Quality teaching matters: perspectives on quality teaching for the modernization of higher education. A position paper

This position paper attempts to ground the discussion on improving the quality of teaching in the context of Higher Education (HE) in order to take concrete directions toward what in the scientificliterature is identified as a culture of quality in education. This concept implies an approach to continuing monitoring, reflection and change toward innovation through main stakeholders’engagement. The paper will hence briefly introduce the policy context and research background at international and national level, in order to analyze the opportunities of implementinga culture of quality regarding teaching at the University of Trento. Furthermore, it will make a number of recommendations for the concrete implementation of the approach. The document is hence divided into the following parts:A first part, introducing the policy context regarding agenda for the modernization of HE in Europe and at international level. In this context, the issue of quality teaching is focused as key elementtowards better quality of Higher Education.A second part, regarding the importance and forms of innovation in pedagogical approaches in HIgher Education, as well as the conditions of professional development in academic staff regardingbetter teaching.A third part, consisting on the research carried out by our research unit within the University of Trento, regarding the issue of quality in Higher Education.A fourth part is devoted to introduce recommendations for the implementation of concrete measures and interventions at institutional level

Quality teaching by design for learning ... o dell’uovo di Brunelleschi

La progettazione didattica si è evoluta nell’ultimo mezzo secolo passando da progetto dell’istruzione a progetto dell’apprendimento, poi a progetto per l’apprendimento, fino ad arrivare alle teorie di insegnamento come scienza della progettazione (Collins, 1992; Laurillard 2012). Il progetto per l’apprendimento è, in questo contesto, visto costruttivamente come un artefatto di comunicazione, un veicolo per condividere le idee, per generare energia sociale nella comunità di pratica (Suchman, 1987; Wenger, 1998) e, in definitiva, per rendere l’apprendimento possibile (Ramsden, 1992). La progettazione costruttivista è basata su strumenti e linguaggi che mediano e facilitano la comunicazione e le pratiche (Ghislandi, Raffaghelli, & Yang, 2013). Come esempio di strumenti per la progettazione si presentano le rubric adAstra, un progetto in corso presso labINDIA-laboratorio Innovazione Didattica Accademica, del Dipsco - Dipartimento di Psicologia e Scienze Cognitive, che stiamo creando e valutando attraverso una metodologia che ben si presta a questo scopo: la DBR- DesignBased Research. In questo quadro teorico si inscrive l’uso di tecnologie per la didattica, poichè rendono esplicito e condivisibile il design per l’apprendimento, facilitando così la Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. (Boyers, 1990)Sulla base dei presupposti presentati nel paper si sostiene che la qualità della didattica dipende da un buon progetto per l’apprendimento. Ovvero un progetto sapiente, iterativo, partecipato, situato, eclettico.La conclusione è affidata all’aneddoto dell’”uovo di Brunelleschi”. Chi meglio di messer Brunelleschi (con il suo straordinario progetto di una innovativa cupola) potrebbe essere preso a prestito per parlare di progettazione

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning per una didattica universitaria di qualità

In questo articolo viene introdotto il concetto della SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning), considerando la sua evoluzione lungo gli ultimi 25 anni di ricerca educativa a livello internazionale. Oltre la definizione di SoTL viene messa in evidenza la situazione di difficile raggiungimento di uno scenario nel qualele strategie SoTL diventino realtà, poiché il docente universitario tende a seguire la tradizione e a confinare la didattica in una posizione secondaria rispetto alla ricerca; anche tenendo conto che l’insegnamento non è riconosciuto in alcun modo nella progressione di carriera o nella produttività professionale. L’articoloanalizza poi il contesto di programmazione politica europeo, internazionale ed italiano, contesto nel quale si osserva un’urgente necessità di ripensare la qualità della didattica. Ciò che si tenta infine di dimostrare è che il contesto di crisi e conseguente riforma delle istituzioni universitarie richiede oggi più che mai l’implementazione di strategie in linea con la SoTL, considerando la didattica universitaria e il ruolo della professionalità accademica un pilastro fondamentale del cangiante scenario istituzionale dell’istruzione superiore. E tuttavia è ancora lunga la strada da percorrere e molte sono le resistenze, sia a livello europeo, sia a livello italiano

The Street Lamp Paradox : Analysing Students' Evaluation of Teaching through Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

This paper presents a study about Students Evaluation of Teaching (SET). Student surveys delivered at the end of the academic course is an approach currently applied in all Italian university courses. However, the quality of teaching is a multi-layered phenomenon whose evaluation might require additional methods. In this study, concerning a course offered during the academic year 2016/2017, we propose the qualitative analysis of students' final essays, which includes the students' opinion about teaching quality. The qualitative evaluation of teaching is then compared with the results of the standard SET survey. 48 students filled in the survey, while 47 delivered their final essay (a corpus of about 650 text pages). Our study shows that while the standard survey provides an overall picture useful at institutional level for Quality Assurance (QA), the qualitative approach captures an accurate account of students' reactions, sensitive to the pedagogical approach adopted. This provides additional information on the students' perspectives regarding the specific features of the course. Our case study suggests that the integration of traditional SET survey with qualitative teaching evaluation approaches, at least for innovative courses based on socio-constructivist learning, might provide information, overlooked in the Italian SET survey, that is useful for Quality Enhancement (QE) of teaching.Peer reviewe

