STUDIES AND TEACHING

A. Scope: The quality assurance system for studies and teaching covers all study programmes as well as implementation of teaching. The latter includes teaching innovation, diversity in teaching methods, teaching evaluation, and methods to assess student performance.

B. Purpose: To strengthen and improve studies and teaching at RU using regular evaluations, appraisals, and supervision. The final objective is to fulfill the University's strategy of teaching innovation, diversity in teaching methods, and interdisciplinary studies, so that RU becomes the first choice for anyone wishing to study at a university in Iceland.

 

C. Terms and definitions:

1. Study program: All programs which provide participants with ECTS credits and which fall under the National Qualification Framework issued by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture.
2. Teaching evaluation: A process where students answer structured questions on the quality of the course, the teaching in the course as well as questions concerning their own and other students‘ behavior in the course. These are submitted electronically by Teaching Affairs. 
3. Course catalogue: The course catalogue describes each course at RU in detail. It is available online on RU´s website. The setup is according to the ECTS-label and shows three semesters (past, present and next semester) at a time.
4. Teaching methods: In RU´s regulations is stated that all courses must include diverse teaching methods. The RU course catalogue gives information about teaching methods in all taught courses at RU.
5. Methods to assess student performance: This refers to the methods used to assess students knowledge, practical skills, theoretical skills, communications skills and information literacy. The methods include projects (group/individual), essays, experiments, exams, etc.
6. Teaching innovation: This term refers to teaching methods that are diverse, innovative and/or have not been used before in specific courses. Teaching innovation can also refer to major changes in teaching and working processes in a study program as a whole.
7. Interdisciplinary studies: An interdisciplinary course is a course that attracts students from two ore more Schools. It can also refer to a study program co-sponsored by two or more Schools. The interdisciplinary courses may be recognised as core or electives in the different study programs.
8. Teacher training: Refers to support services to teachers provided by RU´s teaching coach and other staff. Teacher training focuses for example on teaching methods, learning outcomes definition, assessment of student performance and teaching evalution follow-up.
9. Course analysis: Refers to a process where all courses are analyzed and compared in a systematic fashion. This analysis involves number of lectures, practical sessions, assessment, number of students, credits given, workload, etc.

D. Key processes

 

1. Approval of new study programs: A process exists for establishing new study programs at RU. The same process is used for approving major changes to existing programs. First, the process document describes how a new study program should be prepared, in accordance with the National Qualifications Framework, including learning objectives, detailed program specifications and course descriptions, plus a strategic discussion in the RU Executive Committee. Secondly, the process document specifies the bodies that must review and approve the new program, i.e. the School, the Finance department, the Curriculum Council, and finally, the Executive Commitee of RU. Finally, the process specifies that programs in the Open University must always be sponsored by a given academic school, and follow the approval process as any program in that school.

2. Teaching evaluation: The teaching evaluation is intended to obtain students' opinion toward the course and the teacher. Teaching Affairs is responsible for developing the teaching evaluation questionnaire as well as for the data collection.
i. The questionnaire: The questionnaire contains closed-end questions where students assign a grade of 1-5, but students are also given an opportunity to answer two open-ended questions on positive and negative aspects of the course and the teaching. The questionnaire has three parts, concerning the teaching, the course itself, and matters relating to students and their behavior.
ii. Data-collection process: The teaching evaluation is administered twice a semester in courses taught for 12-15 weeks (mid-term and final). In shorter courses, only a final teaching evaluation is administered. The mid-term part of the teaching evaluation is administered in the 4th-5th week of teaching and the final evaluation in the next to last week, that is, before the start of examinations. The RU teaching evaluation is administered electronically to students through the MySchool learning management system and evaluation results are saved in the system.
iii. Issuing of results: The mid-term part of the teaching evaluation is available to instructors (in their personal  „Teaching Record“ area in the MySchool system) immediately following its administration. The final teaching evaluation is made available to the teacher only after the course has been closed, that is, after grades have been published. Instructors can see averages and standard deviations from the three parts of the questionnaire. Deans and study program Directors have Administrative access to the evaluations and can view all evaluations relevant to their purview. Averages from School-wide evaluations, that is, the student satisfaction index (based on the key question inquiring how pleased students are with the course and the teaching), are published on the Reykjavik University webiste. These data are also recorded in the „RU Dashboard“ where key data on the implementation of the RU strategy are presented.
iv. Follow-up: Teaching evaluation results are reviewed by the Director of Teaching Affairs, by the RU teaching coach, Deans, and study program Directors. Based on the mid-term part of the teaching evaluation the teaching coach provides instructors with guidance when necessary and provides follow-up (see below). Deans go over the teaching evaluation, and it is used as part of the annual reviews they conduct with academic staff. The teaching evaluation furthermore has an effect on the rehiring of part-time instructors and the assignment of courses to full-time faculty.

