Very little is known about the quality of the learning experiences provided for pupils. This book contains the results of a major research project, conducted in a sample of English primary schools, in which particular attention was paid to the tasks children were assigned, to the degree of match between assigned tasks and pupil attainment, to the detailed observation of children at work. The teacher's problems in assigning work appropriate to children's attainments and the special problem of matching posed by the transfer of children from one class to another were also subjected to analysis. Lessons learned from the project were used as a basis for the design of an in-service course for teachers. The course, which was aimed at improving teachers' matching skills was closely evaluated. The report contains data and analysis pertinent to each of the above issues. The findings reveal that despite the conscientious efforts of able teachers a number of serious issues are apparent - particularly in areas such as classroom organization and teacher diagnosis of children's work.
Very little is known about the quality of the learning experiences provided for pupils. This book contains the results of a major research project, conducted in a sample of English primary schools, in which particular attention was paid to the tasks children were assigned, to the degree of match between assigned tasks and pupil attainment, to the detailed observation of children at work. The teacher’s problems in assigning work appropriate to children’s attainments and the special problem of matching posed by the transfer of children from one class to another were also subjected to analysis. Lessons learned from the project were used as a basis for the design of an in-service course for teachers. The course, which was aimed at improving teachers’ matching skills was closely evaluated. The report contains data and analysis pertinent to each of the above issues. The findings reveal that despite the conscientious efforts of able teachers a number of serious issues are apparent – particularly in areas such as classroom organization and teacher diagnosis of children’s work.
Measuring and Enhancing the Student Experience provides insights on how student experience measures could be used to inform improvements at institutional, course, unit of study and teacher level. The book is based on a decade of research and practitioner views on ways to enhance the design, conduct, analysis, reporting and closing the loop on student feedback data. While the book is largely based on Australian case studies, it provides learning experiences for other countries where student experience measures are used in national and institutional quality assurance. Consisting of 13 chapters, the book includes a wide range of topics including the role and purpose of student feedback, the use of student feedback in staff performance reviews, staff and student engagement, a student feedback and experience framework, the first year experience, use of qualitative data, engaging transnational students in feedback, closing the loop on feedback, student engagement in national quality assurance, use of learning analytics and the future of the student experience. Mahsood Shah is an Associate Professor and Deputy Dean (Learning and Teaching) with School of Business and Law at CQUniversity, Australia. In this role Mahsood is responsible for enhancing the academic quality and standard of courses. Mahsood is also responsible for learning and teaching strategy, governance, effective implementation of policies, and enhancement of learning and teaching outcomes across all campuses. In providing leadership for learning and teaching, Mahsood works with key academic leaders across all campuses to improve learning and teaching outcomes of courses delivered in various modes including face-to-face and online. At CQUniversity, he provides leadership in national and international accreditation of academic courses. Mahsood is also an active researcher. His areas of research include quality in higher education, measurement and enhancement of student experience, student retention and attrition, student engagement in quality assurance, international higher education, widening participation and private higher education. Chenicheri Sid Nair is the incoming Executive Director, Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), Mauritius. Prior to joining TEC, he was Professor, Higher Education Development at the University of Western Australia (UWA), Perth where his work encompassed the improvement of the institutions teaching and learning. Before this appointment to UWA, he was Quality Adviser (Research and Evaluation) in the Centre for Higher Education Quality (CHEQ) at Monash University, Australia. He has an extensive expertise in the area of quality development and evaluation, and he also has considerable editorial experience. Currently, he is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Quality Assurance in Engineering and Technology Education (IJQAETE). He was also a Managing Editor of the Electronic Journal of Science Education (EJSE). Professor Nair is also an international consultant in a number of countries in quality, student voice and evaluations. - Provides both practical experience and research findings - Presents a diverse range of topics, ranging from broader student experience issues, analysis of government policies in Australia on student experience, the changing context of student evaluations, nonresponse to surveys, staff and student engagement, ideal frameworks for student feedback, and more - Contains data taken from the unique Australian experience with changing government policies and reforms relevant to the Asia-Pacific region
This book presents case-study findings of five school systems' efforts to become true learning communities through action research into the school-renewal process. The programs were located in the Southeast, Midwest, Far West, and an overseas region of the Department of Defense Dependents Schools. The programs shared three characteristics: a focus on improving student learning, an investment in people, and a commitment to generating knowledge about important aspects of school renewal and staff development. Program outcomes led to the development of the following hypotheses: (1) restructuring job assignments and schedules to build time for collective inquiry into the workplace will increase school-improvement activity; (2) active democracy and collective inquiry create the structural conditions in which the process of school improvement is nested; (3) learning to study the learning environment will increase inquiry into ways of helping students learn better; (4) connecting the faculty to the knowledge base on teaching and learning will generate more successful initiatives; (5) staff development will provide synergy and result in initiatives that have greater student effects; and (6) working in small groups will increase the sense of belonging among faculty members. Thirty-one tables are included. (Contains 134 references.) (LMI)
The book makes an important contribution to the discourse on student experience in higher education. The book includes chapters that cover important aspects of the 21st century student experience. Chapters cover issues such as: new trends and insights on the student experience; the changing profile of students in higher education and performance measures used to assess the quality of student experience, institutional approaches in engaging students, using student voice to improve the quality of teaching, COVID-19 and its impact on international students, innovative partnerships between students and academic staff, student feedback and raising academic standards, the increased use of qualitative data in gaining insights into student experience, the use of innovative learning spaces and technology to enhance the learning experience, and the potentially disrupting nature of student feedback and its impact on the health and wellbeing of academic staff, and the increased use of social media reviews by students.
Dee Fink poses a fundamental question for all teachers: "How can I create courses that will provide significant learning experiences for my students?" In the process of addressing this question, he urges teachers to shift from a content-centered approach to a learning-centered approach that asks "What kinds of learning will be significant for students, and how can I create a course that will result in that kind of learning?" Fink provides several conceptual and procedural tools that will be invaluable for all teachers when designing instruction. He takes important existing ideas in the literature on college teaching (active learning, educative assessment), adds some new ideas (a taxonomy of significant learning, the concept of a teaching strategy), and shows how to systematically combine these in a way that results in powerful learning experiences for students. Acquiring a deeper understanding of the design process will empower teachers to creatively design courses for significant learning in a variety of situations.
When teachers are supported to work together in ways that allow them to deepen knowledge of their professional practice, the understandings that emerge from their conversations about quality learning and teaching demonstrate a high level of expertise. Yet such professional knowledge is often deeply embedded within each teacher’s everyday teaching; the tacit knowledge that determines how and why they attend to student learning in certain ways. This book captures the professional knowledge of teachers that developed as the result of an ongoing process of school based change, where teachers began to work differently because they began to think differently about the learning that mattered for their students in their school. The explication of their knowledge of practice became possible due to the ongoing support they received from their school leadership – in most part because leadership trusted them as professionals to responsibly lead student learning. Within this culture of trust and valued collaboration, working alongside external critical friends who supported their professional learning, the teachers engaged in regular, thought provoking and interactive professional dialogue. Together they exposed and challenged each other’s thinking and beliefs about learning and teaching, captured and examined each other’s practice and, ultimately articulated and extended their professional knowledge. The insights about this collaborative learning process and the emergent knowledge and understandings teachers develop about the interactive relationship between learning and teaching, has much to contribute to educational discourse beyond the school setting. Some of that knowledge and the way it looks in practice is shared in this book.
