Why was the QAA Approach to Teaching Quality Assessment Rejected by Academics in UK HE?

Making Sense of MOOCs: Musings in a Maze of Myth, Paradox and Possibility

“…Elite universities in the UK thoroughly disliked the state-approved teaching quality assessment system that operated there between the 1995 and 2004 (Laughton, 2003). Eventually their presidents successfully petitioned the authorities to close it down.…”

Quality Assurance in Education

“…The QAA methodology will be discussed in a later section; however, its role and function is not loved by academics. For a detailed and comprehensive critique of the perceived flaws in the methodology, see Laughton (2003). Government concerns have not changed very much over the first decade of the 21 st Century.…”

New lecturers' journeys : the formation of 'the academic' in Higher Education

“…(Black, 2015) This opinion is supported by the existence of a previous effort to focus on teaching in highe edu atio , the Qualit Assu a e Age s QAA Tea hi g Qualit Assess e t (TQA) exercise in 1993, which included external subject reviewers carrying out observations of teaching, but met with such resistance from the academic community that it was phased out in 2001 (Laughton, 2003). Academic resistance to systems which are perceived to contribute to a reduction in autonomy have been well documented (Attwood, 2009;Laughton, 2003;S. Smith, Ward, & House, 2011).…”

“…So, while the opinion of Government is that "some rebalancing of the pull between teaching and research is undoubtedly required" (Johnson & DBIS, 2015), others argue that On the contrary, the vast majority of the effort of academics and the bureaucracy of our institutions is already de oted to tea hi g… The i dust ies of ualit assu a e a ou d tea hi g e isted lo g efo e the bureaucracy of the REF. (Black, 2015) This opinion is supported by the existence of a previous effort to focus on teaching in highe edu atio , the Qualit Assu a e Age s QAA Tea hi g Qualit Assess e t (TQA) exercise in 1993, which included external subject reviewers carrying out observations of teaching, but met with such resistance from the academic community that it was phased out in 2001 (Laughton, 2003). Academic resistance to systems which are perceived to contribute to a reduction in autonomy have been well documented (Attwood, 2009;Laughton, 2003;S.…”

“…Smith, 2011). While attempts to 'measure' teaching excellence externally ultimately met with failure in the past (Laughton, 2003), the development of the TEF brings back to the fore the concept of teaching excellence as part of an audit culture to be measured and reported on. But do academic staff experience the 'excellence discourse' in their working lives, and do PgCert courses play a role in the communication and interpretation of the neo-liberal excellence rhetoric (Stevenson et al, 2014)?…”