James Cook University is also committed to quality assurance and a separate quality assurance plan for each of these four categories of practice is being developed. The focus of this policy is the quality of teaching and learning and in particular the commitment to the generation of evidence to support ongoing improvement and to justify claims about teaching and learning. The approach to quality assurance we take is aimed primarily at continuous quality enhancement achieved through a self-critical and self-reflective attitude disciplined by attention to the goals of the University and to evidence about practice.

Commitment to Quality

The commitment to quality in teaching and learning at James Cook University is expressed in the University vision statement JCU: Into the Third Millennium, Our Future and How We Get There.

James Cook University will serve tropical Queensland and the nation by providing education and research of international standing in a broad range of fundamental and professional disciplines, and world leadership in subjects of special importance to the tropics and to the region.

The University vision statement expresses the height of our aspirations:

We aim to be acknowledged within ten years as one of the top five universities of the world that are centres for teaching and research with a focus on matters relating to life in the tropics.

The University commits itself to international benchmarks:

We will measure the quality of our teaching against the best international standard. Within ten years we aim to be routinely attracting large numbers of the best students in the world to our research and teaching programs. The University is committed to internationalisation, and this is reflected in teaching and research programs which address international topics, that are attractive to people from around the world, and that facilitate fruitful worldwide exchanges.

The University's core beliefs and values link the quality of its education programs to the role of the University in improving society:

We believe that education is a major force for improvement in society, and we aim to deliver university education at the highest possible standard to all those who desire it and who are capable of study at the appropriate level.

The Guiding Principles of the University express the commitment to quality and to quality assurance practices linked to the highest of aspirations, to critical self-assessment and to ongoing improvement:

A Commitment to Excellence

We believe that the pursuit of excellence is a good in itself, and that we should judge all of our activities against the highest ethical and intellectual standards.

Providing Service to Students

The University will constantly seek to improve the service it provides for its students, so that they may reach their full potential in a supportive and student-centred learning environment.

Critical Assessment of Our Performance

Critical assessment of performance against clear intentions and aspirations will be a feature of all aspects of our affairs.

The Idea of a Quality Assurance System

The Quality Assurance System of the University is a structured manifestation of good academic practice, which describes and builds on existing quality assurance and control processes in the University. The objective of the Quality Assurance System is the establishment of cyclic processes for planning, enactment, feedback and renewed planning which promote and emphasise quality enhancement through the generation of a collective self-critical and self-reflective attitude. This attitude is disciplined by attention to the goals of the University and by data collection and analysis. The structure of the Quality Assurance System ensures that feedback loops link with people in a position to effect improvements in teaching and learning. It is recognised that quality enhancement must often aim at goals which are not easily described and therefore less easily measured. Accordingly, where it is appropriate, the Quality Assurance System uses quality assessment to impose a reasonable degree of impartiality and objectivity by referring directly to specific goals and whether or not they have been achieved. In other words, the Quality Assurance System describes processes designed primarily to enhance practice, but with a view to accountability for outcomes wherever these can be defined clearly. The investment of resources in the Quality Assurance System must be mediated by its contribution to the enhancement of teaching and learning and to public accountability.

Quality as 'Fitness for Purpose'

The meaning of the term quality is somewhat contentious, but a commonly used definition gives a real sense of the scope of the concept. The British Standards Institute (BS 4778) defines quality as:

The totality of features of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy a given need.

‘Quality’ defined in this sense suggests that the quality of teaching and learning intersects with most practices of the University. The University formulates its purposes to address what it sees as community needs. Educational programs are devised and implemented to meet these purposes and one aspect of their quality may be described as their ‘fitness for purpose’. In other words, the University must be clear about its purposes and have a ‘teaching and learning plan’ to provide the points of reference by which the quality of its activities can be judged.

