Abstract

In the rapidly changing global higher education sector, greater attention is being paid to the quality of university teaching. However, academics have traditionally not received formal teacher training. The peer-assisted teaching programme reported on in this paper provides a structured yet flexible approach for peers to assist each other in reinvigorating and refining their teaching practice. Academics participated in this national, multi-institutional trial for varied reasons: the majority voluntarily, others to increase low student evaluation of course scores and some as part of a graduate certificate teaching qualification. Here we report on how academics used the scheme, and the teaching areas they focused on. Student evaluation of course scores increased in the majority of courses, suggesting the changes made had a positive effect on students’ learning experiences. The experiences of the multi-institutional trial reported here may benefit others considering such a scheme to reinvigorate and refine teaching practice and improve course evaluation scores.

Highlights

  • In the higher education sector internationally, academic teachers are typically not required to have formal teaching qualifications

  • This paper reports on changes in student course evaluation scores across the five institutions that participated in the trial and proceeds as follows

  • peer assisted teaching scheme (PATS) is a way of assisting academics to improve their teaching practice, which may in turn result in improved student course evaluation scores

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Summary

Introduction

In the higher education sector internationally, academic teachers are typically not required to have formal teaching qualifications. We discuss how higher education institutions recognise the value of quality teaching reflected in student course evaluation scores as evidenced through examples of internal targets and policies. Institutional Targets Setting and maintaining teaching standards is a policy goal at many Australian universities, and within universities there are pressures to perform well on teaching as measured through quantitative student evaluation scores. These pressures may be expressed at the university, faculty and school level. PATS is a way of assisting academics to improve their teaching practice, which may in turn result in improved student course evaluation scores. The project was approved by the Monash University Standing Committee on Ethics in Research involving Humans

Results
Discussion
Voluntary
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