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Abstract:
Very few topics in education have captured as much attention from regulatory authorities and practitioners as the connection between quality teaching and student achievement. Current research give emphasis to the continuous importance and influence of quality teaching cum lecturing on student satisfaction and achievement. The major reasons to closely investigate the notion of quality teaching in Higher Education are: 1. The teaching/lecturing process is driven by academics, who are experts in their field but not necessarily trained in pedagogy. 2. The diversity of employment statutes within the institution (professionals, international teacher cum lecturers, part-time teacher cum lecturers, etc.) combined with an increasing variety of students might result in incoherence and in equity of the teaching process. 3. Research enhances curricula development and the link between updated knowledge and teaching is crucial. Highly successful pedagogies develop when teaches cum lecturers make outstanding use of their understanding of research and knowledge base for teaching in order to support high-quality planning and practice. Quality teaching arises when this research base is supplemented by personal passion for what is to be taught and for the aspirations of the students. While assuring and enhancing educational quality and academic standards is viewed as complex and multifaceted activities, geared towards ensuring that graduates compete successfully in a global market it is difficult to maintain a balance between 'quality as inspection' and 'quality as enhancement' and what makes good sense in terms of effective teaching/lecturing practices. Considering the strategic importance of quality teaching, this paper aims to among others, interrogate questions such as: 1. What is quality teaching and why is it important in Higher Education? 2. What are the implications of long term learning outcomes and short term goals? 3. Does quality assurance embrace the complexity of teaching/lecturing? 4. Has the culture of measurement trivialized teaching excellence and the language of business turned it into a product?
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