Quality of Purpose

Clearly purposes may be of different quality too, and purposes must in some way be covered by the quality system a university puts in place. Quality of purposes is assured through the engagement of the University with its community, local, national and extended, including links through the membership of the University Council, and links with professional, employer, union and disciplinary bodies. These links for the quality assurance of purposes are described as an aspect of the Management of Quality. When we think about quality as fitness for purpose, purposes become the central point of reference by which quality is judged: ‘Are we doing what we said we would?’ The possibility of different purposes (not necessarily implying different quality) means that 'best practice' in universities with similar purposes is an important point of reference.

Purposes of Stakeholders

The concept of ‘service’ in the definition of quality above requires amplification here too. In education, the service is not merely performed for the student, the service is performed for others too. Students come to be ‘transformed’ and the transformation is represented in different ways in different discourses; 'value adding' is one representation, 'empowerment' is another. The University acts for the student, and for the community, through its relationship with the professions for example. So ‘fitness for purpose’ relates to purposes for the community and to individuals, to a variety of stakeholders. Quality assurance therefore has two key aspects: (i) clarifying what is happening in our various practices, and (ii) clarifying what our collective purposes are. Both of these are then subjected to informed and disciplined critique. The Quality Assurance System must therefore describe the ways in which practices are conducted, the ways in which practices are evaluated, and the purposes of those practices.

Policy for a Quality Assurance System

Basic Principles of Academic Quality Assurance

The basic principles guiding quality assurance in the University are:

1. Accountability to University and Community

The University, through its Academic Board has a public duty to ensure that its academic practices are of high quality. The processes by which the quality of core practices is examined must be comprehensible and transparent to stakeholders. These processes must also be generally acceptable to all those involved and affected.

2. Systematic practice with justified variations

The Quality Assurance System should be generic as far as possible, but should allow variations to address the different characteristics and needs of different disciplines, fields, areas of study and other practices.

3. Complementarity with academic work

The Quality Assurance System should complement responsible and productive academic work practices. It should not be mechanistic or waste time, but should follow and nurture the responsible and productive academic work of teaching.

Fundamentals of the Method of Academic Quality Assurance

What are the fundamental features of an academic quality assurance process? There are three key features which reflect the work of professionals in other areas which might be called upon by academics.

1. Documentation

The practice of quality assurance must be documented to ensure that stakeholders and others involved and affected are thoroughly informed about expectations, the practice itself, its outcomes, and its links with the improvement of practice.

2. Peer Review

The practice of quality assurance must make use of peer review. In practices where responsibility for quality is distributed among staff with different experience, expertise and authority, the term ‘peer’ must be interpreted broadly. A ‘subject’ for example is not simply a responsibility of a staff member, but of a discipline, a school, a faculty and an academic board. The unifying value which underpins peer review in teaching and learning is the quality of provision to students.

3. Client Satisfaction

Client satisfaction means commitment to the idea of the ‘client’ and the client's rights to service and to provide commentary on the quality of the ‘service’ which is provided. The most obvious client of ‘teaching’ is the student, but there are also other clients we might sometimes describe as stakeholders: the professions, people teaching related subjects, the community and so on. These may not be privy to all or any of the information directly involved in the quality assurance process, but must be satisfied with the general outcomes and more especially the validity of the processes themselves.

Foci of a Quality Assurance System for Teaching and Learning

The Broad Brush

Quality assurance is fundamentally the presentation of defensible evidence that aspects of educational work are of appropriate quality for the purposes intended. In other words, for teaching and learning, evidence is needed to demonstrate:

Quality programs (curriculum development, curriculum implementation/realisation, curriculum review, teaching, assessment …)

Quality staff (qualifications, recruitment, development, scholarly activity…)

Quality infrastructure for support (library, IT, student services …)

Quality students (entry levels, access, equity …)

Quality graduates (achievement outcomes, employment …)

Quality critique (team approaches, feedback from students, peer review, external accreditation)

How are these to be judged? Against the educational purposes of the University. In practice, the main focus of quality assurance for teaching and learning will be on the first of those aspects listed above, and in particular on these main themes:

specification of course aims and objectives
articulation of curriculum content
modes of presentation and delivery
program of student assessment
realisation of the curriculum in practice

The Quality Assurance System articulates purposes and the conditions and strategies needed to achieve them. The Quality Assurance System should show the University and its community that disciplined self-reflection is actually described, reasonably systematic and demonstrably comprehensive. The Quality Assurance System is essentially a structured manifestation of good academic practice that builds upon and describes existing academic planning and reflective processes in the University.

