Assessment won't deliver better teaching at UK universities
Report claims pitting research against teaching won’t do either any favours
The government has been clear about wanting to improve teaching in higher education, and has proposed a Teaching Excellence Framework (Tef) to assess universities. But a new report casts doubt on whether Tef can achieve what it sets out to do.
Tef, laid out in the higher education white paper which is now at the committee stage in parliament, will link excellence in teaching with the ability to raise fees. It will include metrics, benchmarks and contextual information. A further Tef for each discipline is planned from 2019–20.
While government plans to recognise teaching excellence are well-intentioned, Paul Blackmore, professor of higher education at King’s College London, believes they are not likely to be as successful as hoped. In his report for thinktank the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), he argues that the main problem is that university research has always been viewed as more important than teaching despite attempts to change this.
This article provides a link to coverage by Chemistry World
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