Managing the quality of teaching in higher education institutions in the 21st century.

Managing the quality of teaching in higher education institutions in the 21st century. The management of quality in Australian higher education higher educationStudy beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. has hadone eye on the quality agenda associated with accountability and theother eye on the major transformations affecting teaching and learning.This paper examines some of the ways in which these two trajectories areintersecting in��ter��sect?v. in��ter��sect��ed, in��ter��sect��ing, in��ter��sectsv.tr.1. To cut across or through: The path intersects the park.2. and forecasts how quality will be managed in the 21stcentury. The paper recognises trends towards diversity amonginstitutions in the sector and the need to tailor quality approaches forparticular market niches. The impact of communication and informationtechnologies and the rise of collaborative teaching and social learningon the nature and quality of university teaching are discussed. Areduction in mistrust of the quality agenda is forecast as data andmethods improve and academics regain a sense of control over formativeuses of quality activities. Introduction The 21st century is very near and very far. Concepts of`quality' and `teaching' will continue to carry the meaningsthey have today but they will also be transformed in the next hundredyears in ways that we can as yet not envisage en��vis��age?tr.v. en��vis��aged, en��vis��ag��ing, en��vis��ag��es1. To conceive an image or a picture of, especially as a future possibility: envisaged a world at peace.2. . Quality management willcontinue to reflect roots in terms such as `assuring processes' and`fitness of purpose' through self-evaluation, assessment ofoutcomes for generic and specific skills, graduate employability,indicators of efficiency and effectiveness and actions to enhance andimprove quality. Processes for national and international certificationof quality standards will continue as a means of re-assuring governmentsand other key stakeholders StakeholdersAll parties that have an interest, financial or otherwise, in a firm-stockholders, creditors, bondholders, employees, customers, management, the community, and the government. that the move towards universality in highereducation will not occur to the detriment of quality. In Australia, the major shifts in quality assurance will resultfrom an increasing pressure for `diversity' where this is aeuphemism eu��phe��mism?n.The act or an example of substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive: "Euphemisms such as 'slumber room' . . . for product and service differentiation on the one hand, andfor status differentiation or stratification stratification(Lat.,=made in layers), layered structure formed by the deposition of sedimentary rocks. Changes between strata are interpreted as the result of fluctuations in the intensity and persistence of the depositional agent, e.g. on the other. Someinstitutions will succeed in defining particular market segments astheir niches and will offer courses, research focuses and servicescustomised to these markets and not to others. Their brand names will beassociated with these niches and will signify the distinctiveness of theuniversity. Institutions that are rated, in public perceptions, morehighly in terms of status will attract the most able students andexcellent staff and have higher quality learning environments (e.g.state of the art libraries, laboratories and IT systems). They willstrive to have their names recognised as a high quality brand, (althoughstatus may not always equate with objective measures of quality). Alluniversities will seek strategic alliances with other national andinternational providers, will work collaboratively with majorcorporations on packaged curriculum products and/or R & D productsand will use a variety of media to deliver teaching and learning in amanner appropriate to the needs of their students. The university as anideal type, that always offers philosophy and physics as the foundationto a comprehensive range of courses, will be replaced by many types ofuniversities, some of which are accorded higher status in the mind ofthe public. The current trend to classify universities is symptomatic ofthis trend. The move towards greater diversity is one response to changes inboth the supply and demand side of education markets. Deregulation DeregulationThe reduction or elimination of government power in a particular industry, usually enacted to create more competition within the industry.Notes:Traditional areas that have been deregulated are the telephone and airline industries. hasintroduced new providers and increased competition. The student marketis fragmenting into identifiable segments (Cunningham et al., 1997). Thebusiness of universities used to be to offer on campus classes forschool leavers. Learning is now becoming a frequently repeatedexperience for most adults, in which teaching may occur at a distancemediated by a range of communication media. A growing percentage ofstudents will be `non-traditional' learners. They will have a widerange of educational vendor choices; not only private universities, butalso not-for-profit organisations and companies for whom education is asideline sidelineSee on the sidelines. or a way to sell more software. Often, too, it will be theemployer, rather than the prospective student, who chooses the vendoruniversity. Quality teaching and learning for school leavers may not bethe same as for other students. Some undergraduates do not always reactwell to computer-mediated learning (Alexander & McKenzie, 1998).Their reactions differ from those attracted to some of the new breed ofuniversity providers (e.g. Phoenix) that are capitalising on intensiveface-to-face and web-based courses for professionals who are upgradingtheir qualifications by postgraduate coursework. Customer focus andservice orientation for a chosen segment of the market will be givenmore attention within an increasingly user-pays environment. New information technologies will further differentiate the highereducation system. The International Association of University Presidents(1997) is not alone in its view that information technology