scholarly journals Can We Actually Assess Learner Autonomy? The Problematic Nature of Assessing Student Autonomy

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 8-15
Author(s):  
Andrew G D Holmes

This paper explores, from a theoretical basis, the difficulty in defining and assessing learner autonomy in higher education. Although the development of learner autonomy as a key aim of higher education, it is a vague and ill-defined term. As such, the assessment of learner autonomy within university programs of study is highly problematic. The author argues that the authentic assessment of genuine learner autonomy may not be possible within formal credit-bearing programs of higher education. The aim of the paper is to stimulate reflection and discussion so that university teaching staff may reflect and consider whether they can assess autonomy in the programs they are responsible for.

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 21-26
Author(s):  
Zamzam Amhimmid Mare

This study aims to show the importance of evaluating the teaching performance level of the University teaching members. It also aims to provide the suggested mechanisms for evaluating the teaching performance of the teaching staff members of Sebha University. This study was based mainly on documents and analytic description to collect information about the importance and ways of evaluating teachers with reference to some of the international experiences on teaching performance development. This study concluded that the absence of an experienced entity that would develop the teaching performance of faculty members is one of the main reasons for the weak teaching performance at Sebha University. Based on the results of the study, it is recommended that there should be a planned system based on measured standards and criteria for evaluating staff members to improve the quality of teaching in the higher education domain. 


Author(s):  
Юлия Масалова ◽  
Yuliya Masalova

The purpose of the work is to evaluate the potential of a high school teacher; the subject of study is employment potential and competitiveness of the university faculty member; research methods include analysis of statistical data and online-survey. The article presents the results of the research potential of the university teaching staff in the conditions of ongoing reforms in higher education and in connection with changing requirements to higher education institutions forfaculty members. It was determined that faculty members demonstrate high loyalty and commitment, but average engagement. It was revealed that the institution creates proper conditions for development and self-realization, creativity and communication. It was confirmed that university professors have a high scientific and innovative potential and willingness to conduct research. The conclusion is that the employment potential of university staff is not used to the full. It was determined that the majority of the teaching staff appreciates personal competitiveness. And only one out of five is aware of the need to develop their personal competitiveness in line with the new requirements. The results of the study may be useful for university governance within the management of human resources quality.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. 23-31
Author(s):  
Y. A. Lisnevskaya

The article presents the main directions of the transformation of the Polish higher education system to meet the growing needs of the national economy and the labor market. It is emphasized that the state reforms of higher education aimed at improving the quality of education and its orientation to the growing new society were carried out in line with the Bologna process. Characteristics of the most important principles for the creation of a single pan-European educational and scientific space are given. The process of creating state higher professional educational institutions, which have become an addition to universities and polytechnic institutions, has been considered, due to which the population’s access to free higher education has increased. The specific differences between the educational programs of Polish higher vocational schools and unified university programs are assessed. It is shown that, in accordance with the principles of building a unified European educational and scientific space in the country, unified university programs are divided into two- and then three-level cycles. Particular attention is paid to the functioning of the management systems of the process of improving the quality of higher education, presents an analysis of internal and external systems, as well as criteria for parametric evaluation of the quality of the learning process. The leading role of teaching staff in the formation of a quality culture of training is substantiated. The maxims of the teacher of the higher school are given. It is shown that the parametric assessment of the quality of teachers’ work contains both formal legal and thematic elements. Teachers of Polish universities are subject to parametric evaluation at least once every four years, the criteria and procedure for evaluation are defined in the charter of the training organization. Regardless of the official certification, each university teacher exercises self-evaluation with the help of a multi-criteria scale. It should be emphasized that the work of the university teacher on improving the quality of higher education is largely individual, and at the same time regulated by law, both national and EU. Legislation defines the rights, tasks and responsibilities of teachers and quality standards are defined in this area.


