A commentary on the criteria of effective teaching in post-COVID higher education

Abstract

ABSTRACT An article published in Higher Education Research & Development (HERD) in 2010 titled, ‘The criteria of effective teaching in a changing higher education context’ argued that an effective university teacher needs to have specific skills and practices that are applicable to a particular context. The article is one of HERD’s most downloaded articles and continues to be highly cited over a decade later. However, since this article was published, there have been significant global and other changes that have impacted on higher education. Much complexity, change and ambiguity challenge the sector, including through: widening participation and increased student diversity; increasing accountability; the growth of transnational education; digital transformation; the rise of data analytics; evolving assessment philosophy and practice; work-integrated learning; the students as partners movement; the trend away from solo teaching; and new pedagogies for an unknown future. These shifts have taken place in a broader context of profound global changes including: changing economic powers and global political tensions; prevailing societal inequalities; climate change and the resulting environmental and ecological damage that puts human existence at risk; and significantly changing social norms. The global pandemic has contributed a further layer of chaos and uncertainty, including in terms of the meaning of effective higher education teaching. The article argues that given this new context, the criteria that have so successfully defined effective teaching to date now need to be re-interrogated, reconsidered, revised, and updated.