tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/student-satisfaction-11983/articlesStudent satisfaction – The Conversation2021-11-10T02:12:54Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1703782021-11-10T02:12:54Z2021-11-10T02:12:54ZWhy Australian uni students have a right to know class sizes before they sign up<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430952/original/file-20211109-23-yssrle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=561%2C0%2C2561%2C1697&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Proliferating metrics and rankings in recent decades have, for better or worse, reshaped the priorities of universities around the world. Despite this “<a href="https://responsiblemetrics.org/the-metric-tide/">metric tide</a>”, Australian universities provide little reliable, publicly available data on their class sizes. To this day, there is no mechanism for reporting how many students are allocated to the various types of classes at universities in Australia.</p>
<p>The result is a clear lack of systematic evidence on how universities organise their teaching in terms of class sizes. We also don’t know for sure how this may have changed over the years. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-to-look-for-when-choosing-a-university-as-the-digital-competition-grows-162766">What to look for when choosing a university as the digital competition grows</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>3 reasons we need to know about class sizes</h2>
<p>From a policy perspective, having reliable, publicly available data on Australian universities’ class sizes matters for a number of reasons. </p>
<p>First, class size metrics would provide prospective students with more meaningful information about a key aspect of their future learning experience. </p>
<p>University rankings such as the <a href="https://www.shanghairanking.com/">Academic Ranking of World Universities</a> are mostly geared towards research performance. They provide little guidance on how universities value and approach their teaching.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/higher-education-statistics/resources/2019-staff-appendix-2-student-staff-ratios">Student-staff ratios</a> are part of <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/best-universities/top-universities-best-student-staff-ratio-2021">some rankings at least</a>, but this information is similarly limited. These ratios do not provide accurate information on the actual sizes of the various classes students attend. They also generally <a href="https://www.gooduniversitiesguide.com.au/university-ratings-rankings/2022/undergraduate/student:teacher-ratio">do not distinguish between different fields of study</a>. </p>
<p>All this means student-staff ratios are a limited source of information. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1270479532047257607"}"></div></p>
<p>Second, class sizes could have impacts on students’ learning outcomes and levels of satisfaction. </p>
<p>Some <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775707000271">studies</a> suggest student outcomes get worse as classes at universities get larger. Other <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/0013189X20933836">studies paint a more complex picture</a>. These suggest the the effect of increasing class size on students’ achievement differs substantially between academic disciplines. It also depends on the student demographics. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/think-our-unis-are-all-much-the-same-look-more-closely-and-you-will-find-diversity-164319">Think our unis are all much the same? Look more closely and you will find diversity</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The picture of the relationship between class sizes and student satisfaction remains <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775711000641">similarly inconclusive</a>. </p>
<p>It is ultimately undeniable, however, that smaller classes provide students with better access to and more interaction with their lecturer or tutor. This is particularly important for tutorial classes, which are meant to <a href="https://www.student.unsw.edu.au/tutorials">enable high levels of interaction</a>. It is reasonable to assume smaller tutorial classes make it easier to provide students with more detailed and targeted feedback. </p>
<p>Third, publishing reliable information on class sizes would eventually lead to better understanding of trends and their potential impacts on students’ learning experiences. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1369435052837384197"}"></div></p>
<p>Ample anecdotal evidence suggests Australian universities’ class sizes have increased dramatically over recent decades. For example, tutorial class sizes of more than 35 students are not uncommon these days. Only a decade ago an upper limit of 20 students appears to have been the norm. </p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, these numbers are a long way from what tutorial classes looked like before mass higher education. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1475-5890.2017.12149">A 2017 study</a> has shown UK universities in the 1960s, for example, had tutorial classes of only about four students on average. The picture at Australian universities would probably not have been too different given the similarities of these two higher education systems. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-mass-university-is-good-for-equity-but-must-it-also-be-bad-for-learning-40168">The mass university is good for equity, but must it also be bad for learning?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How could class sizes be reported?</h2>
<p>To make university class-size data usable for prospective students and other stakeholders, consistent reporting standards would need to be agreed. Any published class-size metrics should clearly distinguish different modes of delivery, such as online or face-to-face, and different levels of education, such as undergraduate or postgraduate. </p>