is having arevolutionary effect on teaching and learning, research and theadministrative management of universities. One of the major qualitydrivers associated with technology will be cost, with some universitiesunable to invest and others making the wrong choices. Simson (1998)highlights the huge gap between the `informatics Same as information technology and information systems. The term is more widely used in Europe. rich' and the`informatics poor'. This will be true of the differences betweenuniversities in the developed and the developing world, and willunderscore The underscore character (_) is often used to make file, field and variable names more readable when blank spaces are not allowed. For example, NOVEL_1A.DOC, FIRST_NAME and Start_Routine. (character) underscore - _, ASCII 95. the diversity of institutions within countries. As the higher education system becomes more complex and textured,quality management will need to follow suit with contextualisedapproaches. Each university will develop quality practices that areinformed by its own mission and profile (or product) mix. Each will makestrategic choices about how to invest so as to enhance teaching andlearning to suit the needs of its own client group and the constraintsof financial and other circumstances. More generic approaches based onthe use of homogenous homogenous - homogeneous indicators are likely to persist in Verb 1. persist in - do something repeatedly and showing no intention to stop; "We continued our research into the cause of the illness"; "The landlord persists in asking us to move"continue the activitiesof national and international external accountability agencies. Theinfluence of governments will be moderated where universities are ableto use mission-specific data in a more sophisticated and effectivemanner in the market place to claim distinctiveness. Achieving thisshift will require the Australian public to become more adept atdiscerning meaningful differences between universities than it has beenaccustomed to do in the past. The pathway to this future for the quality agenda cannot beforecast with any precision. Reid (1996) opens Higher education oreducation for hire with the words. `The academic world is not what itused to be' (p. 1). He captures both the breadth of the changes inhigher education and the rueful rue��ful?adj.1. Inspiring pity or compassion.2. Causing, feeling, or expressing sorrow or regret.rue response of many academics to change. Hegoes on to describe a higher education environment characterised bypublic scrutiny, a diverse student body, budget cuts and the threat offorced retrenchments. The evolution of a quality system capable ofhandling this new environment is still in its infancy. Universities haveconsidered, but generally not embraced, the apparatus of continuousquality improvement (Deming, 1986) for teaching, although there has beensome take up for administration and in the vocational education vocational education,training designed to advance individuals' general proficiency, especially in relation to their present or future occupations. The term does not normally include training for the professions. andtraining (VET) sector. Higher education is still grappling with themagnitude of the transformations that are affecting teaching itself. Itis another big step to adopt and adapt quality processes to do justiceto both innovation and the elements of good scholarship that will remainconstant in this milieu mi��lieun. pl. mi��lieus or mi��lieux1. The totality of one's surroundings; an environment.2. The social setting of a mental patient.milieu[Fr.] surroundings, environment. . There has been some comment on the perceivedthreat to quality from real falls in funding and rising staff-studentratios. Quality debates have yet, however, to come to grips in asophisticated way with some of the more fundamental shifts. Two trendsthat are taken up in later sections of this paper are the impact oftechnology and multimedia on teaching and the growing interest ingroup-based teaching and group-based learning, and the issues that theseraise for quality management. The question of who manages the quality agenda in teaching andlearning and for what purpose has become politically charged in recentyears as national governments in OECD OECD:see Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. countries have become aggressivelyinterventionist in this arena. Historically, the teacher-scholar hadpersonal responsibility for giving students a quality learningexperience. This is a tradition epitomised by the Oxbridge one-on-onetutor-student relationship. In much of the western world, academics havelost a substantial measure of their personalised Adj. 1. personalised - made for or directed or adjusted to a particular individual; "personalized luggage"; "personalized advice"individualised, individualized, personalized control over theformative aspects of the quality process. They are answerable an��swer��a��ble?adj.1. Subject to being called to answer; accountable. See Synonyms at responsible.2. That can be answered or refuted: an answerable charge.3. to othersboth inside and outside the university in the name of accountability.This has created some fear and resentment. Summative Adj. 1. summative - of or relating to a summation or produced by summationsummationaladditive - characterized or produced by addition; "an additive process" uses of quality mechanisms are now more prevalent at alllevels (institution, department and individual). Close interest is beingpaid to the quality of universities by the Department of Education,Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA DETYA Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs ) and by some state auditors State auditors are executive officers of U.S. states. The office usually is created by the state constitution. Alabama State Auditor New Jersey State Auditor North Carolina State Auditor Ohio State Auditor Minnesota State Auditor general.Accreditation bodies are a part of the regional scenery in the UnitedStates United States,officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. higher education sector and might be expected to operate also inAustralia for universities in parallel with the systems that apply foraccreditation of the VET