Data-Driven Modeling of Engagement Analytics for Quality Blended Learning

Engagement analytics is a branch of learning analytics (LA) that focuses on student engagement, with the majority of studies conducted by computer scientists.Thus, rather than focusing on learning, research in this field usually treats education as a scenario for algorithms optimization and it rarely concludes with implications for practice. While LA as a research field is reaching ten years, its contribution to our understanding of teaching and learning and its impact on learning enhancement are still underdeveloped. This paper argues that data-driven modeling of engagement analytics is helpful to assess student engagement and to promote reflections on the quality of teaching and learning. In this article, the authors a) introduce four key constructs (student engagement, learning analytics, engagement analytics, modeling and data-driven modeling); b) explain why data-driven modeling is chosen for engagement analytics and the limitations of using a predefined framework; c) discuss how to use engagement analytics to promote pedagogical reflection using a pilot study as a demonstration. As a final remark, the authors see the need of interdisciplinary collaboration on engagement analytics between computer science and educational science. In fact, this collaboration should enhance the use of machine learning and data mining methods to explore big data in education as a means to provide effective insights for quality educational practice.Peer reviewe

Il maharaja, l’elefante e la qualità dell’(e)Learning

(The Maharaja, the Elephant and the Quality of (e)Learning)Starting from a metaphor coming from the story «The six blind men and the elephant», this paper introduces the most significant results of a study carried out over the last ten years on the topic of the quality of (e)Learning. Overall, it focuses on the four levels through which quality can be analyzed: epistemological, theoretical, methodological and of method. Furthermore, it identifies the categories that constitute the basis of such an analysis: dimensions, levels, stakeholders and time. Accordingly, the paper highlights the characteristics of the quality of (e)Learning on the basis of the authors’ empirical research work: the term «mediated quality» is presented as a concept that encompasses a participatory, trans/formative and open quality. Therefore, the paper illustrates the specific results, from the processes to the instruments adopted to mediate the quality of the empirical study,. The authors come up with the following reflection: if the quality of (e)Learningif is to be based on a constructivist epistemology, a pedagogical vision and a mixed methodological approach with a strong qualitative orientation, and if quality is to be mediated with instruments that enhance participation, transformation and openness, then a scholarship, iterative, participatory, open and eclectic learning design is required. To conclude, the authors hope, with the maharaja of the story, that research collaboration, as proposed in this paper, will lead to improve further results regarding the quality of (e)Learning

Per una cultura di qualità: valutazione partecipata e apertura di contenuti generati dagli utenti nella didattica online

Questo articolo propone un concetto di qualità dell’eLearning (e in generaledell’istruzione universitaria) basato sulla critica alla cultura dominantedi valutazione della qualità legata alla produzione industriale, alla conformitàa standard predefiniti, alla produttività del sistema e dove gli utenti(particolarmente gli studenti) hanno un ruolo passivo, da consumatori; e unripensamento radicale della partecipazione degli studenti nella costruzionedi culture di qualità formativa (Ehlers, Schneckenberg, 2010, Ghislandi,Raffaghelli, 2012a). Il lavoro presenta un’esperienza di ricerca basata suprogetto o design based research (DBR, Pellerey, 2005) relativa ad un insegnamento universitario. Le autrici intendono dimostrare che un processo divalutazione partecipata della qualità dell’apprendimento può innescare unprocesso riflessivo e collaborativo tra docenti e studenti che ha incidenzasulla cultura di qualità. Tale processo si basa sulla generazione da partedegli studenti di alcuni contenuti (Learners’ generated content), per una  apertura della didattica; e tramite un approccio partecipato e costruttivista della verifica dell’apprendimento. Le conclusioni portano ad una migliore comprensione di due elementi portanti nella ricerca: in primo luogo, come la qualità della didattica va costruita in un impegno collaborativo e complesso. In secondo luogo, indica come gli studenti possono partecipare in tale processo collaborativo

Integrating MOOCs in physics preliminary undergraduate education: beyond large size lectures

In this paper, the authors discuss the effectiveness of MOOCs as part of a pedagogical strategy aimed at supporting Physics’ preliminary undergraduate students in large-size lectures. Our study is based on an experimental activity based on a blended course, which integrated a parallel MOOC delivered through the POK (PoliMi Open Knowledge, http://www.pok.polimi.it), the Politecnico di Milano’s MOOC portal. The blended model also delivered face-to-face activities that included intensive technology enhanced learning, like feedback based on clickers. Specifically, we introduce the several elements of the approach (the tutors’ pedagogy, the adoption of clickers, the diversity amongst learning groups) and its process of implementation. The findings in this study highlight that the integrated model is effective in terms’ of students’ learning both for small and large size lectures. More importantly, it was found that the students in large size lectures demonstrated similar or even better performance than students in a small size group. Moreover, the students in all sizes lectures showed higher satisfaction with the MOOCs’ against other factors adopted within the learning design