<p>Metrics should also reflect the variety of sessions students typically attend. These include lectures, seminars, tutorials or lab classes. Information on class sizes is much more meaningful for group-based and highly interactive teaching activities such as tutorials than for less interactive activities such as lectures. </p>
<p>Logistically, collating class-size metrics should not be too onerous for universities. The information already exists in their learning management or business intelligence systems. The public reporting of data on class sizes could use existing mechanisms such as the annual Quality Indicators for Leaning and Teaching (<a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/">QILT</a>).</p>
<p>Overall, from a higher education policy perspective, publishing relevant class-size metrics would greatly enhance the transparency of Australian universities’ teaching offerings. It would provide students with meaningful information about what to expect at the university of their choice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170378/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Woelert does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>You’d think class sizes would be an important consideration for students when choosing a university, but universities don’t make that information public. They should.Peter Woelert, Senior Lecturer, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1628562021-08-01T20:07:46Z2021-08-01T20:07:46ZAustralia’s international education market share is shrinking fast. Recovery depends on unis offering students a better deal<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413675/original/file-20210729-13-4ivc60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C128%2C4769%2C3176&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/young-african-american-woman-thinking-looking-75088633">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Governments and universities are planning for the recovery of our international student market once Australia can start easing border closures that have had huge <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-hopes-of-international-students-return-fade-closed-borders-could-cost-20bn-a-year-in-2022-half-the-sectors-value-159328">impacts on universities and the economy</a>. The situation is becoming increasingly urgent: a new ANU-commissioned analysis shows an alarming fall in international student demand for our universities. It’s less than two-thirds of what it was before the pandemic. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-hopes-of-international-students-return-fade-closed-borders-could-cost-20bn-a-year-in-2022-half-the-sectors-value-159328">As hopes of international students' return fade, closed borders could cost $20bn a year in 2022 – half the sector's value</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The following chart from the <a href="https://www.idp-connect.com/apac">IDP Connect</a> report for ANU shows Australia’s share of this market (the yellow line) has fallen to 11.74% from over 18% two years ago. Our key competitors — the UK, USA and Canada — have increased their share or remained stable. </p>
<p>As Australia moves out of winter and vaccination rates rise, it is hoped current regional outbreaks of COVID-19 will settle. But no-one should assume international student numbers will immediately rebound to pre-pandemic levels once borders open. </p>
<p>Other recent global surveys show students’ <a href="https://www.qs.com/portfolio-items/studying-abroad-again-current-and-prospective-international-students/">perceptions</a> of how countries have handled the pandemic are <a href="https://www.qs.com/portfolio-items/au-nz-international-student-survey-2021-vol-1-copy/">affecting their decisions</a> on study destinations. </p>
<p>And research released this week shows student sentiment about Australia as a destination continues to decline. The <a href="https://www.idp-connect.com/apac/articles/data-intelligence/press-release-crossroads-v">IDP Connect Crossroads research</a> also finds 36% of surveyed students are likely to switch destinations if it means they can gain face-to-face teaching earlier. </p>
<p>Over the rest of this year and early 2022, we all need to focus on our post-COVID recovery. South Australia has been <a href="https://monitor.icef.com/2021/06/safe-arrival-plan-for-international-students-approved-for-south-australia/">given the all clear</a> to begin a quarantine program for international students. A <a href="https://www.study.sydney/return">NSW-based program</a> has been approved by the state government and the Commonwealth government has <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/a-good-one-support-for-nsw-s-now-halted-plan-for-international-students-20210728-p58dno.html">signalled support</a> for the plan. <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victoria/doubts-on-overseas-students-return-as-victoria-rejects-nsw-style-special-quarantine-20210713-p589b5.html">Other proposals</a> are in the pipeline.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-government-keeps-shelving-plans-to-bring-international-students-back-to-australia-it-owes-them-an-explanation-158778">The government keeps shelving plans to bring international students back to Australia. It owes them an explanation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Helping students feel they belong is vital</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.idp-connect.com/apac/articles/data-intelligence/press-release-crossroads-v">research</a> released this week shows worrying trends in student perceptions of Australia in terms of student welfare and being a welcoming destination. We see continuing declines across all metrics: response to coronavirus, student and citizen safety, and international student policies including post-study work visas. </p>
<p>To recover their international student markets Australian universities will need to develop and communicate a much stronger focus on providing a world-class student experience. They must take action inside and outside the classroom. </p>
