Enhancing Learning, Teaching, Assessment and Curriculum in Higher Education

by Bamber, Veronica; Trowler, Paul; Saunders, Murray; Knight, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780335233762
• ISBN10: 0335233767
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-03-01
• Publisher: Open University Press

Summary

Higher education is a particularly complex site for enhancement initiatives. This book offers those involved in change a coherent conceptual overview of enhancement approaches, of the change context, and of the probable interactions between them.. .The book sets enhancement within a particular type of change dynamic which focuses on social practices. The aim is to base innovation and change on the probabilities of desired outcomes materializing, rather than on the romanticism of policies that underestimate the sheer difficulty of making a difference. Following a theoretical introduction to these ideas, there are case studies (from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Norway) at the national, institutional, departmental and individual levels, illustrating the argument that enhancement is best achieved when it works with social practices in real institutional and organizational settings...In a final section, the authors link the case examples and theoretical frameworks, inviting readers to consider their own enhancement situations and apply the 'frameworks for action' offered in earlier sections of the book. The book doesn�t offer quick-fix solutions but aims to support change with practical examples, conceptual tools and reflexive questions for those involved in change at all levels. It is key reading for higher education lecturers, managers, educational developers and policy makers.

Author Biography

Veronica Bamber is Director of the Centre for Academic Practice at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh

..Paul Trowler is Professor of Higher Education at Lancaster University

..Murray Saunders is Director of CSET, (Centre for the Study of Education and Training) and Chair of Evaluation in Education and Work at Lancaster University.

..Peter Knight late of the Open University's Institute for Educational Technology..

Table of Contents

Acknowledgement

The Contributors Preface

Introduction

Continuities, Enhancement and Higher Education

Enhancement Theories Theme 1: Influencing the Disciplines

Theme

Introduction

Theme 1: Changing the Rules of Engagement: down the Disciplinary Road

Theme 1: Layers of the Onion: a Subject Centre in its Institutional Context

Theme 1: Talking the Talk, Walking the Walk: the Work of an LTSN Subject Centre

Theme 1: Against the Grain: e-Assessment in the Physical Sciences

Theme 1: Commentary on the Cases Theme 2: The Scottish Way: a Distinctive Approach to Enhancement

Theme

Introduction

Theme 2: Up and Down the Implementation Staircase: a Focus on Thematic Approaches to Change

Theme 2: Carrots but no Sticks: Resource-led Enhancement

Theme 2: PASS the Word

Theme 2: Exchange and Art: Intradisciplinary Learning

Theme 2: Commentary on the Cases Theme 3: Developing Frameworks for Action

Theme

Introduction

Theme 3: Strong Vision, Low Prescription: Compulsory Lecturer Training

Theme 3: Rehearsing the Realities of Management: Making the Tacit Explicit

Theme 3: Changing Learning Architectures, Shifting Practices

Theme 3: Bringing New Learning to Old Cultures

Theme 3: Commentary on the Cases Theme 4: Challenging Practices in Learning, Teaching, Assessment and Curriculum

Theme

Introduction

Theme 4: Contesting discourses in higher education curriculum

Theme 4: Academic Development as Changing Social Practice: The Generic Attributes Project

Theme 4: Frustrated Aspirations

Discovering the Limits of a Virtual Learning Environment

Theme 4: Freedom to Innovate, Freedom to Resist

Theme 4: Commentary on the Cases

Making Practical Sense of Enhancing Learning, Teaching, Assessment and Curriculum

References

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