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

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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)

Why not ?

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

Why?

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

How?

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?

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

BUT… does it work?

Methodology

• Fairness - consistency?

• Reliability - methodology?

• Utility - competing purposes (vfm / encouraging improvement / public info)?

– Brownsword, [1994] 21 JoLaw &Soc 529-544

What should be measured? - the next phase

• Institutional audit

• ‘Enhancement’ strategies

• ‘Employability’ strategies