Teaching, Learning and Assessment Strategy

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Introduction

The College recognises that it’s Teaching, Learning and Assessment Strategy is fundamental to achieving the aims set out in its Mission Statement and to satisfy expectations contained in appropriate indicators in Chapter B3, B4 and B6 of the UK Quality Code for the Assurance of Academic Quality and Standards in Higher Education.

The Head of Quality and Enhancement will monitor the implementation of the Teaching, Learning and Assessment Strategy and report the Academic Board, which will review the strategy annually.

Aims

The Teaching, Learning and Assessment Strategy is intended to achieve the four following aims:

  • Teaching: To provide effective and student-centred teaching that is practice-informed and scholarly-informed
  • Learning: To ensure intended learning that encourages gradual shift from the taught to the self-learning approach
  • Assessment: To have appropriate, fair and accurate assessment of the learning 
  • Educating: To ensure systematic relationship among content development, teaching, learning and assessment

Teaching

To provide effective and student-centred teaching that is practiceinformed and scholarly-informed

In order to achieve this aim, the College, its academic staff, or its heads of departments will:

  •   Consider students’ learning abilities when the academics decide on their chosen pedagogy for each unit for every intake of students
  • Actively ask for the students’ feedback and suggestions on the academics’ pedagogy
  • Adjust the teaching methods based on the students’ feedback and suggestions
  • Identify the academics with relevant work experience at the college • Identify the scholarly-active academics at the college
  • Determine the exact areas of experience or the scholarly interests of the academics
  • Mapping the experience or scholarly areas of the academic staff to the units and syllabuses
  • Document the work experience that are related to any of the units or syllabuses
  • Acquire the scholarly-based publications of the staff that are related to any of the units or syllabuses
  • Share the staff’s scholarly-based publications and the documented experience with all other academics who teach any related units
  • Use similar but not necessarily identical teaching materials by different academics who teach the same unit to cover the main subjects
  • Allow the academics to amend or update teaching materials as required
  • Give the academics the freedom to choose their own pedagogy for teaching their respected unites as long as their pedagogy ensure full coverage of the syllables on time and it does not disturb teaching of other colleagues.
  • Observe (by peers or the head of department) the teaching of the all academics specially the newly recruited or the established ones who are teaching the units that they have not taught before
  • Include satisfaction regarding teaching in the student survey
  • Measure the teaching-related key performance indicators every semester for every intake of students

Key Performance Indicators:

  • Student satisfaction regarding the teaching (internal survey, NSS, …) 
  • Rate of scholarly-informed teaching to total teaching 
  • Rate of practice- informed teaching to total teaching 
  • Rate of the units or modules considered the students’ ideas on their pedagogy

Learning

To ensure intended learning that encourages gradual shift from the taught to the self-learning approach

In order to achieve this aim, the College, its academic staff, or its heads of departments will:

  • Rely on the most updated learning objectives for each course that are offered by the accreditation bodies or alternatively prepare the learning objectives for every programme developed by the college
  • Use the learning objectives of each unit in every course offered by the accreditation bodies or alternatively determine the learning objectives of each module in every programme developed by the college
  • Actively ask for the students’ feedback and suggestions on the learning objectives of each programme and module developed by the college
  • Adjust the learning objectives based on the students’ feedback and suggestions
  • Identify the learning objectives of the each session in every unit
  • Communicate the programme/course-level, unit-level, and session-level objectives to the relevant academic staff and students
  • Collect the midterm student feedback (preferably the verbal and informal feedback) by the head of each department on the quality and clarity of the teaching of the newly recruited academics or the established academics who are teaching the units that they have not taught before to ensure student learning.
  • Have a one-to-one or one-to-small-group support to assist the learning by the students regarding their units especially in their first year of studying
  • Provide pre or/and post-sessional supports concerning the English Language, information technology, academic writing and referencing by the support staff
  • Teach students on how to search for valid and relevant academic literature or industry materials for learning and writing assignments
  • Encourage the students for the independent learning from the second semester of their studies
  • Expect more evidence of self-learning (independent learning) in the second year of study particularly at the fourth semester
  • Introduce the available books and journals at the library that are related to each unit to the relevant students every semester
  • Accommodate the student’s satisfaction regarding their own learning in the student survey
  • Measure the learning

Key Performance Indicators:

  • Progression rate
  • Rate of distinction, merit, and pass or alternatively rate of first, 2:1, 2:2, and third class
  • Student satisfaction regarding their own learning
  • Rate of the self-learning to taught by considering the extent of the student’s knowledge beyond lecture notes
  • Rate of the students who received formative feedback on their work
  • Rate of the modules considered the students’ ideas on their learning objectives

Assessment

To have appropriate, fair and accurate assessment of the learning

In order to achieve this aim, the College, its academic staff, or its heads of departments will:

