Evaluations of quality teaching for university quality assurance

Abstract

Analysis of degree results for The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Jamaica, evidences exponential grade inflation since the introduction, publication, and administrative uses of Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs) (Bastick, 2004). This paper explains how SETs contribute to grade inflation and why, despite their recognized disastrous effects on education, they continue to be used for quality assurance in English-speaking universities. An alternative method of assessing Quality Teaching is introduced that, by integrating teaching, learning, and assessment, can identify and offer detailed reports to advise at-risk students and suggest detailed modifications to teaching that optimize attainment. The method measures individuals' teaching/learning experiences. It uses a five-minute feedback form to assess the alignment of students' and lecturer's expectations. Results show that these in-course alignments predict enjoyment of teaching and students' academic attainment on course assessments. Hence, mismatched alignment and assessment results identify, for second marking, individual examination and coursework scripts that might have been wrongly marked. Analyses of alignments result in measures of quality teaching provided by lecturers, and experienced by groups of students, which can be rigorously compared between courses, subjects, and departments across the university for inclusion in quality assurance reports. The significance of this paper is that it presents an original, alternative, cost-effective assessment of quality teaching for tertiary institutions that can be demonstrated to improve education