A key feature of a Quality Assurance System is a Teaching and Learning Plan^¹, which ranks alongside the Research Management Plan as a policy driver for academic scholarship in the form of teaching and curriculum practice.

Teaching and Learning Plan

The Teaching and Learning Plan encompasses the following features :

Overview
- Key Goals
- Key Responsibilities
- Diversity: A Contextual Feature
- Shared Responsibility
Purposes for Teaching and Learning
- Qualities Graduates Should Possess
- Other Qualities to be Fostered
Qualities of Teaching Programs
Qualities of Academic Teachers
Key Objectives and Strategies
Structural Arrangements for Managing Teaching and Learning
Academic Board
Faculties
Divisions
Senior Management Group
Information and Action Feedback Loops
Objectives and Performance Indicators
Accreditation of Course and Subjects: Criteria
Teaching and Assessment Code of Practice
- Responsibilities
- Principles Governing Assessment Practice
- Subject Outline Checklist
- Appendix 1: Feedback on Assessment
- Appendix 2: Working in Teams

The remaining elements are referred to in the James Cook University Student Handbook:

Formal policies
- Examination Requirements
- Standard System of Reporting Grades
- Student Access to a Dictionary During An Examination
- Supplementary, Deferred and Special Examinations Requirements
- Assessment and Examination Requirements (Replaced by Teaching and Assessment Code of Practice)
- Review of Assessment — Undergraduate
- Student Academic Misconduct Requirements
- Variation of Assessment in Individual Cases — Procedure
- Student Debts — Withholding of Results
- Re-enrolment requirements

Overview

Key Goals

The key goal of James Cook University in teaching and learning is to provide an environment in which:

students develop the skills, understanding and values generic to university education and specific to the disciplines and field in which they elect to focus their studies, and
staff find rewarding opportunities for personal and professional development as educators.

Key Responsibilities

The Academic Board is responsible for the cross-faculty academic policy and practice that integrates and contributes to this dual objective. It is also responsible to the University for all matters of academic quality.

The Faculties are responsible to the Academic Board for the traditional academic discipline quality control over courses, examinations, and admission standards.

The Divisions are responsible for supporting the students and the Faculties to sustain and enhance their academic programs.

The Senior Management Group is responsible for corporate leadership, and the overall management of all teaching and learning and other quality assurance processes in the University.

Diversity: A Contextual Feature

University education in Australia has evolved from a pattern in which academic and cultural homogeneity of the student population was usual, to one in which the student population is more diverse than it has ever been academically, demographically and culturally. Because of its location, James Cook University has particular responsibilities to respond to this new reality. Diversity is nurtured and provided for because of its potential to enrich student, staff and community experience.

Shared Responsibility

The responsibility for a good education is shared between students and staff. James Cook University learning and teaching policies and practices reflect that shared responsibility and are based on the premise that both staff and students benefit from a collaborative learning environment in which students are treated as adults and future professional colleagues. We regard teaching as a scholarly activity and our approach is based on the research, principles, and practice found in the substantial literatures of professional and adult education.

