TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT

EMBOLDENED QUESTIONS

The priority questions and points are emboldened.  These are intended to act as a guide and help in deciding to what to address/include in preparing the report on the each area.  They are intended to help report compilers to identify points for inclusion.

The emboldened questions and points are followed by unemboldened words and numbers.  The unemboldened words indicate useful sources of documentation, whilst the numbers refer to the number of the pro-formas distributed as part of the documentation for the Faculty Review.

KEY AREAS OF FOCUS

1. Faculty policies and strategies for teaching, learning and assessment.
2. Overall quality of teaching, learning and assessment.
3. Main kinds of teaching and assessment strategies being used in the Faculty.
4. Identification of strengths and weaknesses in teaching, learning and assessment.
5. The uses made of assessment of students.
6. Quality assurance practices for monitoring and reviewing the actual quality of teaching, learning and assessment.
7. Plans for interventions and staff development to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the Faculty.

KEY QUESTIONS

1. How high is the quality of the teaching, learning and assessment in the Faculty?
2. How do we know and how will we continue to know?
3. What is being done to improve teaching, learning and assessment?

CORE QUESTIONS

1. What are the policies and strategies for teaching, learning and assessment in the Faculty?  Policy documents, handbooks for each program and course, student handbooks, Faculty policy documents and codes of practice on curricula, equal opportunities, learning, teaching, assessment, student support, marking and examinations, plagiarism and cheating, policies regarding admission and retention of students, remedial and support work, awarding of credit, program & course regulations and instructions to examiners
2. What procedures and processes does the Faculty have for planning, monitoring, reviewing, and developing the teaching, learning and assessment in the Faculty? Minutes of meetings of curriculum development bodies and advisory groups, materials and pro-formas used in the academic development and reviewing process. 
3. How does the Faculty know and inform itself and stakeholders if these procedures and processes are working/being used? Minutes of meetings of curriculum development bodies and advisory groups, materials and pro-formas used in the academic development and reviewing process.
4. Are the procedures and processes for planning, monitoring, reviewing, and developing the teaching, learning and assessment in the Faculty in place, operating and effective in meeting the Faculty’s stated mission, values, purposes, policies, self-evaluation contents and criteria for the effectiveness of the Faculty?
5. How does the Faculty inform itself/stakeholders about how these procedures and processes for the Faculty are effective in terms of outcomes and quality (i.e. impact analysis)?
6. How high is the quality of the teaching, learning and assessment in the Faculty, and how does the Faculty know? Minutes of meetings of curriculum development bodies and advisory groups, materials and pro-formas used in the academic development and reviewing process.
7. How has the Faculty improved the quality of its teaching, learning and assessment over time, and how does it know? Minutes of meetings of curriculum development bodies and advisory groups, materials and pro-formas used in the academic development and reviewing process.
8. What recommendations can be made for needed interventions and developments to develop further the teaching, learning and assessment in the Faculty?
9. What does the Faculty do to monitor and improve the teaching, learning and assessment in the Faculty?
10. What does the Faculty do to monitor and improve the teaching and learning in English medium in the Faculty?

TEACHING AND LEARNING

1. What are the strengths and weaknesses observed in teaching and learning in the Faculty?
2. How wide-ranging and appropriate are the teaching methods used in the Faculty? How do we know?
3. What innovations and developments in teaching/pedagogy are taking place in the Faculty?  How innovative and up-to-date are the teaching strategies in the Faculty? How do we know?
4. To what extent are curricula and teaching framed in terms of intended learning outcomes (i.e. what the students must be able to demonstrate that they have learnt by the end of the program)?
5. What staff development is offered to support learning and teaching?
6. How much use is made of ICT in teaching and learning in the Faculty, and where does this occur?
7. How effective is the Faculty in promoting English medium teaching?  How do we know?
8. What teaching and learning activities have been observed in the Faculty in terms of:
   • the representativeness of the sample e.g. by level, program, staff;
   • the range of sessions (e.g. lectures, seminars, practicals, tutorials);
   • the range of materials for self-directed learning that may form part of an overall strategy for independent learning.

ASSESSMENT

1. How far is assessment used as to promote learning as well as a means of judging performance, i.e. how far does the overall assessment strategy have an adequate formative function for students and programs (i.e. helps students to know what to do to improve and helps teachers to know what to do to help them improve)?
2. How strong is the match between the methods of assessment and the intended learning outcomes of the programs?
3. How secure and equitable are the assessment procedures and their moderation?
4. What are the activities of Boards of Examiners?
5. What are the main types of assessment that are practised in the Faculty, and why?
6. What developments in assessment are practised in the Faculty?
7. How innovative, up-to-date and varied are the assessment strategies in the Faculty? How do we know?
8. How are criteria used to differentiate levels of student achievement, and how are these communicated to students?

SUMMARY FOR TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT

1. Current strengths and weaknesses in teaching, learning and assessment in the Faculty.
2. Future directions in teaching, learning and assessment in the Faculty.
3. Key challenges and prospects for teaching, learning and assessment in the Faculty.
4. Key opportunities for developing teaching, learning and assessment in the Faculty.

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