3. Teacher coaching and training: Teaching Affairs and Registry is responsible for teacher training, and other individuals outside and inside RU are recruited to participate in this process as necessary. The RU teaching coach is an employee of Teaching Affairs and provides services to all RU schools.
i. Teaching coach: The role and objective of the teaching coach is to support RU instructors in their work through advice, evaluation of teaching, and providing courses in university pedagogy. The teaching coach uses various methods, for example, evaluating courses at the request of instructors; recording classes on video and subsequently coaching the instructor; following up on teaching evaluation results and providing instructors with advice; giving personal advice upon request regarding pedagogic factors, such as course assessment, teaching methods, syllabi, and use of the MySchool learning management system. The teaching coach also assists instructors in producing and proof-reading exams, and helps with peer-review/self-review of instructors at their request where applicable.
ii. Seminars and Teaching Quality Handbook: One of the responsibilities of the teaching coach is to organize regular seminars and lectures supporting the work of RU instructors. Seminars are held on subjects such as how to develop syllabi, how to write learning objectives for courses, conducting distance courses, how to create assessment systems, how to write exams, as well as on topics such as the use of PowerPoint in teaching and on the organization and performance of lectures. Once a year (in August) the University holds special Innovative teaching days where all RU instructors are invited to come and participate in a specially designed seminar on innovative teaching. The RU Teaching Quality Handbook was published in 2007 and is distributed to all new teachers.
iii. Responses the mid-term teaching evaluation: Following the mid-term teaching evaluation the teaching coach contacts (with the permission of, or at the request of, the respective Director or Dean) the instructor in cases where guidance or change is clearly needed. The teaching coach meets with the instructor, attends classes, talks with students, and subsequently submits a report with recommendations on where and how improvements can be made. During the semester, the teaching coach stays in contact with the instructor and follows up on how the instructor's teaching and course are going along. The teaching coach submits a report at the end of the semester on how the instructor did in terms of improving the teaching and the course.

4. Admission criteria audit: Once every three years an analysis is conducted regarding the predictive validity of applicant background factors for success in the major undergraduate programs at RU Schools. The objective is to ensure that optimal decisions are being made when applicants are accepted or rejected for a study program, and to improve the admission process if possible. This analysis involves reviewing application documents and entering key background factors into a database. Following this, data on student performance at RU is obtained and matched with the application documents. The next step is to remove all identifying information from the data files. Analysis is then carried out, separately for each major study program, to determine  the best predictors for performance at RU. This information is then transmitted to the Schools, via meetings and reports.

5. Course analysis: Once every three years courses at RU are analyzed in a systematic fashion. This analysis involves number of lectures, practical sessions, assessment, number of students, credits given, workload etc. The objective is to ensure  that the University is following-through on important quality- or strategy-related issues such as contact hours, diversity in assessment methods, average class sizes, the provision of practical training sessions etc. The process for the course analysis involves obtaining a data file on all courses at the University in a given school year, and entering additional information from course syllabi, such as  assessment methods, number of class hours etc. The course analysis is being conducted for the first time in the 2008-2009 school year so the format of the conclusions and follow-up are still under development.

 

E. Other measurements: Various statistics and measurements are regularly collected related to studies and teaching. These measurements include statistics on factors such as number of interdisciplinary courses; student drop-out rates; admission rates and yields of new students, number of courses taught in foreign languages; teaching evaluation statistics, number of programs in non-traditional formats.

 

F. Documentation and issuing of key documents, instructions, and results: Key documents related to the above processes and measures are available on network-drives accessible to faculty and staff, and certain statistics and information are also published on the RU website to be available to students and the public in general. Information, instructions, documents and results relevant to these matters will also be published on the RU intranet, ESJA. The RU Teaching Quality Handbook is available to teachers both in hard copy and electronic form.

 

G. Responsibility:

Director of Teaching Affairs and Registry,  Executive Director of Human Resources and Quality, Curriculum Council, Provost.