  • Rely on the most updated assessment criteria for every unit that are provided by the accreditation bodies or alternatively prepare the assessment criteria for every module developed by the college before commencing their teaching
  • Use the offered assessment criteria by the accreditation bodies that state requirement of achieving the Pass, Merit, and Distinctions or alternatively prepare the assessment criteria for the college’s its own developed modules in a way that requirements of achieving the Third, 2:2, 2:1 and First class are mentioned.
  • Actively ask for the students’ feedback and suggestions on the assessment criteria of the every module developed by the college
  • Adjust the assessment criteria of the college’s its own modules based on the students’ feedback and suggestions
  • Circulate the assessment criteria for each unit amongst relevant academics every semester prior to the teaching
  • Ensure the assessors’ agreement with and similar understanding of the assessment criteria for every unit
  • Make sure that the identical assessment criteria are utilised by different academics who teach the same unit
  • Make certain that the employed assessment methods are covering the all learning outcomes in the unit.
  • Limit the assessment methods to one or two for each unit to avoid over-assessment
  • Finalise the decision regarding the number and types of assessment before starting the teaching
  • Ensure that if more than one assessment methods are used for a unit, these methods should not have overlaps (one learning outcomes should not be assessed twice in two different assessment methods)
  • Give the assignments to the students no later than the end of the third week of the semester if the assignment is chosen as one of the assessment methods
  • Asking a random but relevant group of students to read the assignment before its official release is recommended but not mandatory to evaluate the clarity of the assignment
  • Having feedback on the assignment is highly recommended from all the involved academics in the teaching of the module in advance of releasing the assignment to the students
  • Give a chance to the students to ask for formative assessment of their assignments or presentations before the first submission deadline
  • Give freedom to the academics on choosing the most appropriate mode, media, time, and frequency of providing formative feedback to their students by considering their students’ needs and levels as wells as available time.
  • Collect (by the head of each department) the student’s midterm feedback to ensure quality of the formative assessment provided by the academics
  • Distribute (by the head of each department) some samples of marked assignments (preferably one referral, one pass, one merit and one distinction) as reference for each unit among relevant academics prior to the marking in order to foster consistency in the marking of the assignment by different assessors in each unit
  • Include the justifications for giving a mark in the summative assessment
  • Moderate or second mark (by an internal verifier or another academic) a sample of the marked work by every assessor in every unit.
  • Communicate the release of the given mark and feedback on the submitted work to the students when the official process of moderation (verification) is over (text, email, ICON VLE, etc.)
  • Students should be allowed to make an appeal via existing official channel if they have objection to the marks they received
  • Measure the assessment-related key performance indicators every semester for every intake of students

Key Performance Indicators:

  • Rate of consistency of the marks gained by one student in different units
  • Rate of similarity of the second marker or moderator with the first marker
  • Rate of complaint from students regarding their marks
  • Rate of the modules considered the students’ ideas on their assessment criteria

Educating

To ensure systematic relationship among content development, teaching, learning and assessment

In order to achieve this aim, the College, its academic staff, or its heads of departments will:

  • Deliver the courses offered by the accreditation bodies or alternatively develop new programmes for undergraduate and postgraduate levels
  • Review annually and update if required the contents of each developed programme by relevant head of department or programme director Ask current or former students’ feedback on current or prospect programmes during annual review
  • Consider the provided (by the accreditation bodies) or developed learning objectives for each programme/course, and unit as the prime indicators of the required syllabus or teaching contents in that programme/course and units
  • Prepare the teaching materials mainly but not only based on the recommended topics for each unit by the awarding body
  • Teach only the syllabus that are covering the learning objectives of the unit
  • Teach based on the materials that cover the syllabus in full
  • Conduct the midterm evaluation of the lecturer’s work by the head of each department in terms of teaching based on the learning objectives and the syllabus
  • Teach in a way that is easy for the students to understand and learn
  • Provide required post-teaching assistant to the student to maximise the student learning
  • Amend the teaching methods or teaching materials if the large portion of the students have difficulties in learning the materials
  • Change the academics who failed to convey required notions to a large portion of their students even after the initial amendment on teaching method
  • Conduct the midterm evaluation of the student’s learning based on the lecturer’s teaching methods and teaching materials by the head of each department
  • Choose an assessment method that is more student-friendly
  • Select the assessment methods that are more adjusted to the employed teaching methods
  • Develop the assessment papers exactly based on the official learning objectives of each unit
  • Prepare the assessment materials based on the topics/ syllabus covered during the teaching
  • Assess the student work mainly based on the topics and materials covered in the teaching
  • Assess the student work by considering the assessment criteria as well as the learning conditions for each unit
  • Measure the education-related key performance indicators every semester for every intake of students

Key Performance Indicators:

  • The extent to which the teaching is done based on the intended syllabus/content 
  • The extent to which teaching would lead to student learning (based on the student survey)
  • The extent to which assessment is based on what is covered in the teaching
  • Rate of the programmes considered the students’ ideas on their contents
  • Rate of the programmes developed by the college

 

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