<p>One key focus must be on building social cohesion for international students across many university settings. They do not want to feel isolated and excluded from the university community, which undermines their student experience. </p>
<p>Stronger social cohesion would address problems that international students have long identified: <a href="https://www.qs.com/portfolio-items/au-nz-international-student-survey-2021-vol-1-copy/">racism, loneliness</a> and <a href="https://www.qs.com/portfolio-items/au-nz-international-student-survey-2021-vol-1-copy/">high levels of stress</a>. It would also provide a way to tackle the recently <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/06/30/they-dont-understand-fear-we-have/how-chinas-long-reach-repression-undermines">documented political harassment</a> of some international students. </p>
<p>Not all these issues are new concerns. They are not unique to international students. Domestic students confront these issues, too. Both groups will benefit it we get this right. </p>
<p>Having said that, at ANU our <a href="https://services.anu.edu.au/education-support/education-data/student-experience-survey-ses-0">Student Satisfaction Survey</a> data <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/surveys/student-experience-survey-(ses)">show a gap</a> between the student experience for domestic and international students. This is consistent with other universities. Everyone needs to work harder inside and outside the classroom to close that gap. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.orygen.org.au/Policy/University-Mental-Health-Framework/Framework/University-Mental-Health-Framework-full-report.aspx">Research</a> shows stronger social relationships are key to preventing psychological distress for university students. Building social cohesion involves fostering shared values and connected communities. This, in turn, creates a sense of belonging and shared purpose and reduces loneliness. </p>
<p>Universities can help international students to make connections with local students and the communities in which they live. Educators and on-campus services need a range of strategies to strengthen the social fabric in which international students live and learn. These prevention strategies and well-being services must be accessible and culturally attuned to their needs.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="group of students at table chatting as they look at laptops" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413676/original/file-20210729-25-1hxaeud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413676/original/file-20210729-25-1hxaeud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413676/original/file-20210729-25-1hxaeud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413676/original/file-20210729-25-1hxaeud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413676/original/file-20210729-25-1hxaeud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413676/original/file-20210729-25-1hxaeud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413676/original/file-20210729-25-1hxaeud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When choosing a destination, international students value face-to-face teaching and being made to feel part of the university community.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/people-education-technology-school-ans-university-687695548">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-australia-can-get-ahead-in-attracting-and-retaining-chinese-international-students-148444">5 ways Australia can get ahead in attracting and retaining Chinese international students</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Protect students from harassment and racism</h2>
<p>Stronger social cohesion can help counter racism. Universities can also communicate better about international students’ valuable contributions to our communities.</p>
<p>Local governments, businesses and communities all have important roles to play here. Universities can work with these groups to ensure international students have better access to accommodation and jobs. Being made to feel welcome both on and off campus sends a powerful signal to students that they are safe and included.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/06/30/they-dont-understand-fear-we-have/how-chinas-long-reach-repression-undermines">Australian Human Rights Watch</a> recently highlighted on-campus harassment of international students who have different political views to the government of their home country. It reported students were self-censoring to avoid threats, harassment and surveillance.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/academic-freedom-is-paramount-for-universities-they-can-do-more-to-protect-it-from-chinas-interference-163647">Academic freedom is paramount for universities. They can do more to protect it from China's interference</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>International students should feel safe from political harassment on campus. They need to be able to express political views in class and know it won’t affect their assessment. Universities should provide appropriate support to students who have suffered political harassment. </p>
<p>Academic freedom is an important principle that underpins university education in Australia. We can help international students understand its value through improving social cohesion. University leaders can also reinforce this message by strengthening the regulation of academic freedom in student codes of conduct. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/national-strategy-international-education">National Strategy for International Education</a> only tackles student experience at a high level. However, this strategy is <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/australian-strategy-international-education-2021-2030">being refreshed</a>. This is a time for policymakers and universities to sharpen their focus on the student experience and social cohesion for international students as we prepare for post-COVID recovery. </p>
