Evidence, understanding and practice: the Higher Education Academy's role in supporting institutiona

1
Evidence, 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

2
Plan 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

3
Plan 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
4
Plan for the talk (process model)
Er cough and the scope is um splutter across
5
Plan for the talk (communication model)
6
One phenomenon can be modelled in many ways

• Different models serve different purposes and
  audiences

7
Framework for researching the Student learning
experience
8
(No Transcript)
9
World of experience action
10
Teaching machine for arithmetic (Skinner, 1954)
11
Skinners 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

12
Focuses on a very small part of the learning
experience
13
and a narrow body of theory of questionable
generalisability
World of experience action
14
Taxonomic 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
15
Taxonomic framework
Grounded/illuminative research
of teaching learning
Experience action
of policy etc
of the learning environment
16
Taxonomic framework
Evaluation research
of teaching learning
Experience action
of policy etc
of the learning environment
17
Taxonomic framework
Investigative research
of teaching learning
Experience action
of policy etc
of the learning environment
18
Taxonomic framework
Theory-driven research
of teaching learning
Experience action
of policy etc
of the learning environment
19
Classification of forms of educational enquiry
20
(No Transcript)
21
Assertions (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