Purposes for Teaching and Learning

One way of describing the overall purposes of University education is in terms of the qualities to be developed in students^². James Cook University Academic Board adopted the following policy to guide all undergraduate teaching:

Qualities Graduates Should Possess:

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

the ability to think critically, to analyse and evaluate claims, evidence and arguments, and to reason and deploy evidence clearly and logically
the ability to adapt knowledge to new situations
the ability to define and to solve problems in at least one discipline area

Interpersonal Understanding

the ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences
the ability to lead, manage and contribute effectively to teams

Literacy and Numeracy

the ability to speak and write logically, clearly and creatively
the ability to calculate, produce, interpret and communicate numerical information in ways appropriate to the discipline area(s) studied

Information Technology

the ability to select and use appropriate IT tools
the ability to access and employ online technologies effectively
the ability to use and interpret different media

Learning Achievement

the acquisition of a coherent and disciplined body of skills, knowledge, values and professional ethics in at least one discipline area;
the ability to use a variety of media and methods to retrieve, analyse, evaluate, organise and present information;
the ability to reflect on and evaluate learning processes and products;
the ability to learn independently and in a self-directed manner;
the acquisition of a commitment to lifelong learning and intellectual development.

Other Graduate Qualities to be Fostered:

the ability to operate in an environment that is linguistically, culturally and socially diverse;
the ability to adapt to an unfamiliar culture;
an awareness of Indigenous Australian cultures;
an awareness of regional issues;
professional, community and environmental responsibility;
the ability and willingness to contribute to the intellectual, cultural and social life of the regional, national and international communities.

Appropriate aspects of educational programs must be focused and integrated so that students can acquire these abilities and develop these qualities. That is, these abilities and qualities imply certain characteristics for teaching programs.

Qualities of Teaching Programs^³

The commitment of James Cook University to develop certain generic skills in graduates means that teaching programs, that is, courses, subjects and deliberately clustered or sequenced parts of courses and other learning activities should be designed so that students are able to:

identify the skills, understandings and values they are acquiring in particular learning tasks, subjects and courses
recognise that different kinds of skills, understandings and values require different learning strategies
understand how each learning task relates to their own learning needs and styles
participate in designing strategies to enhance their own learning
participate in the negotiation and planning of their learning and accept responsibility for outcomes
recognise particular learning needs and know where to seek additional help
believe that they are capable of success
discuss, apply, reflect on and evaluate their learning
contribute to the development of new knowledge and understandings
develop skills in accessing and using appropriate learning resources
receive adequate guidance, support and feedback on their acquisition of skills, understandings and values
interact and form positive and educative relationships with peers and teachers
accept that others have different learning needs and styles and need different kinds of support
feel secure in their learning environment and be prepared to experiment and take risks in developing creative responses
enjoy the experience of learning and setting and achieving learning goals
experience physical and cultural security
enjoy and benefit from sustained participation in campus life or benefit from interactions through the use of technology.

Qualities of Academic Teachers^⁴

Quality teaching is a professional responsibility of academics. Professionalism in teaching encompasses possession of a conceptual basis for practice, the skills involved in design, delivery and evaluation of courses, and certain values. Professional academic teachers should:

be active scholars and researchers knowledgeable in the disciplines they teach
be knowledgeable about contemporary teaching practice in the disciplines they teach
possess a personal philosophy of teaching and be able to identify the assumptions which underpin their approaches to curriculum design, delivery and assessment
be willing and able to innovate and to evaluate their teaching through critical self and peer appraisal and feedback from students and other sources
design learning experiences, subjects and courses which are relevant to learner needs and consistent with rigorous expectations within the discipline
design learning experiences, subjects and courses which develop defined generic skills in students
use a range of teaching, curriculum and organisational strategies that cater for diverse student needs and build upon students’ diverse prior experience
use assessment procedures that are diverse, appropriate, equitable, and rigorous, and which encourage deep approaches to learning
function comfortably in an internationalised educational environment and communicate effectively across cultures
support a high degree of student autonomy and encourage in students the capacity for cooperative work and for self-assessment of progress
communicate clearly, orally, in writing, and in other communications media in ways that are appropriate to the diversity of students
demonstrate a commitment to principles of equity and tolerance in their interactions with students, peers, support staff and the wider community
engage in continuous professional development in teaching and demonstrate a commitment to continuing improvement leading to changes in practice
participate in the scholarship of teaching by exchanging and documenting ideas in professional forums, engaging in peer review of teaching, developing educational materials for use inside and outside the University, participating in educational research with others involved in research into teaching and learning and publish in appropriate proceedings and journals
engage in activities that promote the image and substance of the University as an institution that values and supports teaching
build links between their disciplinary research and the curriculum and ensure that the curriculum adequately reflects the substantive and methodological agreements and debates and the ways in which these are engaged in research and practice in their discipline.

