quality - what are we measuring? jim murdoch, university of glasgow european law faculties...
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Quality - what are we measuring?
Jim Murdoch, University of Glasgow
European Law Faculties Association
I keep six honest serving men...
• What? - measuring-rods
• Why? - rationale
• When? - change through time
• How? - methodology
• Where?
• Who? - appointment of reviewers– Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
What is quality assurance?
• ‘inspection, compliance, bureaucracy, report writing, form-filling, self-justification, standardisation, piles of unread [paper], and procedures of such baroque (even, on occasion, rococo) elaboration that they resemble the wilder architectural fantasies of the 18th century Tsars’– Chief Executive, QAA [UK], October 2004
What is quality assurance?
• Stratification - competition between law schools
• Academic life as ‘nasty, brutish and (for the non-productive) short’ - competition between individuals
• Wasteful of academic time - detracting from teaching and research– Brownsword, [1994] 21 JoLaw &Soc 529-544
What is quality assurance?
• ‘It is a way of defining and securing good learning through effective support for students. It is a chance to demonstrate… the transmission of knowledge and the development and transformation of individuals is recognised and discharged professionally’.– Chief Executive, QAA [UK], October 2004
What is quality assurance?
• Collective achievement
• Responsiveness
• Recognising success
• Accountability to ‘stakeholders’
• Enhances mobility
Methodology
• QA is a means to an end, not an end in itself.
• The more paper generated in the name of QA, the less is likely to be read or understood. Less should be more.
• There is no justification for more ‘bureaucracy’.– Chief Executive, QAA [UK], October 2004
Methodology
• Development of agreed framework – length / intensity (credit scheme)– content : knowledge / skills (‘benchmarking’)
• Self-assessment
• Peer review
• Peer assessment– accreditation / grading / consultancy /
identification of ‘best practice’
What are we measuring?
• Subject provision and overall aims
• Curriculum
• Teaching and learning
• Learning resources
• Teaching quality enhancement
• Assessment and achievement
• Student support
Subject provision and overall aims
• Overall aims and intended learning outcomes of the programme?
• Appropriateness of aims/ILOs in terms of developments in learning and teaching
• Do staff and students understand aims and ILOs?
Subject provision and overall aims
• Aims are implicit, not explicit
• ILOs are not stated, or fail to spell out development of knowledge / skills (generic and law-specific) / or the inculcation of attitudes and values
• Staff and students do not know/understand
Curriculum
• Effectiveness of curricular content and design in achieving ILOs
• Academic and intellectual progression within the curriculum
• Inclusion of recent developments in the subject; and reflection of best practice in pedagogy
Curriculum
• Input-driven curriculum & student overload
• No conceptualising (core; contextual; legal values; professional) [ACLEC Report]
• No progression through the programme; and recent developments ignored/avoided
Teaching and learning
• Effectiveness of teaching and learning in relation to aims and curriculum
• Range and appropriateness of teaching methods employed
• Student participation & workload
Teaching and learning
• Traditional teaching methods (didactic) & not ‘student-centred learning’
• No proper link between T&L and assessment
• Student workload not properly addressed
Learning resources
• Teaching and support resources (physical, human and material)
• Effectiveness of utilisation (including induction, mentoring and staff development).
Learning resources
• Unfavourable staff-student ratios
• Inadequate accommodation / support resources (library/IT/audio-visual) & support staff
• Inappropriate academic staff deployment / lack of staff development
Teaching quality enhancement
• Effectiveness of evaluation and use of quantitative data and qualitative feedback
• Commitment to enhancement and continuous improvement
• Constant review / remedial action in respect of: curriculum, teaching and learning, resources and assessment.
Teaching quality enhancement
• No evidence of quality control and enhancement mechanisms such as:– course review through course questionnaires– staff-student liaison committees– procedure for scrutiny of new course
procedures
Assessment and achievement
• Effectiveness of assessment in measuring achievement of ILOs
• Discrimination between different categories of performance
• Effectiveness of assessment in promoting student learning (& use of diagnostic and formative assessment)
Assessment and achievement
• ‘One size fits all’ assessment
• Assessment driving surface-learning
• Reliability and validity questionable
Student support
• Academic support strategies
• Recruitment and induction
• Overall academic guidance and supervision
Student support
• Poor drop-out / completion rates
• Poor recruitment and induction processes
• ‘One size fits all’ support
Methodology
• Fairness - consistency?
• Reliability - methodology?
• Utility - competing purposes (vfm / encouraging improvement / public info)?
– Brownsword, [1994] 21 JoLaw &Soc 529-544
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