Laboratory-Based Teaching and Learning: Developing Quality Assurance Processes

Abstract

This project aims to develop quality assurance processes by involving academic staff in a cycle of reflection upon their teaching practices in the laboratory program. A tool, the ‘Educational Template’, has been provided which supports this reflection with respect to individual experiments. By using this tool to articulate the intended learning outcomes and methods of achieving them, the quality of these experiments can be improved. More importantly, staff are able to identify the themes common over the whole laboratory program. Awareness of the issues associated with quality assurance in the laboratory program is raised through workshops, one-on-one discussions and working through the pedagogical analysis of the experiments. Departmental policy is formulated on the basis of the individual reflection and group discourse, ensuring that the staff develop a sense of ownership of the process.