for the talk (process model)
Er cough and the scope is um splutter across
5Plan for the talk (communication model)
6One phenomenon can be modelled in many ways
- Different models serve different purposes and
audiences
7Framework for researching the Student learning
experience
8(No Transcript)
9World of experience action
10Teaching machine for arithmetic (Skinner, 1954)
11Skinners teaching machines (1950s)
- Based on behaviourist principles of operant
conditioning - Materials self-contained broken into small
linear steps - Machine asks question, student provides response
- Only proceed to next step ( give reinforcement)
when correct - Grounded in large body of prior research
- Skinner considered learning only resulted from
reinforcement, not from self-evaluation or
reflection
12Focuses on a very small part of the learning
experience
13and a narrow body of theory of questionable
generalisability
World of experience action
14Taxonomic framework
Theories of learning teaching
Abstraction theory
Models of org. mngmt change
Discipline epistemologies
Critical / political pedagogy
Ed design development
Cultural management
Principles of TL practice
Curriculum specs, resources etc
Inst policies management
of the learning environment
of teaching learning
Experience action
of policy , regulations etc
of wider culture
Broadening context
15Taxonomic framework
Grounded/illuminative research
of teaching learning
Experience action
of policy etc
of the learning environment
16Taxonomic framework
Evaluation research
of teaching learning
Experience action
of policy etc
of the learning environment
17Taxonomic framework
Investigative research
of teaching learning
Experience action
of policy etc
of the learning environment
18Taxonomic framework
Theory-driven research
of teaching learning
Experience action
of policy etc
of the learning environment
19Classification of forms of educational enquiry
20(No Transcript)
21Assertions (so far)
- One set of phenomena can be represented in many
ways utility depends on for whom? and for what
purpose? - Student learning experience can be conceptualised
in terms of individuals their wider contexts - Levels of abstraction (experience / application
representations / theory) provide a basis for
taxonomising forms of research - Different research endeavours have different
epistemological purposes (theory-facing
application-facing) and audiences
22- The HE Academys mission
- To work with the HE sector to providethe best
learning experience for students - Through services to
- individual academics
- Staff in subject communities
- universities and colleges
- And responding to interests of our other
stakeholders - Students professional employer bodies
- Sector agencies governmental bodies
23- The HE Academys aims
- Identify, develop and disseminateevidence-informe
d approaches - Broker and encourage the sharing of effective
practice - Support universities and colleges in bringing
about strategic change - Inform, influence and interpret policy
- Raise the status of teaching
24- Effective enhancement requires
- Enabling infrastructures and resourcing
- Alignment with academic values andculture
- Coherence across levels
- Policy, strategy, practice
- Agency, institution, individual
- Sound evidence base
- for interpreting, understanding, applying,
evaluating
25- Assurance and enhancement
26- Assurance and enhancement
27- The HE Academys aims
- Identify, develop and disseminateevidence-informe
d approaches - Broker and encourage the sharing of effective
practice - Support universities and colleges in bringing
about strategic change - Inform, influence and interpret policy
- Raise the status of teaching
28- Achieving aim 1Identify, develop and
disseminate evidence-informed approaches - Gather, synthesise and make available relevant
evidence - Promote the use of evidence-informed approaches
to enhancing the student learning experience
29- The Academy observatory
- Sphere Synthesis Practice from HE Research
Evidence - To make evidence relevant to HE policy practice
30- Observatory plans
- Developing web infrastructure
- Focussing on three areas
- Technology-enhanced learning
- Employer engagement
- Widening participation
- Demo and consultation at Academy Conference
- Version for comments later in summer
- Full launch in autumn
- Further linking into Academy (York Subject
Centres) networks and activities - Contact Rachel Segal or Cristina Sin
31- Achieving aim 1Identify, develop and
disseminate evidence-informed approaches - Gather, synthesise and make available relevant
evidence - Promote the use of evidence-informed approaches
to enhancing the student learning experience - By Academics, subject communities institutions
- Through more effective access to evidence
syntheses sphere - Through working with networks and groups at these
three levels - Through the encouragement of policy developments
initiatives
32- Questions discussion
- Why Plutarch?
- Research is the act of going up alleys to see if
they are blind - The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire
to be kindled