<p>As borders re-open, it will be more important than ever for Australian universities to show they are committed to providing international students with a world-class student experience. It’s critical for their post-pandemic recovery.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162856/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Anderson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>International student demand for places in Australia has fallen by a third over the course of the pandemic, while for our key competitors demand has remained stable or even increased.Ian Anderson. Palawa, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Student and University Experience, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/854512017-10-24T19:05:09Z2017-10-24T19:05:09ZWhat makes a good university? Academics and students have different ideas<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190312/original/file-20171016-27711-zyhel0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There is no good reason the views of students should be disregarded in what defines quality higher education.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>New analysis of the Federal Government’s <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/">Quality Indicators of Learning and Teaching</a> (QILT) and the <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings">Times Higher Education</a> (THE) reveals a divide between what academics think defines quality and what students actually experience. This is demonstrated by world university rankings and student satisfaction surveys.</p>
<p>Quality teaching is an essential component of the QILT program. Generally, satisfaction levels among Australian university students are high at around 80%. However, there is often a significant gap between what students consider a quality teaching experience and what academics consider quality teaching.</p>
<p>World university rankings continue to attract attention, with almost all Australian universities now participating. Millions of potential students from around the world use ranking information to make choices about their future studies. Rankings guide policy, investment, jobs and partnerships across the globe.</p>
<p>The THE university ranking, operated by <a href="https://www.tesglobal.com/">TES Global</a>, has a media reach of almost 700 million. It ranks 2,150 institutions worldwide, 35 in Australia. Overall, Australia performs well in the rankings.</p>
<h2>Student perspectives absent from reputation surveys</h2>
<p>Half of the Times’ measure for quality teaching is based on an <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/academic-reputation-survey-explained">academic reputation survey</a>. The reputation survey claims to be the largest of its kind in the world with more than 10,320 respondents, and underpins ranking results. </p>
<p>The academic reputation survey asks respondents which universities are “the best”, based on their experience in a particular field. QILT on the other hand, asks a series of targeted questions about the quality of teaching. These include overall experience, learning engagement, explanations on assessment, course structure and focus.</p>
<p>The ranking is a major source of information for students, but the Times are entirely devoid of student experience data. Despite this, universities are drawn to using the ranking to promote a quality education experience, based on information that provides only part of this assurance, and none from a student experience perspective.</p>
<p>Analysis indicates the academic reputation survey conducted by the Times has almost no bearing on actual experience recalled by students. In many cases, there is a significant divide between what academic peers and students consider to be quality teaching.</p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="3masC" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/3masC/2/" height="1020px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<h2>Size and ranking correlate, but ranking and satisfaction do not</h2>
<p>Interestingly, universities whose academic peers are critical of their institution actually tend to rate better with students.</p>
<p>The typical profile of an Australian university with very optimistic academic peers is: 106 years old, has over 55,000 students, performs 71% better in quality teaching according to the rankings – but is below or average according to students. Examples are Monash University, The University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales, the University of Queensland and Sydney University.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Australian universities with very pessimistic academic peers are on average: 29 years old, with about 27,000 students, perform - 36% worse in quality teaching according to the rankings, but up to 13% better according to students. Examples include Australian Catholic University, Bond University, Edith Cowan, Murdoch University, University of Sunshine Coast and Western Sydney University.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191306/original/file-20171023-13966-pfq6w4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191306/original/file-20171023-13966-pfq6w4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191306/original/file-20171023-13966-pfq6w4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191306/original/file-20171023-13966-pfq6w4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191306/original/file-20171023-13966-pfq6w4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191306/original/file-20171023-13966-pfq6w4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191306/original/file-20171023-13966-pfq6w4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided/Times Higher Education rankings</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>In Australia, there is a relationship between size and ranking. Highly ranked institutions are usually big. The expansion of the higher education sector coincides with Australia’s comprehensive ranking results on the world stage. The catch is that when it comes to student satisfaction, being big doesn’t seem to help.