All assessment and evaluation techniques contain implicit
assumptions about the characteristics that constitute
quality teaching. These assumptions should be made
explicit and indeed should become part of the evaluation
process itself in a manner which recognizes instructors’
rights to be evaluated within the context of their own
teaching philosophies and goals. First and foremost then,
“teaching is not right or wrong, good or bad, effective or
ineffective in any absolute, fixed or determined sense.”¹
Instructors emphasize different domains of learning
(affective, cognitive, psychomotor, etc.) and employ
different theories of education and teaching
methodologies (anti-racist, constructivist, critical,
feminist, humanistic, etc.)². They encourage learning in
different sites (classrooms, field locations, laboratories,
seminar rooms, studios, virtual classrooms, etc.). They
use different instructional strategies and formats (using
case studies, coaching, demonstrating, facilitating
discussions,
lecturing, problembased
learning,
online delivery, etc.),
and they do this
while recognizing
that students have
diverse backgrounds
and levels of
preparedness. In one
situation, instructors
may see their role as
transmitting factual
information, and in
another as facilitating
discussion and
promoting critical
thinking.
As variable and
diverse as quality
teaching might be,
generalizations may
nevertheless be made
about its basic
characteristics as
described in the accompanying text box.

QUALITY TEACHING

Put succinctly, quality teaching is
that activity which brings about the
most productive and beneficial
learning experience for students and
promotes their development as
learners. This experience may
include such aspects as:
· improved comprehension of
and ability to use the ideas
introduced in the course;
· change in outlook, attitude and
enthusiasm towards the
discipline and its place in the
academic endeavour;
· intellectual growth; and
· improvement in specific skills
such as critical reading and
writing, oral communication,
analysis, synthesis, abstraction,
and generalization