The University recognises that all university teachers will not be able to demonstrate all of these qualities early in their careers. Some teachers will not even be aspiring to university careers, they may be engaged in sessional teaching or part-time teaching because of their close links with industry or the profession. For this reason, the qualities should be seen as a developmental trajectory which most university teachers will traverse in the early parts of their career.

The University also committed itself in1994 to the Guidelines for Effective University Teaching established by the Australian Universities Vice Chancellors Committee (http://www.jcu.edu.au/office/Policy/avcctea.htm) from which these qualities are distilled and developed.

Key Objectives and Strategies

The following objectives expand on the overall goals for teaching and learning^⁵. Each objective is followed by a series of strategies describing how the University will seek to achieve the objective.

OBJECTIVE 1: To provide university level educational opportunities for students from northern Queensland, other parts of Australia, and internationally.

Strategy 1: Ensure students are taught by active scholars, researchers and professionals.

Strategy 2: Involve active scholars, researchers and professionals in curriculum^⁶ development, course review and benchmarking.

Strategy 3: Produce curriculum materials which meet nationally accredited or publishable standards.

OBJECTIVE 2: To attract from northern Queensland a diversity of students which reflects the diversity of the population of northern Queensland.

Strategy 1: Actively market the University to encourage participation of previously under-represented groups.

Strategy 2: Adapt curricula and teaching styles to support students from diverse educational and social backgrounds.

Strategy 3: Establish support services to ensure continued participation by diverse groups.

OBJECTIVE 3: To provide a positive and supportive learning environment for students from different cultural backgrounds.

Strategy 1: Actively promote inclusive practices in teaching and learning, organisation and administration, curriculum materials and all University publications and media.

Strategy 2: Make complaint and appeal procedures widely known and understood by staff and students.

Strategy 3: Attend explicitly to concerns expressed by students, for example, in student feedback surveys.

OBJECTIVE 4: To improve the quality of all students enrolling in courses.

Strategy 1: Offer and actively market competitively, scholarships available across disciplines.

Strategy 2: Offer courses which satisfy the aspirations of high achieving students.

Strategy 3: Ensure capable students in Years 11 and 12 are aware of the research and career opportunities accessible through study at the University.

OBJECTIVE 5: To provide an appropriately wide range of courses and modes of delivery that build upon particular strengths, and meet the needs of students.

Strategy 1: Actively support and reward research, scholarship, research and professional activities which inform teaching and curriculum development.

Strategy 2: Support course development which is linked to research, scholarly and professional activity of teaching staff.

Strategy 3: Create and utilise opportunities for feedback about courses from the community, disciplines and the professions.

OBJECTIVE 6: To provide an intrinsically rich educational experience in all discipline areas covered by the university.

Strategy 1: Ensure teaching, flexible learning and curriculum development practices are informed by best practice in the field and by feedback from students and peers.

Strategy 2: Explicitly recognise good teaching, flexible learning and curriculum development practices in appointment, promotion and university awards for excellence.

Strategy 3: Specify the educational criteria which must be met for course and subject approval and as part of regular course reviews.

OBJECTIVE 7: To enhance employment opportunities for students through high quality education and training.

Strategy 1: Consult with and involve employers and professional bodies in course development and course review.

Strategy 2: Monitor graduate destinations and adjust student load toward areas of significant demand.

Strategy 3: Specifically include work related generic skills in the curriculum and include work experience where this is appropriate.

OBJECTIVE 8: To enhance opportunities for students to continue or resume studies in honours, postgraduate coursework and research degrees in all discipline areas.

Strategy 1: Provide opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in original research, scholarship, and creative activities as an integral part of the learning process.

Strategy 2: Require active research and scholarship of all key teachers involved in undergraduate teaching.