sector. Accreditation systems are also beingdeveloped to assure the quality of courses offered in internationalmarkets (see, for example, proposals from the Global Alliance forTransnational Education and the OECD). During the first quarter of the21st century, some measure of control over improvements in the qualityof teaching may be returned to individual academics. However, this willoccur in parallel with the continued growth and sophistication so��phis��ti��cate?v. so��phis��ti��cat��ed, so��phis��ti��cat��ing, so��phis��ti��catesv.tr.1. To cause to become less natural, especially to make less naive and more worldly.2. ofinternal and external accountability agencies. Mistrust of the quality agenda In simple terms, quality is about excellence in teaching andlearning, although this can be at the level of the system, institution,course or a particular class. Bloom's (1987) lament of theimpoverishment of the student mind is one of the more far-reaching andtimeless critiques of scholarship. More direct and contemporary concernsinclude American concerns about `troubling issues of quality' inhigher education that date from the mid-1980s (Edgerton, 1997, p. 13).Many Australian observers are deeply disturbed "Deeply Disturbed" is a CD single by the Israeli psychedelic trance duo Infected Mushroom, realeased in July 2003 on the label Absolute. by the potential for thenational system in this country to lose whole disciplines as a result of`vertical cuts' to the academic profiles of individualuniversities. Surveys of student satisfaction are generally at the levelof the course or class. At all levels, quality is often a judgement madeby someone on the basis of personal values and available information. Quality is about customer satisfaction or `the totality TOTALITY. The whole sum or quantity. 2. In making a tender, it is requisite that the totality of the sum due should be offered, together with the interest and costs. Vide Tender. of featuresand characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability tosatisfy stated or implied needs' (International StandardsOrganization See ISO. 1986 definition). Accountability is not the same thing asquality and is as much about power and control, as it is aboutperformance. Accountability was being labelled as a `dominant feature oftertiary education' almost two decades ago (Sheldrake & Linke,1979, Foreword fore��word?n.A preface or an introductory note, as for a book, especially by a person other than the author.forewordNounan introductory statement to a bookNoun 1. ). Accountability is the process of reporting to personswho have a responsibility for providing something, but who have passedthis role to others to undertake on their behalf. For example,governments and parents who fund education delegate the responsibilityfor teaching students to universities, who in turn delegate thisactivity to the individual teachers in their employ. An accountabilityrepot Verb 1. repot - put in a new, usually larger, pot; "The plant had grown and had to be repotted"pot - plant in a pot; "He potted the palm" gives an account of what the teacher or university has producedand may lead to a reward or sanction, depending on the assessment ofperformance. There is an obvious problem if the various parties engagedin these transactions do not have the same view about the nature ofexcellence, how it is being measured or assessed and how it is bestachieved. The present levels of resentment in the Australian sector are beingfed from a number of sources: * fear of a loss of institutional and personal autonomy to teachcurricula and promote scholarship as the free pursuit of knowledge,without the threat of corruption or capture by corporate or governmentagendas * recognition that many performance measures are imperfectindicators of teaching excellence (hence the level of concern inAustralia about the government's use of the Course ExperienceQuestionnaire data) * concern that the measures are affected by contextual variablesoutside the control of the teacher and institution * fear that the data will be used punitively to damage aninstitution in the market or to re-allocate funds via performance-basedfunding. Similar fears help to explain the resistance of staff unions inAustralia to the public use of student survey data about the quality ofunits, although this is commonplace in the United States (e.g. atHarvard). It is reflected also in the resistance of institutions andfaculties to a greater use of performance-based incentives (e.g.research and teaching quanta quan��ta?n.Plural of quantum. ). Without good information, academics, like most people, are capableof self-deception. Hierarchical structures See hierarchical. allow managers to blamesubordinates for performance failures, and vice versa VICE VERSA. On the contrary; on opposite sides. , just asuniversities and governments blame each other. A substantial investmentis now being made by a wide range of bodies in management informationgenerally and performance indicators more specifically. Action is beingtaken by DETYA, universities on their own and in consortia such asUnion, the organisations generating student course satisfaction (CEQ CEQ Council On Environmental QualityCEQ Course Experience Questionnaire (higher education)CEQ Centrale de l'Enseignement du Qu��becCEQ Cinema Equalizer )and graduate employment (GDS GDS Global Distribution SystemGDS Google Desktop Search (Google)GDS Goodie Domain Service (Vienna University of Technology, Austria)GDS Guards ) data and the Good universities guide.Internal university data systems are also being overhauled and put touse for planning and performance assessment at all levels. Increasingly,in future, internal data will be coupled with better externalenvironmental scanning Environmental scanning is a concept from business management by which businesses gather information from the environment, to better achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. and market research. Confidence in the qualityprocess should improve as management information systems improve andinstitutions and individual teachers regain a measure of control overtheir own quality processes. A data-driven approach can drive out fearby displacing subjective judgements with analysis. Quality becomes moreclosely linked