Quality in Learning and Teaching

Core components of the UNSW Learning and Teaching Plan 2005 - 2007 are the use of established and proven practices in the development and delivery of academic programs and courses, and the verification of quality outcomes for all students.

As a faculty of the University, UNSW@ADFA is committed to this approach and has actively engaged with many of the processes that are in use across the University as a whole. A summary of these activities is given in the following.

The Learning and Teaching Performance Indicators

A key measure of the quality of learning and teaching across the university is the annual reporting by faculties against the Learning and Teaching Performance Indicators . These indicators, set by the Office of the DVC (Academic) in consultation with the Associate Deans (Education/Teaching and Learning), identify a series of input and output indicators that are graded according to the faculty's performance.

In 2006, an amount of the budget allocated to faculties was based on their performance and ranking against the 2005 Indicators. A similar budgeting approach will again apply to the faculties in 2007, based on the 2006 Indicators. Though UNSW@ADFA is not affected by this budget process, we report annually to the University with the other Faculties as a means of gauging our standing within the University as far as learning and teaching performance is concerned.

The UNSW@ADFA Learning and Teaching Performance Indicators Reports for 2005 and 2006 are available online:

UNSW@ADFA - Meeting the 2005 Learning and Teaching Performance Indicators (pdf)

UNSW@ADFA - Meeting the 2006 Learning and Teaching Performance Indicators (pdf)

Applying the rubric that was used in 2005 to assess the performance against the Learning and Teaching Indicators, UNSW @ ADFA placed first in terms of overall score in relation to the other faculties of UNSW.

Report for UNSW @ ADFA against 2005 Learning and Teaching Performance Indicators (pdf)

CATEI

The UNSW Course and Teaching Evaluation and Improvement process is used to evaluate the quality of our teaching courses, and for academic staff to evaluate their teaching performance. Faculty engagement with CATEI is a significant component of the Learning and Teaching Performance Indicators. It also plays a critical role in quality improvement through a student-staff feedback loop. All faculties across the University, including ADFA, participate in CATEI.

CATEI is based on two types of questionnaires (the CATEI Forms).

Form A - Course Evaluation. This asks students to comment on a specific course, including its aims, feedback, effectiveness, interest level, assessment and general quality. In effect, this is the students' assessment of what we provide – the academic courses.

Forms B (Lecturing), C (Tutorials) or D (Projects etc) - Teaching Evaluations. This asks students to comment on the teaching provided by individual academics. The questions cover issues such as the style, skill, enthusiasm, commitment and preparation of the teacher. In this way, students can comment on how well a teacher performs.

Each CATEI Form is in three parts:

Part 1 - asks for general information and student characteristics. Students are not obliged to complete the sections on gender and whether they are a local or international students if they feel that providing this information may potentially identify them.

Part 2 - asks students to rate aspects of a course or teaching performance over 10 questions on a four-grade scale of Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree or Strongly Disagree.

Part 3 - asks for comments on the best features of a course or a teacher's performance, and on aspects of the course or the teaching that could be improved.

A set of CATEI Operating Procedures (pdf, 29kb) appropriate to ADFA, and advice to students and staff on the role and operation of the CATEI process is available online, as is the UNSW booklet The CATEI Process: Information for Staff and Students (pdf, 56 pages).

CATEI Course Evaluation (Form A) Summary Reports for UNSW @ ADFA are available online.

S2 2004 Form A aggregate report (pdf, 1 MB)
S1 2005 Form A aggregate report (pdf,1 MB)
S2 2005 Form A aggregate report (pdf,1 MB)
S1 2006 Form A aggregate report (pdf,1 MB)

Summary reports for all UNSW faculties are available from http://www.unsw.edu.au/learning/pve/catei.html

What we do to guide quality

Through the role of the Associate Dean (Education) and the activities of the Teaching and Learning Committee working in association with the UNSW Learning and Teaching Unit and the office of the DVC (Academic):

adoption of the UNSW Guidelines on Learning that Inform Teaching.
participation in the UNSW Foundations of University Learning and Teaching (FULT) program for new teaching staff.
organisation of inductionand professional development programs for sessional staff, including academic and administrative coordination mechanisms in each school.
delivery of learning and teaching seminars and workshops.
establishment of the UNSW@ADFA Teaching Mentor and Teaching Coaching Schemes, and
support for the Rector’s Teaching Commendations and Award for Teaching Excellence schemes

What we do to ensure quality in our courses

Assist staff to meet their institutional responsibilities in the provision of appropriately detailed information in Course Outlines and the preparation of quality resource materials via:

development of a UNSW @ ADFA Course Outline Template for all on-campus courses, allowing staff to prepare course handouts in a style that suits their particular needs.
adoption of a standard template for students enrolled in all Distance and Intensive Mode courses, each containing additional and specific information relevant to the mode of delivery.
collaborative course design, including lecturers working with specialists in educational design, graphic design and web design.
use of defined procedures for the development and publication of course materials for all off-campus courses, and
provision of assistance to all teaching staff in the use of appropriate educational technologies.

What we do to improve quality

Through the use of a number of UNSW organisational mechanisms and local activities including:

course and teaching evaluation to provide both summative and formative data and responses via the CATEI process for all on-campus courses.
the use of informal survey and feedback processes tailored to individual courses.
off-campus student evaluations of courses and teaching.
the establishment of school-based Staff-Student Liaison Committees and ASG Student Liaison Groups, and
the development of programs of professional development in response to identified needs and dissemination of information to teaching staff.

Content coordinator: assoc.dean.education@adfa.edu.au