High quality teaching in higher education : a challenge and a possibility

A shared concern in higher education establishments is the quality of teaching taking place and thereby, the quality of students leaving the college/university. While keeping in mind that quality cannot be easily defined, this paper aims to raise awareness on a number of challenges which could be impinging on the quality of education in the higher education sector. There are a number of external factors which could be attributed to the quality of teaching. However, the focus of this paper is limited to the teaching and learning process in the higher education classroom setting. In the first section of the paper, the author raises awareness on the dynamic and complex nature of the teaching and learning process which could be affecting the quality of education in the higher education classroom. The emphasis is on the main stakeholders - the lecturers and the students – and the relationship between the two. Next, the author outlines a number of challenges which could be affecting the process. The aim is to reflect upon the teaching and learning that go on in the higher education classroom, so as to be able to align future actions. Finally, the author proposes concrete practices which can be adopted in order to overcome the challenges and improve the quality of teaching, and thereby, the quality of students leaving higher education. High quality teaching in a higher education classroom has got its challenges but it is a possibility.peer-reviewe

Teaching and Self-teaching in Higher Education

AbstractA student willing to develop personally and professionally, subject to the teacher's training and educational actions, then becomes aware of his own potentialities, of the demands and development trends in society; he designs, carries out, evaluates and adjusts those actions ensuring his personal development. He discovers the mechanisms and the path of his own learning, formulates personal goals, acquires and uses self-teaching and self-training methods fit for such goals, evaluates and valorises his own acquisitions. Communicating with his teacher and colleagues, a student gets information, clarifies, deepens, consolidates, systemizes, checks his own ideas and views, improves his strategies for approaching reality, develops his cognitive attitudes. The goals of our study were to: identify the goals of self-training and the basic criteria in their formulation; analyse the progress of these goals throughout the surveys; identify self-education and self-training methods used by the student; identify the underlying reasons of self-teaching and self-training. Regarding the surveyed sample, we found, among others, that: social needs are very important in establishing the reasons of self-teaching; self-training is directed toward all dimensions of personality, professional competences, creativity and communication prevailing; self-assessment becomes increasingly objective

Teaching and Learning in Interdisciplinary Higher Education: A Systematic Review

Interdisciplinary higher education aims to develop boundary-crossing skills, such as interdisciplinary thinking. In the present review study, interdisciplinary thinking was defined as the capacity to integrate knowledge of two or more disciplines to produce a cognitive advancement in ways that would have been impossible or unlikely through single disciplinary means. It was considered as a complex cognitive skill that constituted of a number of subskills. The review was accomplished by means of a systematic search within four scientific literature databases followed by a critical analysis. The review showed that, to date, scientific research into teaching and learning in interdisciplinary higher education has remained limited and explorative. The research advanced the understanding of the necessary subskills of interdisciplinary thinking and typical conditions for enabling the development of interdisciplinary thinking. This understanding provides a platform from which the theory and practice of interdisciplinary higher education can move forwar

Research into learning and teaching in higher education: underground and undervalued?

Previous studies have drawn attention to the challenges faced by researchers undertaking research into learning and teaching in higher education. These challenges are particularly highlighted at times of national measurement of research excellence. It is against the context of the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF), that this paper presents findings from a recent survey of research into higher education in Scottish Higher Education Institutions. Discussion focuses on the underground and undervalued nature of some of this research. Researchers are often based within disciplines and their research is not always well known within wider higher education research discourse. Many academics face pressure to prioritise publishing within their main discipline over publishing research into higher education. There is also a lack of capacity within some Scottish institutions to return research into higher education within the forthcoming REF exercise. The wider implications of these findings are then examined

Integrating research and teaching in higher education: Conceptual issues

Integrating new knowledge created through research with teaching has become an important area that needs prompt attention with the growing emphasis on student learning activities, quality assurance procedures and research funding mechanisms within the UK higher education system. The link between research and teaching is not automatic. Thus, it needs to be created in higher education departments in order to achieve a productive relationship and manage research activities of university staff with teaching duties. The research study, on which this paper is based on, aims to develop principles in relation to transferring research knowledge into teaching through a literature review and case studies. The paper reports conceptual issues related to such a transfer process based on the literature findings

Excellence in teaching and learning: A review of the literature for the Higher Education Academy

The Higher Education Academy commissioned a review of the literature on excellence in learning and teaching in higher education to enhance the higher education sector’s understanding of the varied conceptualisations and usages of the term ‘excellence’ and consider the implications for future policy and practice in relation to promoting and developing excellence. The literature searched included published research in the form of journal articles; books; reports from UK policy bodies and other agencies; as well as ‘grey’ literature. It covered conceptual studies, academic critiques and research studies on learning and teaching, as well as policy documents. Within a diverse and expanding system of higher education, such as in the UK, discourse on teaching and student learning highlights the tensions between different notions of excellence – for example, excellence as a positional good for students, as an aspirational target for continuous quality enhancement, as a form of reputational advantage for higher education institutions or as a means for achieving governmental economic and social goals. The review addressed questions of conceptualisations and usage at different (but interlinked) levels: system-wide; institutional; departmental; individual, and from two different perspectives, teaching and student learning

Complexity-based learning and teaching: a case study in higher education

This paper presents a learning and teaching strategy based on complexity science and explores its impacts on a higher education game design course. The strategy aimed at generating conditions fostering individual and collective learning in educational complex adaptive systems, and led the design of the course through an iterative and adaptive process informed by evidence emerging from course dynamics. The data collected indicate that collaboration was initially challenging for students, but collective learning emerged as the course developed, positively affecting individual and team performance. Even though challenged, students felt highly motivated and enjoyed working on course activities. Their perception of progress and expertise were always high, and the academic performance was on average very good. The strategy fostered collaboration and allowed students and tutors to deal with complex situations requiring adaptation