to data and less to self-assertions of quality andgreatness. Differentiation and stratification Differentiation and stratification will be central to qualitybenchmarking in the 21st century as institutions (or particular coursesthey offer) acquire `markers' of difference, quality and prestige.A university may target a distinctive niche by focusing on a selectedset of attributes. It may offer, for example, some disciplines to theexclusion of others; develop a profile related to part of the economy(e.g. mining or services); target particular types of students (e.g.mature-age, working professionals); limit its services to somegeographical markets; or develop expertise in one major type ofscholarship (e.g. undergraduate teaching or research). Australian universities have, with some recent exceptions, beenunwilling or unable to make the necessary choices to become distinctivein this way. There are serious impediments IMPEDIMENTS, contracts. Legal objections to the making of a contract. Impediments which relate to the person are those of minority, want of reason, coverture, and the like; they are sometimes called disabilities. Vide Incapacity. 2. slowing the rate of change: * a lack of will and change management skills within universitymanagement * insufficient information about markets and demand trends in theshort or longer term * union and staff resistance to loss of jobs and changes inemployment * insufficient discretionary funds to invest in the costs oftransition (`patched' with some recent government rationalisation Noun 1. rationalisation - (psychiatry) a defense mechanism by which your true motivation is concealed by explaining your actions and feelings in a way that is not threateningrationalization funds) * views about the course mix that is perceived to be necessary fora `real' or `high quality' university * profound concerns that commodification Commodification (or commoditization) is the transformation of what is normally a non-commodity into a commodity, or, in other words, to assign value. As the word commodity has distinct meanings in business and in Marxist theory, commodification will lead to the nationaldemise of courses with weak demand that have intrinsic economic andcultural value (e.g. physics, philosophy, languages and some artssubjects). Universities have tended to try to straddle In the stock and commodity markets, a strategy in options contracts consisting of an equal number of put options and call options on the same underlying share, index, or commodity future. as many differentquality attributes as possible and the result for many is a lack of aunified vision, a proliferation proliferation/pro��lif��er��a��tion/ (pro-lif?er-a��shun) the reproduction or multiplication of similar forms, especially of cells.prolif��erativeprolif��erous pro��lif��er��a��tionn. of programs and a dissipation DissipationSee also Debauchery.Breitmann, Hanslax indulger. [Am. Lit.: Hans Breitmann’s Ballads]Burley, Johnwasteful ne’er-do-well. [Br. Lit. ofresources. Many mission statements share a commitment to excellence andan international reputation, leading Coaldrake and Stedman (1998) tocomment: The strategic plans of most Australian universities look remarkably similar, when in fact there is no single garden variety of university, and when there are strong demands for differentiation and diversity across higher education institutions. (p. 153) One manifestation of this lack of focus is in the proliferation ofundergraduate academic programs where these are driven more by teacherpreferences (the supply side) than by an astute reading of demand.Differentiation is also apparent in postgraduate teaching: However deliberately a central policy relating to postgraduate education may be designed to cover the spectrum of disciplines, it is unusual for it to apply equally effectively to all knowledge areas. (Becher, Henkel, & Kogan, 1994, p. 9) Many Australian universities are committed to postgraduateteaching. Various leading universities have set targets for postgraduateenrolment (University of Queensland The University of Queensland (UQ) is the longest-established university in the state of Queensland, Australia, a member of Australia's Group of Eight, and the Sandstone Universities. It is also a founding member of the international Universitas 21 organisation. : 20%, University of Melbourne AsiaWeek is now discontinued. Comments:In 2006, Times Higher Education Supplement ranked the University of Melbourne 22nd in the world. Because of the drop in ranking, University of Melbourne is currently behind four Asian universities - Beijing University, : 30%).The realisation of such targets will have quality consequences for bothundergraduate and postgraduate courses. Scholarships are being offerednationally to attract the nation's best graduates (Melbourne,Tasmania, and Adelaide). Postgraduate support and facilities (laboratoryoffice space, libraries, IT, equipment, materials and access to the`mega-sites' of corporate partners) will continue to vary widelyamong different universities. Some new, large universities such as RMIT RMIT Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University have aspirations to play a major role in postgraduateeducation See also: Postgraduate Training in EducationPostgraduate education (often known in North America as graduate education, and sometimes described as quaternary education . They may focus on coursework rather than research awards,signaling the manner in which life-long learning and market segmentation Market SegmentationA marketing term referring to the aggregating of prospective buyers into groups (segments) that have common needs and will respond similarly to a marketing action. are adding a new dynamic to the differentiation of postgraduateeducation and, therefore, to the management of quality forpostgraduates. A strong focus on a distinctive mission at both undergraduate andpostgraduate levels, that is well grounded in reliable market research,should bring significant benefits to an institution. A decision to focusmust be accompanied by a rigorous look at the institution'sstrengths and weaknesses, an assessment of how able it is to meet theexpectations of the niche(s) it is targeting and the planning mechanismsneeded to add or phase out courses and