2021 ◽  
pp. 7-34
Author(s):  
Viktoriia Ravilevna Sagitova

The paper presents an analysis of the concept of competence and competency in the works of domestic and foreign authors, and a comparative analysis of the characteristics of the concepts of competence in foreign and domestic science is carried out in tabular form. The author's definition of competence is given, which made it possible to conduct an empirical pilot study of the formed competencies of the university teaching staff.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-243
Author(s):  
Angelika Thielsch

Postcolonial pedagogy invites academic teaching staff to create situations, in which hegemonic modes of knowledge production can be critically reflected and one’s own entanglement as disciplinary socialised member of (western) academia experienced. Such a postcolonial approach has been applied to a seminar in the context of cultural musicology and its impact on teaching and learning analysed. In this paper, the findings of the accompanying research are presented and discussed in relation to the concept of Bildung, theories on individual learning (in higher education) and current processes to internationalise the curricula. Throughout the argumentation, I will demonstrate how postcolonial pedagogy may cause the construction of otherness and why this simultaneously constitutes the biggest challenge as well as the profoundest reward when applying such an approach to university teaching. In addition to that, this paper introduces a definition of postcolonial pedagogy and offers recommendations to foster its implementation in higher education contexts.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Ortiz Colón ◽  
Miriam Agreda Montoro ◽  
María Colmenero Ruiz

The aim of this study was to analyse the perception of teaching staff at the University of Jaen regarding the integration of students with a disability, and to describe the interventions they use to respond to the specific needs of these students, to examine the differences that exist in teachers’ interventions for students with a disability based on their faculty. To this end, a descriptive methodology was used (n =300 teachers), and the data were gathered using a Tutoring and Attention to Special Needs in the Classroom Questionnaire (TASN-Q). The results were organised in terms of the tool’s different dimensions and, in general, revealed that the teaching staff do not consider themselves sufficiently prepared to provide an educational response to students with a disability. The best-prepared teaching staff belonged to the Faculties of Social and Legal Sciences and Health Sciences. This study confirms the need for training in special needs processes to enable university teaching staff to participate in an inclusive model.


Computers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 110
Author(s):  
Janika Leoste ◽  
Larissa Jõgi ◽  
Tiia Õun ◽  
Luis Pastor ◽  
José San Martín López ◽  
...  

Emerging technologies (ETs) will most likely have a strong impact on education (starting with higher education), just like they have already had in so many economic and social areas. This paper is based on the results obtained in the project “My Future Colleague Robot”, an initiative that aimed to improve the competence of university teaching staff regarding the introduction of ETs in teaching practices at university level. In this paper, we identified the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that are related to the adoption in higher education of the combination of two ETs: robotics together with artificial intelligence (AI). Additionally, we analyzed the perceptions of university-level teaching staff about the potential of introducing ETs in education. The empirical data presented here were collected using written essays from 18 university teachers and students. Deductive and inductive approaches with thematic analysis were used for the data analysis. The findings support the idea that previous ET-related experience can support positive attitudes and the implementations of ETs in university teaching; in this study, university teachers had optimistic expectations towards ETs, accepting them as part of teaching practice development, while discussion about the negative effects of ETs was negligible.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-66
Author(s):  
Gail Wilson ◽  
◽  
Paula Myatt ◽  
Jonathan Purdy ◽  
◽  
...  

This research examines the design and delivery of a new Foundations of University Teaching Practice (FUTP) program delivered through asynchronous online modules. The freedom to choose defines the new momentum of openness in distance and open learning. University teaching staff expect quality resources to support their professional development within the reality of limited time for learning and a desire for increased accessibility. Openness and increased access bring both opportunities and challenges. This paper uses mixed methods to examine the FUTP from the perspectives of both the designers and the academic staff who participated in the program. Using personal reflections, focus groups, a survey, and interviews, we explore those opportunities and challenges within the context of the design and delivery of the program and report on the findings. Our research confirmed the value of openness and increased access to professional learning in higher education


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Baumber ◽  
Lucy Allen ◽  
Tyler Key ◽  
Giedre Kligyte ◽  
Jacqueline Melvold ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted higher education globally. Teaching staff have pivoted to online learning and employed a range of strategies to facilitate student success. Aside from offering a testing ground for innovative teaching strategies, the pandemic has also provided an opportunity to better understand the pre-existing conditions that enable higher education systems to be resilient - that is, to respond and adapt to disturbances in ways that retain the functions and structures essential for student success. This article presents a case study covering two transdisciplinary undergraduate courses at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. The results highlight the importance of information flows, feedbacks, self-organisation, leadership, openness, trust, equity, diversity, reserves, social learning and nestedness. These results show that resilience frameworks developed by previous scholars are relevant to university teaching systems and offer guidance on which system features require protection and strengthening to enable effective responses to future disturbances.


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