Teaching Quality Assurance and Review Office (TQARO)

TLAC reviews of educational provision (internal review)

Every 5 years a department will undergo an internal review of its educational provision conducted on behalf of the Teaching Learning and Assessment Committee (TLAC). Reviews are thematic and will consider a range of themes identified as School-wide issues by TLAC. The themes for 2008-09 are:

• Tutorial and supervisory arrangements: the team will consider the department’s arrangements against the relevant School Codes of Practice;
   
• Feedback to students on formative work: the team will consider the department’s practice against the requirements set out in the relevant School Codes of Practice;
   
• The ‘accuracy’ of published information: the team will consider a sample of programme/course information against School information (the prospectus and Calendar) and student’s understanding of it; and
   
• The role of GTAs in departmental teaching

All TLAC reviews normally take place in the Lent Term typically on a Thursday with a full day of meetings.

TQARO has overall responsibility for running the programme of TLAC reviews. Heads of Departments will act as the first point of contact with the Office for the exercise. We suggest that the Head would:

• ensure colleagues are fully informed of the review process and are given full opportunity to have input to it;
   
• make arrangements for the writing of the Departmental Statement, which will be used to guide the Review Team during the review;
   
• nominate a departmental administrator (usually the departmental manager) to liaise with TQARO so that the necessary documentation and statistics may be collated for the review;
   
• attend meetings with the Review Team and other departmental colleagues;
   
• ensure the Department’s input to and approval of the review report produced by TQARO; and
   
• take a lead in implementing the recommendations made to the Department by the review team.

The Head of Department will be contacted by TQARO in the Summer vacation prior to the scheduled review of the department to initiate preparations. TQARO is happy to provide as much assistance as possible for departments throughout the process and will undertake all logistical duties involved with the planning and conduct of the review, though some of this might be in conjunction with the department.

Full details of the review process can be found on the Teaching Quality Assurance and Review Office (TQARO) website or from Louisa Green (telephone 020 7955 7762, email l.j.green@lse.ac.uk).

Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) institutional audit (external review)

Following the QAA’s cycle of Subject Reviews and Continuation Audit, a new method of external review has now been implemented, Institutional Audit, to be conducted by the QAA. Effectively, this means that all external engagements between the QAA and HEIs will be at the level of the institution rather than the subject. Therefore, most of the work involved in the exercise will be carried out at central rather than departmental level.

The School underwent an exercise in 2004-2005 and decided to combine the Institutional Audit exercise with an application for Degree Awarding Powers. The School is next due for a QAA Institutional Audit in the 2010-2011 academic session. A mid-cycle review will be conducted in the Summer Term 2008.

For further information you are advised to look at the QAA website or the Teaching Quality Assurance and Review Office (TQARO) website, or contact Louisa Green (telephone 020 7955 7762, email l.j.green@lse.ac.uk).

Student satisfaction surveys

Following the Teaching Task Force’s recommendations (presented to Academic Board 28 May 2008 meeting) during the 2008-09 academic session TQARO will conduct the following surveys of student satisfaction on behalf of the School:

1. online survey of class teaching (i.e. by Graduate Teaching Assistants) conducted at the end of the Michaelmas Term;
    
2. online survey of lecturer’s teaching conducted at the end of the Michaelmas Term for those half unit courses where teaching finishes at the end of the first term. On request, departments can ask that other courses be included, for example, where there is a significant change of teacher at the end of the first term; and
    
3. online survey of lecturer’s teaching conducted at the end of the Lent Term of all permanent lecturing staff at the School.

Both quantitative and qualitative results are produced from the surveys. Qualitative comments from students are provided separately and sent to the teacher concerned.

TQARO is responsible for conducting the survey and will send the survey to all students by email. TQARO will keep departments informed of when the survey is issued and when results will be produced. Results are issued in line with agreed School policy (a copy of the policy document can be accessed on the Teaching Quality Assurance and Review Office (TQARO) website.

Further guidance can be sought from Phil Kneebone (telephone 020 7955 6765, email p.kneebone1@lse.ac.uk).

Heads of Department are asked to:

• ensure that all staff are aware that a survey of their teaching will be conducted; and
• consider all teaching survey results for academic staff in line with School policy.

It is likely that further changes will be made to the survey methodology for the 2009-10 session following recommendations from the School's Teaching Task Force. Changes in methodology will be discussed with departments during the 2008-09 session.

Annual reporting exercise on outcomes from departmental quality assurance processes

In the 2006-07 and 2007-08 academic sessions Heads of Departments were asked to submit annual course monitoring reports on all courses taught in their department in the previous academic session. Reports were considered by the Pro-Director (Teaching and Learning) who raised any issues with individual Heads as required and a report made to the Teaching, Learning and Assessment Committee. As agreed by the Academic Board (18 June 2008 meeting) this exercise has now been replaced with an annual reporting exercise focussing on the outcomes from department’s own quality assurance processes.

All departments should have the following quality assurance mechanisms in place:

1. Staff Student Liaison Committees for all students that met regularly and produced minutes that would be circulated to both staff and students in the Department;
    
2. Departmental staff meetings that met at least three times per academic year and considered information from other departmental committees that might be in place, and were properly minuted;
    
3. A Teaching Committee, or equivalent, that involved appropriate members of departmental staff and considered all aspects of departmental teaching such as new programme/course proposals and programme/course monitoring/review, and was properly minuted;
    
4. A system of annual/periodic programme/course monitoring/review, the details of which should be determined by individual departments;
    
5. A system for annual consideration of course and degree results;
    
6. A system for annual consideration of the School’s internal student survey scores; and
    
7. A system for annual consideration of external examiners reports and acting on them.

Most departments will have all or most of this in place already. Whilst these mechanisms should not require departments to implement anything new, reporting on the processes in place and the outcomes from them to the School (via the Assistant Registrar, TQARO) represents a new arrangement for the 2008-09 session. The reporting mechanism should not be onerous for departments, but should fulfil the School’s quality assurance function. Therefore:

1. departments should choose their own style of reporting that might, for example, involve submitting copies of the relevant minutes and/or for this purpose. It is intended that reporting styles should be discussed and agreed with the Assistant Registrar (TQARO); and
    
2. an overview report for each department drawing on the information provided by departments and including statistical data, such as that on course and degree results, will be produced by the Assistant Registrar for departments to comment on before they are sent to TLAC for consideration.

Heads of Department are asked to ensure that the relevant quality assurance mechanisms are in place and that a report is provided. Further information will be sent to departments in advance of the deadline for submitting reports.

Further information can be obtained from Louisa Green
(telephone 0207 955 7762, email l.j.green@lse.ac.uk`).

^