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191503/original/file-20171024-1748-1cm8t9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191503/original/file-20171024-1748-1cm8t9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191503/original/file-20171024-1748-1cm8t9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191503/original/file-20171024-1748-1cm8t9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191503/original/file-20171024-1748-1cm8t9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191503/original/file-20171024-1748-1cm8t9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191503/original/file-20171024-1748-1cm8t9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided/Times Higher Education rankings</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<h2>Elation & peril</h2>
<p>There is also a circular logic to quality teaching in the rankings. High rankings build reputation, while reputation is required to achieve a high ranking. So it makes sense that the rankings are generally stable at the top and volatile in the middle, with a long tail.</p>
<p>The Times does attempt to gather data on student experience, but only 1,000 students are included and all are based in the UK. In Australia, the Commonwealth supported QILT program <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/about-this-site/student-experience">administers a survey</a> to more than 123,000 students each year and is overwhelmingly more comprehensive.</p>
<p>While rankings can be a source for elation, a fall in the rankings is the dread of almost all universities. However, rankings are a mainstay of the global higher education landscape and are useful. Policy makers, like students, should consult the rankings with careful deliberation. If expectations are high among students, those expectations should be respected.</p>
<p>All this confirms that lower-ranked universities are not simply an assembly of “easy-to-please” students. Rather, the ranking of quality teaching using reputation indicators is incomplete.</p>
<p>Notions of quality are a subjective matter with many facets and competing perspectives. That said, the views of students should be respected not ignored in what defines quality higher education.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85451/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Omer Yezdani does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Lower ranked universities often outperform their highly ranked peers in student satisfaction.Omer Yezdani, Director, Office of Planning and Strategic Management, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/433232015-06-23T20:08:47Z2015-06-23T20:08:47ZWhy universities should get rid of PowerPoint and why they won’t<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/85139/original/image-20150616-5835-1g75zyx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Reading off a PowerPoint slide doesn't make you a teacher</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>Do you really believe that watching a lecturer read hundreds of PowerPoint slides is making you smarter?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I asked this of a class of 105 computer science and software engineering students last semester. </p>
<p>An article in <a href="https://theconversation.com/lets-ban-powerpoint-in-lectures-it-makes-students-more-stupid-and-professors-more-boring-36183">The Conversation</a> recently argued universities should ban PowerPoint because it makes students stupid and professors boring. I agree entirely. However, most universities will ignore this good advice because rather than measuring success by how much their students learn, universities measure success with student satisfaction surveys, <a href="https://theconversation.com/universities-should-change-the-way-they-measure-success-40071">among other things</a>.</p>
<h2>What is so wrong with PowerPoint?</h2>
<p>Overreliance on slides has contributed to the absurd belief that expecting and requiring students to read books, attend classes, take notes and do homework is unreasonable. </p>
<p>Courses designed around slides therefore propagate the myth that students can become skilled and knowledgeable without working through dozens of books, hundreds of articles and thousands of problems. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/85138/original/image-20150616-5829-iurdx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/85138/original/image-20150616-5829-iurdx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/85138/original/image-20150616-5829-iurdx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85138/original/image-20150616-5829-iurdx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85138/original/image-20150616-5829-iurdx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85138/original/image-20150616-5829-iurdx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85138/original/image-20150616-5829-iurdx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/85138/original/image-20150616-5829-iurdx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Courtesy of WeKnowMemes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.weknowmemes.com">weknowmemes.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10755-006-9017-5">review</a> of research on PowerPoint found that while students liked PowerPoint better than overhead transparencies, PowerPoint did not increase learning or grades. Liking something doesn’t make it effective, and there’s nothing to suggest transparencies are especially effective learning tools either. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.cmaj.ca/content/178/1/34.short">Research comparing teaching</a> based on slides against other methods such as problem-based learning - where students develop knowledge and skills by confronting realistic, challenging problems - predominantly supports alternative methods. </p>