Strategy 3: Include the research activities of key research staff in the curriculum.

OBJECTIVE 9: To provide professional opportunities for the development of the science, art and craft of teaching.

Strategy 1: Encourage teaching staff to undertake formal qualifications in university teaching (for example, the Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching) and continue informal professional development in teaching (for example, workshops in on-line delivery development).

Strategy 2: Recognise accomplishment and innovation in flexible learning and curriculum development practices in appointment confirmation, promotion and university awards for excellence.

Strategy 3: Provide systematic feedback to staff from students each time a subject is offered.

Structural Arrangements for Managing Teaching and Learning

The integration and coordination of the work of the executive management structure and the collegial management structure of the University is fundamental to the management of teaching and learning. The relationships between these structures also describe the cycles of planning, action, observation, reflection and revised plans that underpin quality assurance.

The responsibilities in teaching and learning of key organisational units can be summarised as follows:

Academic Board

The Academic Board is the key academic policy body of the University, established by the James Cook University Act and reporting directly to the James Cook University Council. It is responsible to the University and its community for all matters of academic quality.

The key features of Academic Board work in quality assurance for teaching and learning are as follows:

Requirements for new and revised subjects (http://www.jcu.edu.au/office/Policy/csa6.rtf) (under revision)

Requirements for course proposals (http://www.jcu.edu.au/office/Policy/csa6.rtf) (under revision)

Guidelines for Effective University Teaching (http://www.jcu.edu.au/office/Policy/avcctea.htm)

Evaluation of Teaching Framework

Academic Promotion Criteria (http://www.jcu.edu.au/office/Human_Resources/criteria.shtml)

Guidelines for Course Review

Faculties

Through the Executive Dean, the Faculties are responsible directly to the Academic Board for the traditional academic discipline quality control over courses, examinations, and admission standards. The Schools are the locus of quality control over curriculum and teaching practices, and report to the Executive Dean directly and also collectively through each Faculty Executive Committee. Advised by the Faculty Executive Committee, the Executive Dean(s) submits all proposals for new courses to Academic Board for academic approval after resource implications have been considered by the Senior Management Group. As part of each Course Review, the Executive Dean is required to respond to the Academic Board indicating ways in which the Faculty will respond to issues raised.

Issues raised in University wide monitoring practices, enrolment data, retention rates, course completions, Student Feedback about Subjects, Student Feedback about Teaching, Course Evaluation Questionnaire and Graduate Destination Survey, and Assessment Grade Distributions are routinely referred to Faculties and to Schools by Senior Management for action.

Faculties are also primarily responsible for the evaluation of teaching, generally using approaches, techniques and instruments developed by the Academic Support Division and endorsed by Academic Board on behalf of the University. Faculties make use of information from Student Feedback about Subjects, Student Feedback about Teaching and the Evaluation of Teaching Framework for overall monitoring, for Formal Course Reviews and for Academic Promotion applications and provision of references by Executive Deans and Head of Schools.

Divisions

The Divisions are responsible for supporting students and Faculties to sustain and enhance their academic programs. Corporate and Commercial Division plays a key role in quality assurance by collecting, analysing and presenting in useful form information about enrolment, retention rates, and course completions, and information from the Course Evaluation Questionnaire and Graduate Destination Survey.

The Academic Support Division provides a comprehensive range of services (http://www.jcu.edu.au/asd/general.shtml) to support teaching and learning. These services are coordinated with the Research and International Division where undergraduate and postgraduate training intersect, for example academic staff development to improve research student supervision. These services are themselves subject to quality assurance processes, but the Division services which are directly linked to the quality assurance system for teaching and learning are those which (i) provide staff development services for academic staff and (ii) provide information for use in the quality assurance process itself.

