Handbook of Quality Assurance for University Teaching

Book excerpt: This practical and authoritative handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the issues and approaches to assuring quality in university teaching. Including contributions from major international figures, the book contains a wealth of ideas and practical advice to help universities commit to quality in teaching and offers insights into how the topics raised can be directly applied. The book initially identifies some of the key issues surrounding the topic, such as the evidence-based identification of teaching quality; the training of university lecturers and faculty; external and internal quality assurance; the tension between professional autonomy and governmental regulation; and the involvement of students in developing quality. It then moves on to present ideas and initiatives to address these problems, tackling the subject through four sections: Assuring Quality – questioning what quality assurance means and how it might be practised; Identifying Quality – examining what knowledge exists at present and how it might be further researched; Developing Quality – investigating the development of staff through teacher training and appraisal; Case Studies of Quality Assurance – reviewing six case studies of quality assurance in a range of contrasting subjects including the professional subjects of Medicine, Nursing and Teacher Training which are also addressed systemically in the first section. Full of practical advice, Handbook of Quality Assurance for University Teaching is an invaluable and unique resource for Faculty, Subject Leaders, University Administrators and Quality Assessors.