services, as needed as neededprn. See prn order. . Suchdecisions will have a foundation in a shared vision and articulatedgoals and thus be more transparent and less subject to internalcompetition and conflict. The major challenge for management is to`create constancy con��stan��cy?n.1. Steadfastness, as in purpose or affection; faithfulness.2. The condition or quality of being constant; changelessness.Noun 1. of purpose' and infuse in��fusev.1. To steep or soak without boiling in order to extract soluble elements or active principles.2. To introduce a solution into the body through a vein for therapeutic purposes. it throughout theorganisation (Deming, 1986, p. 23). Leaders do not produce the`vision' of a university as an `outgrowth of their own personalagendas' (Birnbaum, 1992, p. 25). Rather `goals are already withinthe institution, waiting to be both discovered and renewed throughinterpretation' (p. 28). Building quality through the execution ofa distinctive vision requires a strong effort to communicate and tobuild consensus. Becher et al. (1994) distinguish differentiation from statusranking (stratification). Differentiation allows for institutions to bedifferent, but equal. Stratification suggests a rank order related toquality. Universities with sufficient prestige are able to define theirtarget market in terms of status rather than discipline or other productdifference. Oxford, Cambridge and the United States `Research 1universities' are in this category. The Research 1 universities areidentified in a widely accepted benchmarking system provided by US Newsand World Report using indicators of research inputs and outputs. Notall stratification systems have this degree of objectivity.Notwithstanding this, a prestigious brand name permits the perception ofquality to be used as a marketing approach to recruit high quality staffand students, and hence may be self-fulfilling. High status universitiesare better able to resist external systems of accountability: Policies designed for universal application may in actuality be moderated by questions of prestige. Institutions of high standing may be able to resist what they perceive to be unacceptable demands to an extent that the more politically and financially vulnerable institutions cannot. (Becher et al., 1994, p. 8) Quality as outcomes for the learner and as customer service One of the more ironic shifts that may occur in the 21st centurywill be the way in which the traditional academic comes to terms withthe rhetoric of `customer service'. In recent years, experts inpedagogy have focused their attention on student-centred learning Student-centred learning or student-centered learning is an approach to education focusing on the needs of the students, rather than those of others involved in the educational process, such as teachers and administrators. andlearning outcomes. This strikes a sympathetic chord with many dedicatedteaching staff who are genuinely interested in their students. Althoughthe genesis is quite different, this is consistent with a customerfocus. As students pay a greater share of the costs of their education,they will expect universities to provide the services they demand in themarket at large; that is better service, lower prices, higher qualityand a mix of products that satisfy their own sense of a good education(Zemsky, Massy mass��y?adj. mass��i��er, mass��i��estHaving great mass or bulk; massive. , & Oedel, 1993, p. 56). In short, they will expect toexercise their rights as consumers. Where universities fail to meetstudent expectations, they risk litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute.When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. under state and federalconsumer protection and trade practices law. Universities will need to strike a new balance between teaching,research, learning and service. Many academics reject the notion ofstudents as customers. The 1992 Australian report, Higher education:Achieving quality, eschewed the term, in favour of `stakeholder'(Higher Education Council, 1992, p. 9). There is a strong professionalmistrust in treating the student on the basis that `the customer isalways right'. It is thought that educators must be open to dosomething that the recipient does not currently like if the long-termaims of education are to have any effect (Winch winch,mechanical device for hauling or lifting consisting essentially of a movable drum around which a cable is wound so that rotation of the drum produces a drawing force at the end of the cable. , 1996, p. 17). However,as the realities of lifelong learning Lifelong learning is the concept that "It's never too soon or too late for learning", a philosophy that has taken root in a whole host of different organisations. Lifelong learning is attitudinal; that one can and should be open to new ideas, decisions, skills or behaviors. take hold, universities, likeother companies selling products in the open market, will also beseeking to attract return business, rather than rely only on the newcustomer (e.g. the school leaver). This would seem to be an irresistiblepressure for the sector to find some new way of accommodating market andacademic traditions. Consumer sovereignty Consumer sovereignty is a term which is used in economics to refer to the rule or sovereignty of purchasers in markets as to production of goods. The term can be used as either a norm (as to what consumers should be permitted) or a description (as to what consumers are permitted). is most effective where the market has goodinformation. As the 1900s draw to a close, the Australian Government isattempting to force the pace of change in higher education bypublication of indicators, purported to reflect quality differences.Government data are expected to supplement the information availablefrom university marketing materials and private publications such as theGood universities guide. In a similar way, pressure from the Ontarioauditor general Auditor general may refer to, Comptroller and Auditor-General Auditor General for Scotland Auditor General of Canada Auditor General of Pakistan in 1994 led universities in that province to undertakean elaborate study of indicators. That exercise appeared to founder onthe notion of finding an effective means to measure `value added'.At the same time, the data on Canadian universities provided by McLeansmagazine have grown in credibility. The expectation is that governments will intervene less as betterinformation about university differences is made available and marketforces become more potent in both domestic and international markets.