Journal of Academic Development and Education JADE Issue 8 | Page 76
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76 | JADE
equalised the perceived divide between research and teaching in the
sector.
The final major keynote for the day was Dr. Geoff Stoakes from the HEA
project division. His talk focussed on TEF level 3 (discipline level) and
chalked up the recent extension of the national deadline as an indicator
of the complexity of moving in this direction from an institutional level
and allow breathing space for a “lessons learned” ethos coming out of
TEF level 2. This seems to be bouncing between the Houses of Lords
and Commons, which is leading, in his opinion, to the 2 year delay we
now face.
There was a feeling within the audience that discipline-level TEF could
identify pockets of poor practice as an unintended outcome, which
seemed like a difficult idea to embrace for many. The discussion
inevitably turned to metrics for measuring “quality” at TEF level 3,
with arguments all-round about the sustainability and reliability of
any measures that emerge. There were significant concerns over the
exclusion of international students from metrics, especially post-degree
metrics, which many felt were subordinating international students
unfairly.
The parting points of this presentation was raising awareness of an
interesting feed-in mechanism that various HEA projects exploring
“learning gain” might have on this extended TEF timetable, which he
hoped would increase the validity of measurement metrics selected at
TEF level 3 to actually measure what they set out to measure (an issue
within that audience that concerned many colleagues).
In all this, the final message (framed more as a caution) was that it will
be critical to communicate all of this complexity to our students to allow
them to make a real informed choice and he finished on a more positive
note suggesting that TEF was a key opportunity to increase the profile
of Learning and Teaching and, by extension, higher education research.
Thank you all for joining us for another edition of JADE and remember,
keep writing!
Dr. Russell Crawford
Managing Editor of JADE
[email protected]