Tertiary Enhancement Topic
One of the recommendations of the SFC review consisted of a move to a tertiary approach to quality, i.e. joint national quality arrangements in colleges and universities. This move required closer collaboration between sector agencies involved in delivering quality assurance and enhancement activities across Scottish institutions.
College and university sectors already undertook a variety of improvement and enhancement activities, both within institutions and at a sector-wide level. However, a joint approach between college and university would target specific common areas, and this collaboration was an opportunity to contribute to improving the tertiary education sector. Therefore, the SFC proposed the introduction of a Tertiary Enhancement Topic and asked its quality agency partners to lead on this new activity during 2022-23 and 2023-24.
In light of a closer collaboration between sectors, the SFC met with Education Scotland, QAA Scotland, College Development Network and sparqs in May 2022 to discuss themes from a quality review activity carried out in 2021-22.
The group identified potential areas of commonality within these themes, and the following topic was selected as the enhancement topic:
‘The future of learning and teaching: defining and delivering an effective and inclusive digital/blended offering.’
The context included links between aspects of digital learning and student outcomes, retention and attainment. The topic was developed in partnership with students. In November 2022 sparqs published a briefing on the Tertiary Enhancement Topic to support students’ associations and students engagement with the project and how they can contribute to the topic via our staff and officer networks.
The Future of Learning and Teaching: Defining and delivering an effective and inclusive digital/blended offering was published at the end of February 2024 and is available on the SFC website, along with an accompanying summary report. Focusing on first hand student experience, the report looks at what students want from blended learning and what approaches lead to the best outcomes. It aims to help Scotland’s colleges and universities better understand the opportunities and the challenges presented by new technology.
In May 2024 sparqs published an online and blended learning reflective questions resource, developed as part of the Tertiary Enhancement Topic project. Based on the re-designed Student Learning Experience model, it consists of a set of reflective questions focusing on aspects of online and blended learning and how the learning experience may differ depending on the mode of course delivery. The resource can be used to start conversations with students, enabling students and staff to work together to identify priorities to enhance the quality of learning.
In September 2024 sparqs published a further Tertiary Enhancement Topic project output in the form of a new online and blended learning resource on best practices for a successful student induction, aimed at supporting sabbatical officers to reflect on induction activities and resources available to students in the context of online and blended learning. This brief guide features one of the reflective questions of the re-designed Student Learning Experience model as an initial self-evaluation activity, followed by a list of ten best practice examples for a successful online/blended learning experience. The resource can be used as a conversation starter for officers to work in partnership with their institution to enhance the student experience.
Online resource hub
In October 2024 QAA Scotland launched an online resource hub, containing resources for staff and students. Future plans include a series of staff development workshops.
Further information
For further information, or if you have any queries on the Tertiary Enhancement Topic, please see the TET page on the QAA Scotland website, or get in touch with Eve Lewis.