`If universities do not adopt better practices, then that is theirbusiness and they will suffer the market consequences' (Coaldrake& Stedman, 1998, p. 53). The current push for education to bedeveloped as an export commodity will require the quality of `theproduct' to match its price and be appropriate for overseasstudents (Clanchy & Ballard, 1992). By the 21st century,universities will recognise and value the fact that they are serviceindustries. Although students may still not be described as`customers', the use of tools such as a student services charterwill be more commonplace. Quality and the impact of communication and informationtechnologies No consensus has emerged on the overall impact of informationtechnology on the long-term nature and quality of university teaching.At one extreme, Noam (1995) foresees the complete demise of theuniversity as a teaching institution. He traces the rise and projectedfall of universities in terms of the monopoly they have had, and havenow lost, over access to scarce information resources (1) The data and information assets of an organization, department or unit. See data administration.(2) Another name for the Information Systems (IS) or Information Technology (IT) department. See IT. . He sees textbookpublishers becoming the new purveyors of curricula. Massy and Zemsky,two United States economists studying higher education, also predictthat adding `high tech' to the existing infrastructure ofuniversities could threaten the viability and affordability of thehigher education system (Massy & Zemsky, 1995). The cost oftechnology is the first major driver of differences in infrastructureand hence in associated quality outcomes. Massy and Zemsky see parallelswith the increasing use of high technology in medicine. They insist that`intelligent substitution' should be followed if universities areto survive. More optimistic op��ti��mist?n.1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome.2. A believer in philosophical optimism.op views have faith that the university will persistas an institution, but will be radically changed by technology, both inthe classroom and in the organisation and practice of backroom back��room?n. or back room1. A room located at the rear.2. The meeting place used by an inconspicuous controlling group.adj.1. administration (Global Alliance, 1998). A failure to transform teachingand learning and to rise to the challenge of what Simson (1998) callsthe inevitability of the digital economy would be as short-sighted as ifuniversities had failed to use books after the Gutenburg revolution. We are entering a phase of human history in which the only intractable form of poverty will be ignorance, and in which the primary competitive advantage between enterprises and societies will be access to knowledge and the value invested in knowledge workers [which leads to a conclusion that the] information super-highway will have to run through the teaching and learning heart of every great campus, and the students will have to be as much at home in cyberspace as their counterparts in the `virtual university'. (A.D. Gilbert, 1997, p. 6) A second major driver of quality will be the use to whichtechnology is put for teaching and learning. S.W. Gilbert (1996a, 1996b)offers two visions. Vision I emphasises the use of a distance educationparadigm, for delivery of higher education to students. This offerspossibilities for increasing staff-student ratios and reducing theinvestment in bricks and mortar A store (shop, supermarket, department store, etc.) in the real world. Contrast with clicks and mortar. . In this model, technology is appliedprimarily as a mass distribution medium. The Open University in theUnited Kingdom, now one of ten higher education institutions worldwidewith more than 200 000 students, uses technology for access andparticipation by large numbers, many of whom may be remote from thegeographic base of the university. Vision II for Gilbert aims to usetechnology as a tool for improved pedagogy, whether it is delivered onsite or at a distance. It focuses on increasing the responsiveness ofteachers and other resources to the needs of students and strengtheningcollaboration among a community of scholars Noun 1. community of scholars - the body of individuals holding advanced academic degreesprofession - the body of people in a learned occupation; "the news spread rapidly through the medical profession"; "they formed a community of scientists" from undergraduates throughto seasoned researchers. The first vision sees education as knowledgedelivery and access to credentials. The second is more about knowledgeconstruction. Each vision reflects different concerns and purposes, andthe way forward for most universities and for the system as a whole islikely to involve a mix of both. A key challenge will be devising newforms of quality measurement for each vision; that is, for knowledgedelivery and for construction. At this stage, fewer than one third of courses using new media inAustralian universities appear to improve student learning compared withthe more conventional face-to-face experience (Alexander & McKenzie,1998). Impediments are thought to be insufficient training andpreparation for both staff and students in teaching and learning inthese media. More positive results are reported by Deden (1998) for theCommonwealth colleges of Pennsylvania State University Pennsylvania State University,main campus at University Park, State College; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1855, opened 1859 as Farmers' High School. , where there hasbeen close attention to supporting staff via a staged introduction totechnology. Deden's approach has quite deliberately coupled the useof technology with a requirement that staff employ techniques toencourage collaborative learning Collaborative learning is an umbrella term for a variety of approaches in education that involve joint intellectual effort by students or students