[LINK] Aussie Higher Ed

[Tom Worthington]

On 20/07/13 09:24, Glen Turner wrote:

> ... students ... quality of their university experience ...

Unfortunately university lecturers are mostly selected and promoted
based on their publication record, not the quality of their teaching.
This is something my research orentated colleagues remind me of, each 
time my course beats all of theirs in the student satisfaction surveys. ;-)

> tables say nothing at all about your experience as ... student. ...

On Friday I was awarded a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education
by the Australian National University: 
http://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/2013/07/on-line-tertiary-teaching-for-research.html

In studying on-line pedagogy, assessment and research supervision, the 
most important thing I learned was how hard it is being a student. After 
ten years teaching in higher education for several institutions, I 
thought I knew all about education. But being a student again allowed me 
to experience the difficulties which poorly designed administrative 
processes and courses cause. I could see where I was creating problems 
for my students, with unclear material, excessive readings, overly 
complex assessment and delayed feedback.

The move to on-line education should help improve the situation, not 
just by making it more convenient for students, but by forcing course 
designers to be more systematic in their work and making flaws in 
administration very visible.

To help improve education, I have set up a new blog and am offering my 
consulting services as the "Higher Education Whisperer": 
http://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/2013/07/on-line-tertiary-teaching-for-research.html


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
The Higher Education Whisperer http://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards
Legislation

Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Research School of Computer Science,
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/