Vibrant Discussions on Quality Teaching & Learning

WUAS faculty members met for the second time during the bi-annual Teachers’ Meeting in February. During the meeting, faculty members engaged in vibrant and fruitful discussions of a range of issues related to quality teaching and learning, such as integration of current global challenges in the curriculum, assurance of learning and digital literacy.

After warm words of welcome to all members, WUAS President Peter Birdsall encouraged teachers to explore different ways of integrating WUAS’s Climate Change theme and Core Values of Internationalisation, Diversity and Ethics, as well as the UN SDGs in their lessons. Infusing these current issues in the curriculum will not only keep students abreast of current issues but also help prepare them to face the ever-changing global challenges in the real world.

Head of School of Business Dr Rauf Abdul emphasises WUAS’s direction towards more research activities among faculty. Contrary to the misconception that research is disconnected from students’ educational experience, university research has a huge impact on the life of students and the quality of education offered at Wittenborg. It enables teachers and Wittenborg to stay relevant and agile in the current situation, especially in their subject and sector, and it drives quality teaching and learning.

Assurance of Learning (AoL)

The meeting continued with a presentation by the Assurance of Learning (AoL) Manager, Kriszta Kaspers. Her presentation centred around Wittenborg’s AoL Mission and Objectives, as well as an update on the AoL progress at Wittenborg. It was followed by another presentation by WUAS lecturer Associate Professor Vladimir Dzenopoljac, who has had many years of experience working with AoL in three different universities. He focused his presentation on the many misconceptions about AoL and the challenges often faced by faculty. He reiterated that AoL, just like research, is very useful to an institution as it leads to continuous development and a positive impact on student learning.

He also debunked the misconception that AoL is a process to evaluate the faculty or their teaching competencies. Rather, it is concerned with the effectiveness of the programme or the courses offered by the institution via an evaluation of learning competencies. Prof. Dzenopoljac encourages faculty to be actively involved in the AoL process, as ultimately it will bring beneficial impacts to the students’ learning and the quality of education at WUAS. Based on the comments in the chat area, faculty members, especially those who still had doubts about AoL, found his presentation informative, easy to understand and very useful.

AoL for Quality Educational Experience

Commenting on AoL, one of the faculty members who was involved in the AoL first-cycle assessments, Dr Isaac Acheampong, said that “AoL in my view is a perfect instrument/process to assess a student's comprehension and understanding of a module/lesson during the learning and teaching process. When perfectly designed, AoL will show evidence of how students have developed in skills and knowledge because of attending and completing a course of instruction.”
When asked what benefits AoL can provide for Wittenborg, Dr Acheampong said, “For Wittenborg, this AoL process will guide us to continuously monitor the academic programme. It will also demonstrate accountability and assure potential students, trustees, public officials, and accrediting organisations about the quality of the educational experience being delivered at Wittenborg.”

WUP 7/3/2022
by Hanna Abdelwahab
©WUAS Press