and teachers. Collaborative learning refers to methodologies and environments in which learners engage in a common task in which each . This promotes interaction betweenstaff and students and between students within the group even when usingtechnology (Deden, 1998; Deden & Carter, 1996). Laurillard (1993)describes the value of interaction in the promotion of effectivelearning and describes the process as `conversation', while Ramsden(1992) uses the term `dialogue'. Interactive teaching via electronic media also contains the seedsof a valuable promise to academics in their concerns about the way inwhich the quality agenda has evolved. Technology can facilitateimmediate detection and feedback about problems in teaching and learningat the front line where students are most immediately affected. Forexample, the use of a `bug button' in Web-based courses allowsstudents to give staff instant feedback on problems of both a technicaland a pedagogical ped��a��gog��ic? also ped��a��gog��i��caladj.1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of pedagogy.2. Characterized by pedantic formality: a haughty, pedagogic manner. nature. Technology also provides a means for staff totrack the learning process over students as they progress through anexercise or instructional material and to take remedial action A remedial action is a change made to a nonconforming product or service to address the deficiency.Rework and repair are generally the remedial actions taken on products, while services usually require additional services to be performed to ensure satisfaction. wherenecessary. This will help teachers to `listen' in more profoundways to their students and thereby change their understanding of goodteaching as envisaged by Ramsden (1992). Quality and the rise of collaborative teaching and social learning Another element in the landscape of change is group teaching. Thisis attracting new attention, although it is not a new idea (e.g. seeJaques, 1992). The image of the outstanding teacher has traditionallybeen of an outstanding person who combines knowledge and scholarshipwith the vocation and skill to inspire. The one-on-one relationshipbetween teacher and student remains the ideal in many universities. Thetraditions of the academy systematically select staff who prefer anindividualistic work style. This is reinforced by an environment inwhich the traditional view is that the classroom and what goes on thereare the private precinct A constable's or police district. A small geographical unit of government. An election district created for convenient localization of polling places. A county or municipal subdivision for casting and counting votes in elections. PRECINCT. of the instructor in charge. Student assessmentand staff promotion and tenure policies reward the individual andencourage competition with peers, all of which adds to and encouragesthe isolation of an individual from peers. Collaborative teaching and social learning are assuming newsignificance as financial constraints push up class sizes, leading somestaff to substitute more in-class group work (syndication) in place oftutorials. The application of technology has encouraged the redesign ofcurricula, materials and delivery, where the range of expertise and needto achieve economies call for a team approach. Group work is beingencouraged by some pedagogical theory and by research that showspositive learning outcomes are associated with social learning(Ratcliff, 1995). This is reinforced by the calls by employers andechoed by government for more team-based generic skills (e.g. Kemp,1998). Work-based learning in its various forms (e.g. placements,practicums, co-operative learning) offers opportunities for grouplearning in an industry context. The trend to group interaction is notconfined con��fine?v. con��fined, con��fin��ing, con��finesv.tr.1. To keep within bounds; restrict: Please confine your remarks to the issues at hand.See Synonyms at limit. to undergraduate teaching. Many universities have moved awayfrom the single-supervisor model to the panel of supervisors/advisersthat may include international researchers or members of corporateR&D labs as co-supervisors. Collaborative learning is beingintegrated in the United States with a move to having undergraduatesinvolved in team-based research work. Faculty members and students both need to be taught how to workcollaboratively. This does not come naturally. Deden (1998) describesthe problems that can arise when an institution encourages active,collaborative learning but does not consider the concomitant academicstaff development needs. Promotion and reward skills will need toreflect this too. Students also need new skills. These include not onlythe technical know-how to access Web-based resources and communicateelectronically. At a more fundamental level, they need to learn how tolearn, to be aware of learning styles and how to make best use of groupdynamics group dynamics:see group psychotherapy. . Deden reports that the latter is being described as`interactive competence'. One private provider, recognising amarket opportunity, has acquired copyright protection for`Student-Centered Discussion'.(1) This approach assures thatstudents rapidly develop the ability to interact critically and activelywith study materials (written texts, diagrams, videos, formulas, etc.).They come to discussion sessions ready to ask questions and to offerinsights in a responsible, scholarly fashion as the group workstogether. The method teaches people how to ensure a positive, productivegroup process. Students develop a meta-cognitive approach for looking athow they learn and how they interact with others that can transferreadily to new situations. Co-operative learning and collaborative project work can beprovided for distance students. Internet-based conferencing software isnow being used for both synchronous chats and asynchronous Refers to events that are not synchronized, or coordinated, in time. The following are considered asynchronous operations. The interval between transmitting A and B is not the same as between B and C. The ability to initiate a transmission at either end. discussion,shared development of reports and presentations, and for peer review andfeedback. The changes required for collaborative