A collegial quality development process for identifying and addressing barriers to improving teaching |
| |
| Authors: | A Carbone S Drew B Ross J Ye L Phelan K Lindsay |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Australiaacarbone@swin.edu.au;3. Tasmanian Institute of Learning and Teaching, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia;4. Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Caulfield, Australia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1686-8264;5. Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Australiahttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4677-8283;6. School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia;7. Newcastle Law School, Faculty of Business and Law, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia |
| |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACTChallenges to ensuring teaching quality in higher education give ongoing impetus to invest in teaching quality improvement. While a significant body of literature has recognised challenges faced by academics seeking to improve teaching practices, processes for developing constructive responses to identified barriers have attracted less attention. A synthesis of literature on barriers to improvement of teaching is presented and used as a framework to assist an identification of barriers. This article reports on a national Australian trial of a collegial quality development process aimed at supporting academics to both identify and surmount barriers to improving teaching quality. Evidence of the nature and extent of barriers to improving teaching was collated from data provided by 28 academics across five Australian universities. Adopting a thematic analysis approach, a broad range of perceived barriers were identified, largely consistent with barrier categories defined in the extant literature internationally. Findings reveal that, with the support of peers, participants were able to implement effective solutions to their identified barriers to improving teaching quality. This article provides a synthesis of current barriers to improve teaching and offers a collegial quality development process as a strategy to overcome these barriers. |
| |
| Keywords: | Barriers peer assisted teaching scheme teaching enhancement quality teaching professional development |
|
|
![ORCID Icon]({"type":"image","src":"/templates/jsp/images/orcid.png"} "ORCID Icon")
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1686-8264;5. Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Australia