New podcast evaluates evaluation

Chaired by our regular host Dr Kerr Castle, QAA's latest podcast explores the effective evaluation of higher education practices and initiatives, and how to make approaches to evaluation meaningful and manageable.

Kerr's guests this month are Liz Austen, Professor of Higher Education Evaluation at Sheffield Hallam University, and Stella Jones-Devitt, Professor of Critical Pedagogy at Staffordshire University.

They open the discussion by emphasising that there is limited consensus on the focus, purpose or most appropriate methods for such processes of evaluation.

'What's really important is that somebody sets the context of what's being evaluated,' says Liz. 'It's really important that senior leaders or policymakers are really clear about what is being evaluated and why.'

'A range of different approaches is key here,' Stella stresses. 'That's about who is involved – who are your stakeholders and participants – and how you should be doing it, methodologically.'

Stella argues for the need to take strategic and properly thought-through approaches to evaluation: 'In terms of why we should be doing it, I think sadly most evaluation occurs in relation to reporting, and I think this dominates. All practitioners and learners... should consider effectiveness and how it can be improved. We find constantly that colleagues at quite high levels will often rush to action something on the basis of very little evidence – without actually considering whether the evidence itself is part of an emerging trend or is a one-off outlier. There seem to be a lot of panicked approaches as to why we evaluate, and I know that's quite commonplace in the sector.'

'I think lots of people evaluate,' adds Liz. 'We just might not call it that. One of the things that's really challenged me over the last few years is about the applicability of the word "evaluation". It can be quite off-putting to some. It can be quite alienating. It can be quite exclusive at times. Quite a lot of the work that's been done and that I've done has been to try to break down some of that.'

How to tune in

QAA Membership podcasts can be found on Buzzsprout and other popular streaming platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. On these platforms, you can explore our full catalogue of podcasts. Our recent topics include awarding gaps, competence-based education, work-based learning, embedding employability, the TEF and the Quality Code.

QAA runs course in effective evaluation

Between 7 November and 12 December 2024, QAA will run a training course in the effective evaluation, evidencing and enhancement of the impact of initiatives to promote the student experience. The course will be facilitated by Liz Austen and Stella Jones-Devitt.

This course was first run last year and is being run again in response to interest expressed by QAA Members. You can find out more on the Effective Evaluation training web page.