Improving teaching in British higher education

Abstract

Outlines a series of initiatives at both national and institutional levels which suggest that British higher education is becoming more serious about improving the quality of university teaching. National initiatives include the Teaching Quality Assessment exercise, the Teaching and Learning Technology Programme and the Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning. The establishment of the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education is also briefly highlighted. At the institutional level initiatives include the creation of more effective units or centres to promote learning and teaching, many of which intend to offer teacher development programmes accredited by the new Institute for Learning and Teaching. Such units also provide a valuable range of workshops, consultancy and project support in order to help universities improve their understanding of the practice and the theory of teaching in higher education. Many such units also promote research, especially action research, into university teaching and learning.