Continuous improvement and professional development

Contemporary understanding of best practice in teaching and learning, like disciplinary knowledge, is constantly evolving and requires dedicated effort to maintain currency and skill. Exemplary educators consider education to be a vital part of their academic role and are committed to continuous improvement of learning experiences for students. They consult the educational literature and seek formal and informal input and feedback on their teaching from a variety of sources, including students and academic peers. They dedicate time to improving their expertise, teaching ability, and subjects, and are receptive to coaching and opportunities for professional development in relation to teaching.

Important aspects of practice in relation to this dimension

• participating in professional development activities related to teaching and learning needs
• engaging in scholarly inquiry in relation to one’s own practice
• improving curriculum, subject design or teaching practice as a result of literature research, learning analytics, self-, student- or peer evaluation
• contributing to teaching-related workshops, seminars and conferences
• contributing to informal and formal peer review of teaching and scholarly research
• membership of internal or external teaching networks or communities of practice

Demonstrating excellence in relation to this dimension

Historically, staff have relied heavily on scores associated with student evaluations of teaching to demonstrate educational excellence, and in particular the End of Subject Survey (ESS). Gathering feedback from students through surveys is an essential element of the evaluation of teaching, but this needs to be complemented by other measures and inputs from other people. Evidencing of educational excellence calls for a multidimensional approach that recognises the complexity of different educational activities, and allows for the student voice to be balanced by reasoned evaluations made by others, including teachers themselves, peers and external experts.

The table below provides examples of forms of evidence that could be used to demonstrate educational excellence for the dimension of continuous improvement and professional development.

Educator evidence	Completion of education-focussed professional development programs such as the Graduate Certificate in University Teaching (GCUT) or equivalent Engagement with education-focussed workshops, training modules or seminars run by the CSHE, TLI or in academic divisions Attendance at educational conferences, or participation in education-focussed streams of disciplinary conferences or events Evidence of reflection and action plan in response to student or peer evaluations Grant applications to support teaching improvement or innovation Processes / practices for ongoing review and refinement of teaching content and approaches
Student evidence	Mid-semester survey report and responses End-of semester survey report and responses Survey/focus group interview responses from students Feedback from student representatives at mid- and end-of-semester timepoints One-minute papers
Independent expert evidence	Participation in Peer Review of Teaching as reviewee and evidence of response to feedback Participation in internal and external communities, networks, events with other educators Department/School, Faculty, University and National teaching awards, Advance HE, Universitas 21 and GEM Scott Teaching Fellowship, grants and other esteem measures that recognise excellence in this dimension Delivery of an education-focussed research or development project positively addressing this dimension Invited review of others' scholarship (eg as a journal reviewer) addressing this dimension, or invited keynotes or presentations Adoption of developed innovations or guidance by other educators or institutions that address this dimension