Review of the Research Literature on Defining and Demonstrating Quality Teaching and Impact in Higher Education

The evidence base for how teaching quality and impact may be defined and demonstrated is weak.

There is a lack of robust empirical evidence, with the literature dominated by opinion pieces based on secondary, documentary analysis rather than rigorous comparison group studies.

Quality teaching is defined in the literature at the student experience, teacher performance and institutional level.

The Report looks at how it is demonstrated or operationalised through the student experience, with indicators such as social integration, freedom of choice and level of student participation. Secondly, the Report looks at teacher performance through prerequisites including teacher competence and qualifications, and through implementation, such as teaching methods, materials and curriculum design. Thirdly, the Report looks at 'quality teaching' at the institutional level, through prerequisites such as funding and resources, the learning environment and student guidance available, and through implementation such as the availability of a wide variety of subjects, community involvement and quality management processes, amongst other approaches.

Quality teaching and impact are currently measured using a number of indicators.

Indicators used in these analyses include student test scores, student satisfaction and experience surveys, employer feedback on new graduates in their employ, and student outputs such as retention and pass rates, as well as knowledge, skills and capability of graduating students. However, we find that while there is considerable overlap in the literature on how quality teaching and its impact may be measured, there is a striking lack of evidence behind the indicators used by researchers and higher education institutions.