<p>PowerPoint slides are toxic to education for three main reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li><p><a href="http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_pp">Slides discourage complex thinking</a>. Slides encourage instructors to present complex topics using bullet points, slogans, abstract figures and oversimplified tables with minimal evidence. They discourage deep analysis of complex, ambiguous situations because it is nearly impossible to present a complex, ambiguous situation on a slide. This gives students the illusion of clarity and understanding. </p></li>
<li><p>Reading evaluations from students has convinced me that when most courses are based on slides, students come to think of a course <em>as</em> a set of slides. Good teachers who present realistic complexity and ambiguity are criticised for being unclear. Teachers who eschew bullet points for graphical slides are criticised for not providing proper notes.</p></li>
<li><p>Slides discourage reasonable expectations. When I used PowerPoint, students expected the slides to contain every detail necessary for projects, tests and assignments. Why would anyone waste time reading a book or going to a class when they can get an A by perusing a slide deck at home in their pyjamas?</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>Measuring the wrong things</h2>
<p>If slide shows are so bad, why are they so popular? </p>
<p>Universities measure student satisfaction but they do not measure learning. Since organisations focus on what they measure and students like PowerPoint, it stays, regardless of its educational effectiveness.</p>
<p>Hospitals measure morbidity and mortality. Corporations measure revenue and profit. Governments measure unemployment and gross domestic product. Even this website measures readership, broken down by article and author. But universities don’t measure learning. </p>
<p>Exams, term papers and group projects ostensibly measure knowledge or ability. Learning is the change in knowledge and skills and therefore must be measured over time. </p>
<p>When we do attempt to measure learning, the results are not pretty. US researchers <a href="http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo10327226.html">found</a> that a third of American undergraduates demonstrated no significant improvement in learning over their four-year degree programs. They tested students in the beginning, middle and end of their degrees using the <a href="http://www.cae.org/cla">Collegiate Learning Assessment</a>, an instrument that tests skills any degree should improve – analytic reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving and writing. </p>
<p>Any university can deploy similar testing to measure student learning. Doing so would facilitate rigorous evaluations of different teaching methods. We would be able to quantify the relationship between PowerPoint use and learning. We would be able to investigate dozens of learning correlates and eventually establish what works and what doesn’t. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, many key drivers of learning appear to reduce student satisfaction and vice versa. As long as universities continue to measure satisfaction but not learning, the downward spiral of lower expectations, less hard work and less learning will continue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43323/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Ralph has received funding from Google for research on creativity.</span></em></p>Powerpoint has no proven efficacy in learning, but the kids like it because it seems to make things simpler.Paul Ralph, Lecturer in Computer Science, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/329962014-10-15T11:25:29Z2014-10-15T11:25:29ZSexist student chant raises wider concern about appraisals of female lecturers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61719/original/tw952gmw-1413308162.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What feedback awaits?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-203936089/stock-photo-business-woman-lecturing-at-conference-audience-at-the-lecture-hall.html?src=F6S2wG7E-j19Me0vmumVSw-1-67">Lecturer via Matej Kastelic/Shutterstock </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The way that newcomers are initiated into a group can reveal a lot about that group’s values. So what does the sexist ditty <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/oct/08/freshers-students-sing-necrophiliac-sexist-violent-chant">recently chanted by freshers students</a> at the University of Nottingham tell us about universities as places to study and work? The rhyme was an overtly hostile statement about women being of use and value only in so far as they serve as sexual objects for men. The chant says that it doesn’t even matter whether women are alive, since even as dead bodies, they can still fulfil a sexual function. </p>
<p>The students who chanted this ditty would doubtless say it was only a joke – they do not really want to rape a dead woman. But such “jesting” constitutes a symbolic statement about the social territory these students are entering, and the terms on which “outsiders” – those sociologist Nirmal Puwar <a href="http://www.gold.ac.uk/sociology/staff/puwar/">describes as “space invaders”</a> – can be included. </p>
<p>Through this and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2014/oct/10/10-things-female-students-face-university-misogyny-banter">similarly sexist freshers’ activities</a> at other universities, female students are aggressively reminded that this is a culture in which males are dominant and “femininity” is devalued. To question this is to lack a sense of humour, to overreact, be unreasonable, silly, hysterical, in short, to be a “woman”, and so lack the qualification for belonging.</p>
<h2>Marketising performance</h2>