Academic Staff Development

The Graduate Certificate in Education (Tertiary Teaching) is a block mode course for any academic staff seeking to improve and update teaching skills (http://www.tld.jcu.edu.au/general/gctt/index.html)

Teaching and Learning Development (TLD) is comprised of Teaching Development and Teaching and Learning Resources. Teaching Development (TD - http://www.tld.jcu.edu.au/td/) provides leadership to the JCU academic community in the adoption and implementation of learning technology that enhances and improves the quality of the educational experience for students. Teaching and Learning Resources (TLR – http://www.tld.jcu.edu.au/tlr/) supports academic staff in the preparation of print/www resources, multimedia development, video production and in the support of students studying through flexible and distance education modes. TLD staff members conduct workshops and co-teach in the Graduate Certificate in Education (Tertiary Teaching).

Quality Assurance for flexible delivery development by TLD is 'product focused' and is accomplished by Review Teams with faculty, student and TLD representation. Each Review Team examines teaching products developed in the TLD workshop program in three stages (i) delivery model choice; (ii) basic pedagogical decisions: content, skills, understandings and values to be taught and assessed; and (iii) final version for use by students. Criteria for the Flexible Delivery Review Teams are those developed in Peer Review of ICT-Based Teaching.

The Equal Opportunity Unit provides training and a wide range of services for staff and students to promote equality of opportunity in employment and equity in the workplace. The Unit also provides training and services promoting, encouraging and valuing equity and diversity in the student population.

The Counselling Service provides a point of referral for students and academic staff experiencing difficulties.

Study Skills Advisers (http://www.tld.jcu.edu.au/netshare/learn/studskls/ ) provide direct learning support for students with any study related problems, and increasingly conduct workshops for academic staff and participate in the GCTT to improve staff skills.

Reference and Faculty/School Librarians provide a range of staff development for academic staff seeking to improve teaching and learning. These are provided to inform staff of innovations, but also on request from academic staff to meet perceived needs. A key interface from which staff development needs are diagnosed is the Infohelp 'desk' (http://www.library.jcu.edu.au/InfoHelp/services.shtml)

Information for Quality Assurance

Teaching Evaluation administers systems to provide Student Feedback about Subjects (SFS http://www.jcu.edu.au/office/tld/jcet/sfs.shtml) and Student Feedback about Teaching (SFT http://www.jcu.edu.au/office/tld/jcet/sft.shtml). The periodic review of the Teaching Evaluation framework is a responsibility attached to this function.

Course Reviews are organised by the Academic Support Division on behalf of Academic Board.

Senior Management Group

The Senior Management Group is responsible for corporate leadership, and the management of all teaching and learning quality assurance processes in the University. Executive Deans are responsible for collaborating with Heads of School to ensure that University wide monitoring is heeded at School level and that School specific quality assurance practices are appropriate and documented. All University wide monitoring data is considered by SMG, and Executive Deans and Pro Vice-Chancellors report back on actions initiated in response to monitoring.

Objectives and Performance Indicators

An important feature of a quality assurance system is the linking of objectives with performance indicators. A way to achieve this is to tabulate:

Objectives for the area, whole university, faculty or school for example;
Strategies for the achievement of each objective;
Documentation of policy which expresses or informs the objectives and strategies;
Responsibility and timeframe for strategy implementation, evaluation and revised strategies;
Performance indicators (qualitative or quantitative which enable the judgment of the adequacy of the strategies and the appropriateness of the objectives.

Approval of Courses and Development of Subjects: Criteria^⁷

Each course and subject of the University is subject to approval by the Academic Board. Approval by the Board is normally for a period of five years which is culminated by a Course Review to inform re-approval. The economic viability of courses is the responsibility of Executive Deans and is determined by Senior Management Group to ensure that costs of services provided by Divisions as well as costs to Faculties are considered. These criteria are also made available to Course Review Panels to help to guide their deliberations toward course revisions for re-approval. The Academic Board Course Approval process requires that the following criteria be addressed:

Course proposals

What is the need for this course?
What are the intended markets, their size and likely duration?
What is the relationship between the objectives of this course and the mission of the University and the Faculty including internationalisation?
Have the relevant peers, professionals, industry and informed community members inside and outside the University been involved in the development phases of this course?
What scrutiny has this proposal had by peers within the University?

