Unit name | Quality and Improvement in Education |
---|---|
Unit code | EDUCM5207 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Professor. Watermeyer |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School of Education |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit is designed for those interested in designing, managing, delivering and evaluating quality education in all fields. It will review research and experience relating to effectiveness and improvement in educational settings and consider the implications for policy and practice. It will focus on research into the organisational and other factors that correlate with effective outcomes, comparing across different cultural and country contexts, and strategies for promoting quality and improvement at local, national and organisational level. Research employing a range of qualitative and quantitative methods for quality assurance and evaluation (eg intervention/programme evaluation, case studies, inspection frameworks, league tables, value added approaches) will be considered.
The broad aim of this unit is to review selected research and theory relating to quality, effectiveness and improvement in education and to consider the implications for policy and practice in different countries/cultures and different school/college contexts.
By the end of the unit students will demonstrate the ability to:
This unit will be taught using a blended approach consisting of a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous activities including seminars, lectures, reading and discussions.
Formative assessment: a 1000-word assignment in the form of a piece of reflective writing. Students are asked to consider what educational quality and improvement mean in their specific context/institution and/or own professional experience.
Summative assessment - a 4,000 word assignment which will assess students' critical understanding of the literature on quality, improvement and effectiveness, and their ability to discuss the implications of the theories and concepts in relation to their own professional practice.