<p>The Nottingham students’ chant <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-29558952">was condemned</a> by the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/oct/08/freshers-students-sing-necrophiliac-sexist-violent-chant">university’s management</a> and the <a href="http://www.impactnottingham.com/2014/10/exclusive-video-students-taught-graphic-chant-in-freshers-week/">student union</a>, who stress that only a small minority of students were involved. But the impact is far-reaching, particularly for female students who have to share halls of residence, lecture theatres, and seminar rooms with male students who may have joined in this chanting. It is also worrying for the female members of university staff who have to serve them. </p>
<p>Now that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/oct/12/have-universities-been-privatised-by-stealth">universities are private corporations</a> as much as seats of learning, student appraisal of their “learning experience” is deployed as a marketing tool, and lecturers are forcefully enjoined by management to ensure that <a href="https://theconversation.com/tick-box-surveys-arent-the-only-way-to-measure-student-satisfaction-28780">students are “satisfied”</a>. Student evaluation of teaching is already significant for promotion and job security, and set to become more so in coming years. </p>
<p>The young men who initiated and participated in the chant at Nottingham and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2014/oct/10/10-things-female-students-face-university-misogyny-banter">similar sexist fresher activities</a> may be censured as intolerably “laddish” by university spokespeople. Yet in a few months time, as they complete their evaluations of the performance of members of staff, the same university management may treat their opinion as that of a “valued customer”.</p>
<p>Universities have set in place a system which allows female lecturers’ careers to be influenced by their ability to “satisfy”, among others, young men who view women in the terms expressed in this and similar chants. This should give pause for thought about the implications of this marketised system for equal opportunities. </p>
<h2>Baggage of assumptions</h2>
<p>The sexist chanters may have been a small minority, but many students – probably the majority – arrive at university with social baggage that includes a set of assumptions about <a href="http://cfd153.cfdynamics.net/images/journals/docs/pdf/ts/Jul10TSFeature.pdf">gender</a>, age, <a href="http://www.darkmatter101.org/site/2014/04/25/higher-education-a-market-for-racism/">racial minority groups</a>, or gay people, and <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2013/10/02/student-evaluations-of-teaching-are-probably-biased-does-it-matter">stereotypes about who has the authority</a> to impart knowledge. These assumptions and stereotypes are not the only basis upon which they evaluate their lecturers’ performance, but it is hard to imagine that they play no role in that appraisal. </p>
<p>In the case of women and racial minority staff, open-ended comments on questionnaires for students to evaluate teaching sometimes makes the role of these stereotypes explicit. In my 24 years of university teaching, I have seen students make sexist remarks on female and gay lecturers’ dress, bodies and “hotness” on such questionnaires, as well as racist comments on black and Asian lecturers’ idioms of speech and accents, and on their qualification to teach on subjects which are in fact their research specialisms. </p>
<h2>Prejudices should be challenged</h2>
<p>But where positive assessment is linked to lecturers who are seen to embody the authority to lecture (they are older, straight, male or white), there will be no “give away” offensive comments to expose such bias. Whiteness, maleness and straightness is unremarkable in a straight white male space – it’s only the bodies that don’t “belong” that get scrutinised as bodies, rather than as academics. </p>
<p>There is, of course, nothing new about the fact that some students freely express overtly denigrating sexism, racism or homophobia – such behaviour has a long and sorry history. Nor is there anything new about gender, race and sexual inequalities in university workplaces. But there are new reasons to be disturbed by these phenomena. </p>
<p>In the context of privatised, market-driven higher education, perhaps the student “customers” won’t want to pay £9,000 a year to have their prejudices challenged. If their prejudices help to shape the face of British universities, it might ensure that they continue to remain a white, straight, male terrain. </p>
<hr>
<p>Next read: <a href="https://theconversation.com/only-17-of-uk-universities-are-run-by-women-why-27474">Only 17% of UK universities are run by women – why?</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32996/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julia O'Connell Davidson currently holds a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship for a project titled Modern Slavery and the Margins of Freedom: Debtors, Detainees and Children</span></em></p>The way that newcomers are initiated into a group can reveal a lot about that group’s values. So what does the sexist ditty recently chanted by freshers students at the University of Nottingham tell us…Julia O'Connell Davidson, Professor of Sociology, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/305532014-08-22T05:15:46Z2014-08-22T05:15:46ZUniversities at risk of dumbing down into secondary schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57041/original/m7wq9z8w-1408614497.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hanging on every word. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nottinghamtrentuni/6253542464/sizes/l">Nottingham Trent University</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the current rush to achieve the highest student satisfaction and best positions on university league tables we are at significant risk of dumbing down what’s being taught at universities. At both traditional red brick and modern institutions, there is a serious rift between the general direction of university education policy and what’s actually going on in lecture halls and seminar rooms. </p>