What scrutiny has this proposal had by relevant peers, professionals, industry and informed community members outside the University?
What expertise has the Faculty to develop and teach a course of this kind?
Does the course have a clear rationale?
Does the curriculum adequately represent the disciplines it draws upon?
Is the course a conceptually coherent intellectual map of the discipline or field?
Does the course observe accepted curriculum design principles?
Is the course designed to take account of the different backgrounds and learning styles and preferences of different groups of students?
Are the subjects (and practicum, work experience, laboratory and other related experience) sequenced to facilitate student progress through the course?
Is the structure of the course consistent with University policy?
Are minimum entry requirements clearly stated?
Are credit transfer and advanced standing arrangements specified and consistent with University policy?
Are the relationships between subjects clearly specified? Are pre-requisites clearly indicated, logically justified and generally supportive of successful student progression through the course?
Are the academic standards of the course consistent across the course and consistent with academic standards in other universities?
What kinds of learning environment and delivery methods are intended?
What access to library, audiovisual, ICT , laboratory and classroom resources is required for the course?
Is the view of student learning which underpins the course explicit and consistent with the University policy on student learning?
Are the teaching methods to be used explicit?
How are the Generic Skills endorsed by Academic Board to be taught and assessed in the course?
Are subjects which emphasise particular Generic Skills clearly identified?
How is the course designed and constituted to support the educational development of recognised equity groups?
Have the suggestions from previous Course Reviews and any formal external accreditation processes been heeded in the course revision?
Is monitoring for the next Course Review (date specified) indicated?

Subject development guidelines

Are the subject objectives clear, appropriate and consistent with the overall objectives of the course?
Are the objectives framed to sponsor higher order conceptual development among students?
Are appropriate Generic Skills endorsed by Academic Board included as objectives for this subject?
Is the subject an intellectually coherent representation of the discipline?
Is the subject distinctive and not duplicating the subjects or subject matters of other subjects already offered in the University?
Does the subject illustrate the relationship between its content and current research in the field?
Is the view of student learning which underpins the subject explicit and consistent with the University policy on student learning?
Are appropriate opportunities for students to conduct their own enquiry utilised?
Are any opportunities for students to engage in relevant work experience or professional practice appropriately utilised?
Does the subject support the educational development of recognised equity groups and international students?
Are the delivery methods (lectures, tutorials, print materials, on-line …) appropriate?
Is the amount and difficulty of work required of students appropriate to their stages of development?
Are the assessment practices and criteria an adequate reflection of the objectives of the subject?
Do assessment practices and criteria adequately reflect the attainment of the Generic Skills endorsed by Academic Board?
Do assessment practices conform with the University Teaching and Assessment Code?

^⁸

[1]	See Benchmark 6.1, McKinnon, Walker and Davis (2000).
[2]	See Benchmark 6.6, McKinnon, Walker and Davis (2000).
[3]	See Benchmark 6.2, McKinnon, Walker and Davis (2000).
[4]	See Benchmark 6.3, McKinnon, Walker and Davis (2000).
[5]	See Benchmark 6.1, McKinnon, Walker and Davis (2000).
[6]	The terms 'curriculum' and 'teaching' are taken to include assessment practices.
[7]	See Benchmark 6.1, 6.2, 6.5, 6.6 McKinnon, Walker and Davis (2000).
[8]	James Cook University acknowledges the support given in the development of this policy by the University of Wollongong. Elements of a related policy developed at Wollongong have been adapted here with permission. The University also acknowledges the contribution made by its other teaching and learning benchmarking collaborators, the University of Tasmania and the University of Newcastle, and work done at Southern Cross University in developing the basic principles and fundamentals of the method of academic quality assurance. Becher,T., and Kogan, T, (2000) Quality in Southern Cross. Lismore: Southern Cross University. (Confidential discussion paper, viewed and cited with the permission of the authors and Southern Cross University).

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Quality in Teaching and Learning