Media Release Attachment

STRIVING FOR QUALITY: LEARNING, TEACHING AND SCHOLARSHIP

SUMMARY

• There are two overarching concerns about Australia’s existing approach to quality and standards. Some argue that there is too much emphasis on institutional quality assurance and not enough on learning outcomes. It is also suggested that there is no systematic approach to articulating and monitoring standards.
  
  

• Assessment of quality through educational outcomes requires measurements of the outcomes of learning experiences. There is, however, no consensus on what indicators should be measured, how they should be measured, whether they should be quantitative or qualitative or both, when they should be measured, or what variables compromise indicators and measurements.
  
  

• There exists a range of data about student learning outcomes from Australian universities yet this information in its current form fails to meet the needs of the community for appropriate levels of information about the quality of higher education institutions.
  
  

• There is currently no public statement of what standards of achievement or performance are accepted by the higher education community to be at a threshold, or minimum for particular qualifications.
  
  

• There is currently considerable diversity in the policies and practices adopted by Australian universities in relation to assessment of students.

These issues prompt a series of questions. While not an exhaustive list, a number of possible options have been raised in relation to the issues covered:

• Should the Commonwealth, directly or indirectly, co-ordinate the development of an integrated, accessible publication of outcomes data to inform the community on the relative quality of universities?
  
  

• How best can the Commonwealth, in consultation with the sector, examine all other reporting requirements to see how they can be streamlined or removed, without reducing accountability or quality?
  
  

• Should higher education institutions establish internal and external moderation procedures?
  
  

• How best can the Commonwealth support sector-led initiatives to set and externally validate standards?
  
  

• How can higher education institutions further engage in benchmarking of teaching and learning processes and outcomes at both national and international levels?

• The most effective teaching is recognised as that which facilitates students to be actively engaged in learning. While such student-centred approaches have been accepted in principle, this is not necessarily demonstrated in teaching practice.
  
  

• Attrition and completion rates are conventionally used as proxies for the efficiency of higher education teaching and learning. As the number of courses offered online increases, it will be important for institutions to monitor these.
  
  

• One way of addressing individual needs is through a customised or individualised approach to higher education curriculum. There are some concerns about how a mass higher education system can efficiently provide a customised and individualised curriculum and still maintain the quality of learning outcomes.

These issues prompt a series of questions. While not an exhaustive list, a number of possible options have been raised in relation to the issues covered:

• How best can higher education institutions direct their efforts to the achievement of student-centred learning and adoption of student-centred teaching approaches?
  
  

• How best can higher education institutions monitor trends of attrition and completion in undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, including online courses?
  
  

• Should the Commonwealth introduce a national portfolio assessment system to record on an individual basis, all post-compulsory school education, whether vocational, higher or work-based?
  
  

• How best can higher education institutions make greater use of the capital resources of universities through the provision of more weeks of teaching each year, raising the possibility of students choosing to shorten the overall period of study required to graduate by working more internally?

• There has been ongoing debate in Australian higher education about whether all university teachers need to do research.
  
  

• There is a perception shared by many academics that it is only achievement in research which leads to advancement in an academic career.
  
  

• Very few institutions have accepted an academic career path that does not involve an expectation of performance in research or professional practice.
  
  

• Some argue there is an equal need for those engaged in teaching to be engaged in continuing professional development in teaching and learning issues. While many institutions offer professional development courses, it seems that only a small proportion of academics have actually completed them.

These issues prompt a series of questions. While not an exhaustive list, a number of possible options have been raised in relation to the issues covered:

• How best can we recognise the importance of the scholarship of teaching to the quality of higher education?
  
  

• Should promotion to all academic levels in higher education institutions be made possible on the basis of proven teaching ability?
  
  

• Should the Commonwealth establish a national accreditation scheme for higher education teachers?
  
  

• How best can higher education institutions provide professional development in teaching and learning issues for sessional teaching staff?

• Increasingly, higher education institutions operating from both traditions have been subject to increased government interest in the monitoring and enhancement of the quality of higher education through new forms of measurement of institutional performance and creation of new relations of accountability between universities and external stakeholders.
  
  

• Australian self-accrediting higher education institutions have a large degree of autonomy over the management of the quality of teaching and learning. In this environment, what role does the Commonwealth government have in assessing, monitoring or ensuring the quality of higher education institutions?

These issues prompt a series of questions. While not an exhaustive list, a number of possible options have been raised in relation to the issues covered:

• How can the Commonwealth build on its role in assessing, monitoring and ensuring the quality of higher education institutions?
  
  

• Should the Commonwealth enhance its commitment to improving the quality of teaching and learning, through support for the Australian Universities Teaching Committee?

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