<p>We are becoming too focused on satisfying the student customer, turning our universities more into secondary schools rather than places of academic challenge and critical thinking. To paraphrase Yeats, university education must stop filling student’s buckets and start lighting their fires. </p>
<p>Universities increasingly measure success in terms of staff contact hours, student pass rates, student retention and student satisfaction. Due to government concerns about foreign students we <a href="https://theconversation.com/university-lecturers-must-remain-educators-not-border-guards-23948">are also required</a> to spend teaching time taking student registers for all classes as “truancy” becomes a major problem. </p>
<p>As a university teacher keen to ignite the fire of learning within my students, I make the assumption that because students have chosen to do a course, they are interested in attending classes. But as they are now paying customers, this brings a whole set of new student expectations in terms of the role of the staff, an acceptable workload and what represents good value for their student fees.</p>
<h2>Not all about contact time</h2>
<p>Tuition fees have created a culture where <a href="https://theconversation.com/students-arent-customers-or-are-they-13282">many students and their parents feel they have bought their right</a> to a degree. This is a dangerous by-product of a flawed government policy. Alongside serious cuts in higher education, staff become seen as the principal vehicle to deliver the degree. If the student fails, both students and university management see it as the staff’s fault. </p>
<p>A good indicator here is the amount of contact time between staff and students. The inbuilt assumption for students and the public is that more staff contact equates with better value for money. In my experience, more contact simply creates a dependency culture where the lecturer merely fills the “bucket” of the student in a highly structured timetabled week, rather than igniting the spark that leads to substantive independent and critical study. The lecturer is there as an enabler to support and illuminate their journey of discovery. </p>
<p>Of course, contact time varies depending on the course, but in my opinion, for a discipline like mine in environmental planning, if a student has more than 20 hours of contact per week this minimises the time for self-discovery and wider reading. This fuels a dumbing-down cycle where assessments become less demanding given the restricted time a student has for independent work. I have been forced to simplify past assessments to “fit in” with this new delivery model. </p>
<p>This also creates a student-led culture where modules are compared against each other in terms of workload meaning that more demanding and multi-faceted assessments are discontinued in favour of a simple 2,000 or 3,500-word essay.</p>
<h2>Student surveys warp teaching</h2>
<p>The way staff are appraised exacerbates this problem and reduces quality. Student performance targets in modules are regularly used as dubious proxies for indicators of teaching quality. Pre-set retention rates act as staff module targets. Consequently, as a student progresses through the system, failing becomes less of an option. </p>
<p>On top of all this we have the <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/whatwedo/lt/publicinfo/nss/">National Student Satisfaction Survey</a> which asks final year undergraduate students (postgraduate students are excluded) to assess their satisfaction with courses. This creates huge institutional pressure and incentives for students to maximise response rates and positive assessments. Failing students rarely provide that. </p>
<p>Personally, I have been involved in an urban planning programme that achieved 76% satisfaction rate in 2012, 100% satisfaction rate in 2013 and 76% in 2014. Our intelligence tells us that a group of disaffected students were primarily the cause of the lower scores as little substantive change has occurred in the teaching team and assessment. But we are certainly not complacent. We put 100% into ensuring our courses and modules are fit for purpose, challenging and relevant for the planning profession our graduates enter. </p>
<h2>More of the personal trainer</h2>
<p>In my 26 years of teaching, I am acutely aware of the dumbing down of material that is now taught due to these institutional drivers of change. We need to confront this damaging cycle for the benefit of students and staff. My argument is that the lecturer needs to be seen in a different role: as a personal trainer that one might use in a gym. Here people (clients) pay for the training session but the practice and gains or losses are up to the client themselves. People are trained to become motivated to discover and be challenged. </p>
<p>We also need a stronger peer review system of teaching quality, putting back the academic skills into degree programmes rather than relying solely on student assessments which increasingly favour those who deliver easy and simple-to-digest material – “filling the buckets”. </p>
<p>I really fear that higher education is moving down a slippery slope where the fetish for the best ratings and indicators ensures that we merely hold students’ hands, rather than ignite interest in their own studies.</p>
<p>By lighting their fires we would prepare our students for the harsh realities of the work environment which increasingly requires independent and critical thinkers and doers who will become the future managers and leaders of tomorrow.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30553/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alister Scott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the current rush to achieve the highest student satisfaction and best positions on university league tables we are at significant risk of dumbing down what’s being taught at universities. At both traditional…Alister Scott, Professor of Environment and Spatial Planning, Birmingham City UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.