Abstract
Increasingly, the higher education sector is driven by sets of standards that describe quality - internal institutional standards that consider curriculum, teaching and delivery to students and external standards from both the sector and the professions that describe expectations, content, skills and attitudes that curricula must address to support graduate outcomes. Quality is the focus of these requirements, and yet quality in higher education remains a messy problem, with no clear framework (Kundu, 2016) and numerous variables that confound the problem. We ask what comes first: the external standards that accredit a university to provide education for a profession, or internal standards that focus on quality teaching and learning opportunities. The paper presents a short case study that highlights the challenge for course leaders pressured to meet industry requirements, and the impact this has on their awareness and capacity to design a transformational curriculum for students. We conclude that it is the difference between an aspirational course, whereby quality is focussed on the learning design for transformational student experience, and a compliant course, where quality is focussed on meeting static requirements.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd' 19) |
| Editors | Josep Domenech, Paloma Merello, Elena de la Poza, Desamparados Blazquez, Raul Pena-Ortiz |
| Place of Publication | Valencia, Spain |
| Publisher | UPV/EHU Press |
| Pages | 783-791 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9788490486610 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |
| Event | 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances: HEAd'19 - Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain Duration: 26 Jun 2019 → 28 Jun 2019 Conference number: 5 http://www.headconf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/HEAd19-program.pdf (conference program) https://archive.headconf.org/head19/index.html (Conference website) |
Conference
| Conference | 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Spain |
| City | Valencia |
| Period | 26/06/19 → 28/06/19 |
| Other | This conference is an excellent forum for researchers and practitioners to exchange ideas, experiences, opinions and research results relating to the preparation of students, teaching/learning methodologies and the organization of educational systems. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following topic areas: Innovative materials and new tools for teaching Teaching and learning experiences Educational technology (e.g., virtual labs, e-learning) Evaluation and assessment of student learning Emerging technologies in learning (e.g., MOOC, OER, gamification) Scientific and research education Experiences outside the classroom (e.g., practicums, mobility) New teaching/learning theories and models Globalization in education and education reforms Education economics Entrepreneurship and learning for employment Education accreditation, quality and assessment Competency-based learning and skill assessment |
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