teaching and social learningare not embraced easily by many academics, or by all universities andquality accrediting agencies. Academics continue to be offeredincentives as individual teachers (such as the AustralianGovernment's teaching excellence awards). Not all staff are willingto find workable solutions for the problems posed in the assessment ofgroup work by students, although well-tried methods are available frompioneering colleges like Kings and Alverno in the United States. Thephysical structure of lecture theatres discourages in-class group work,and more suitable spaces are still rare. Stanford has one of theexceptions -- an experimental flexible classroom intended to support awider range of teaching methods including small group work that isequipped with portable computers, wireless networking See wireless network. capabilities, asingle fixed computer display station and moveable furniture.Conventional quality measures are not yet well equipped to handlegroup-based teaching or learning, or are too generalised Adj. 1. generalised - not biologically differentiated or adapted to a specific function or environment; "the hedgehog is a primitive and generalized mammal"generalizedbiological science, biology - the science that studies living organisms to be veryuseful (an example is the item on generic skills, in the AustralianCourse Experience Questionnaire). A major challenge for managers as we approach the new millennium isto make a much greater and more effective commitment to the developmentof staff skills and to knowledge about the changes in the theory andpractice of teaching and learning. This is fundamental to assuringquality. There is a growing view in both the United Kingdom andAustralia that training in tertiary teaching should be mandatory foracademics. Experience to date suggests, however, that we are not yetconfident that we can design and deliver professional training that willdo justice to our aspirations. The Australian Government is fundingexperiments via the CAUT/CUTSD schemes, in teaching, learning and staffdevelopment. Projects generally have limited system-wide utility.Dissemination and training tend to rely on the small unit or centre ofprofessional experts who work hard to achieve a measure of acceptance oftheir services and knowledge, by the majority of mainstream academics.In the United States, a major investment is being made in researchingthe nature of learning (e.g. at Harvard, Michigan, Stanford andPennsylvania). This may help to remedy the criticism that a good deal ofinstructional design Instructional design is the practice of arranging media (communication technology) and content to help learners and teachers transfer knowledge most effectively. The process consists broadly of determining the current state of learner understanding, defining the end goal of practice is not well grounded, but `has evolved asa kind of procedural and media-production craft' (Hannafin, 1997,p. 3). Conclusions The managers of universities in the 21st century will understandhow quality in teaching and learning can best be managed for their owninstitution. The best universities will invest heavily in staff who,like their students, will be lifelong learners. Staff will be rewardednot only for enhancing their discipline knowledge, but also for theirskills in the teaching profession as it evolves. Universities willensure that their students are well prepared for learning in differentstyles and in the use of communications media that best fit theircircumstances. This will be part of the customisation of universityproducts. Like the content and delivery of courses, quality management at thelevel of the institution will be contextualised for a chosen marketniche. The university will, however, be able to respond to any genericindicators or processes favoured by national and internationalaccreditation bodies, or to assessments published by privateorganisations. Innovation in teaching will continue, as traditionalscholarship comes to terms with market forces and a more groundedunderstanding of the learning process. New quality technologies willneed to be developed to handle the complexities that accompanycollaborative teaching and learning and the mix of delivery optionsavailable to each teacher and each learner. The scepticism scep��ti��cism?n.Variant of skepticism.skepticism, scepticisma personal disposition toward doubt or incredulity of facts, persons, or institutions. See also 312. PHILOSOPHY. — skeptic, n. and fear now felt by some universities and academicswill be lessened. There will undoubtedly still be occasions in whichdamage is done as a result of the misuse of data but, overall,confidence should grow as management information systems improve.Individual academics will regain a sense of more control over thequality process as it affects them directly. The new technologies thatenhance the interaction (`conversations' or `dialogues')between teachers and learners will also provide new and more immediateways for teachers to get reliable feedback from students about thequality of teaching, instructional materials and progress with learning.This will allow teaching staff to improve their practice and to achievebetter results. The constants of genuine scholarship and academia as alearning community will again return to the foreground of universitylife and reaffirm re��af��firm?tr.v. re��af��firmed, re��af��firm��ing, re��af��firmsTo affirm or assert again.re the joys of good teaching and learning that are sofundamental to delivering quality. 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Professor Millicent Poole is Vice-Chancellor, Professor ElizabethHarman is Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and Professor Ann Deden is ProVice-Chancellor (Teaching, Learning and Technology), Edith Cowan Edith Dircksey Cowan (n��e Brown), OBE (August 2 1861–June 9 1932) was an Australian politician, social campaigner and the first woman elected as a representative in an Australian parliament. University, Pearson Street, Churchlands, Western Australia Coordinates: Churchlands is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia located within the Local Government Area of the City of Stirling. Churchlands is an expensive suburb with most homes built after the 1980s. 6018.