Week 11

Evaluations of education programs in the tertiary education sector are undertaken for two main purposes one is to review the quality of teaching and learning and also importantly to address accountability and reporting requirements about funding and contractual arrangements with government bodies and other business relationships.

I will focus comments in this blog on evaluating teacher quality of teaching and learning.

Compliance and evaluations are systematic process used to review the quality of teaching and learning. Evaluations are essential to determine the effectiveness of continuous improvement processes. A culture of evaluations and continuous improvement processes are essential for improvement, currency and relevance of teaching and learning.

Consultation is central to the process of evaluation and ideally instruments used to collate the information will include a combination of qualitative and qualitative data which will elicit responses about the learner and stakeholders perceptions and experiences. Responses from internal and external parties will inform evaluation processes and provide feedback about stakeholder’s opinions about the quality of education programs and services.

Unfortunately many organisations gather extensive amounts of data and information however fail to demonstrate a direct relationship to the follow up actions from analysis of the data feedback and outcomes. Participation of learners is more successful if learners receive or see the changes made as a result of learner feedback.

Published on Oct 11, 2013: University of Toronto instructors and student discuss the importance of completing online course evaluations.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cyiBPuQJA8&feature=c4-overview&list=UUQI3tEk4peOIneIq8sA-UIA

Across the higher education sector there is a lack of reliability and validity in the evaluation of teaching and learning. Different instruments are used across the higher education sector so there is a lack of consistency in the processes.

Evaluations provide opportunities to include the learner’s voice and analysis of stakeholders needs. Evaluations should inform planning to implement strategies that promote change in future education design, innovations in teaching and learning, improvements in education programs and learners experience.

My University website accessed 26th May 2014 http://myuniversity.gov.au/