Upload
others
View
6
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
SHCA Quality Report for 2009-10 1
COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
SCHOOL OF HISTORY, CLASSICS AND ARCHAEOLOGY
Quality Assurance Report to College Academic Session 2009-10
INTRODUCTION
1. This Report aims to summarise concisely learning and teaching matters of School-wide
significance arising from the annual Quality reports of the School’s three undergraduate subject
areas – Archaeology, Classics and History – and its Graduate School. In addition, it aims to update
matters raised in previous reports and to draw College’s attention to key problems and issues, as
well as good practices and areas of active enhancement of provision.
2. Review of audit procedures. Every course is subject to internal and external review, the
results of which are encapsulated in a Course Monitoring Form (CMF). Each undergraduate subject
area produces an annual report on its course and programme monitoring, using a template based
on College’s template for the present Report. For the first time in 2009-10, the Graduate School
produced a further annual report on graduate course and programme monitoring. The Director of
Quality oversees these and other Quality matters by sitting on the undergraduate and
postgraduate committees; by consulting occasionally with the School Management Committee; by
overseeing the Quality Roundtable (see Item 4); and by writing the present Report.
3. This Report has been approved by the Head of School and will subsequently be tabled before
the Management Committee.
PARTICIPATION IN QUALITY PROCESSES 4. Annual Quality procedures. The relevant course secretary completes the statistical section of
each CMF after the examiners’ meetings and distributes them to course organisers for completion
by September. These are analysed and discussed, along with programme-related matters, by
SHCA Quality Report for 2009-10 2
meetings of each subject area in September (UG) and October (PG). Each subject area submits its
undergraduate report to the School at the end of October, and its postgraduate report at the end
of November.
Of 234 undergraduate CMFs 223 were completed and returned (95.3 per cent), the missing
forms being owed by two colleagues who left the university over the summer and two on
maternity leave since before the end of the session. Despite return rates rising above 90 per cent
in the Graduate School in recent years, there was a noticeable lapse in 2009-10 (to 73 per cent).
The cause of this problem is thought to be disruption and distraction caused by (a) administrative
staffing changes in the Graduate School, and (b) School relocation to new accommodation,
spearheaded by the Graduate School in August-September, in the crucial period of August-
October.
In the interests of enhancement, the three postgraduate reports are scrutinised and
discussed by the postgraduate committee, whereas the undergraduate reports are discussed at the
annual Quality Roundtable at which (on the College model) they are exchanged and discussed by
their authors. The Graduate School produces a report of its audit findings and subsequent
discussions in early January, and these, along with the findings of the three undergraduate
reports, are summarised in the present Report to College.
5. Student and support-staff participation. Student participation features at virtually every
stage of these procedures. Student feedback questionnaires are evaluated as part of the audit
process for each course, and Masters students additionally complete an end-of-programme
questionnaire, distributed and completed at the time of Dissertation submission. Semesterly staff-
student liaison committees (SSLCs) are convened by each subject area at undergraduate level to
assist in programme monitoring; and there are School-wide SSLCs at both undergraduate and
graduate levels at which subject-area reps can compare notes. Graduate student reps from each
subject area sit on the postgraduate committee which evaluates audit findings at that level.
Formal support-staff participation features principally at the SSLCs, with the School
Undergraduate Administrator, Academic Liaison Librarian and IT and E-Learning Officer included
as members of the School-wide SSLCs.
ACTION ON 2008-9 REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
6. Quality Roundtable. The envisaged first-ever meeting did not take place in advance of the
2008-9 Report due to the very late submission of one report, nor afterwards, due to the
prioritisation of work on the School Learning and Teaching Strategy. Very late submission has
again prevented a meeting in advance of the present Report, but the meeting will take place as
soon as possible.
SHCA Quality Report for 2009-10 3
7. PG course/programme monitoring. Very significant steps were taken by the Graduate School in
2009-10, in conjunction with the Director of Quality, to ensure that course monitoring findings will
forthwith be a regular item of the business of the postgraduate committee (see Items 2 and 4).
8. NSS matters. The Directory of Quality produced and reported to College a substantial analysis
of the results of NSS 2010. These were largely gratifying, with top-quartile ratings in some key
strategic areas, as well as notable improvement in others. The School continues to place special
emphasis on the “open comments” provided by students as the key to understanding NSS
responses and finding genuine solutions.
9. Marker profiling/fairness and consistency of marking. Marking in History was not evaluated on
a sectional basis as recommended in the 2008-9 Report. However a course-marks examination
board was introduced in 2009-10, featuring the presentation and specific consideration of marking
data. These data will form the basis for action once they have been gathered over a significant
span of time. Planned reductions in the number of History external examiners are likely to help
the process of comparing profiles across as well as within sections. In the “open comments” of NSS
2010 students queried the fairness and consistency of marking much more frequently than either
the quality or the promptness of the feedback they receive, and the same issue arose in SSLCs in
Archaeology and History.
10. Assessment of non-written skills. The undergraduate committee continued to encourage
innovative assessment of non-written skills, holding workshops at which staff discussed
experiences of experimenting with new models (one presenter was subsequently awarded the
EUSA Teaching Award for Feedback). The number of staff moving in this direction has begun to
snowball, such that it will soon be the norm for undergraduates’ non-written skills to be assessed.
The same degree of enthusiasm is not yet apparent at graduate level.
11. Honours class sizes. The issue of large honours classes continued to present problems in
History. The enforcement of publicised class-size maxima and minima was more strictly enforced,
which proved effective in reducing the size of the most popular classes and achieving more
consistent class-sizes across the board. Great pressure was placed on the system, however, by a
very large number of History staff becoming unavailable for full teaching loads due to sabbaticals
and undertaking School administrative roles.
12. School Library needs. NSS 2010 once again identified library issues as a source of particular
discontent among the School’s students who, along with staff, had a high profile among those who
managed to force a climb-down from disturbing Library proposals relating to the next stage of the
MLRP. All three subject areas gave the Liaison Librarian space in lecture courses to talk about
research and bibliographic skills and draw student attention to the range of electronic and print
resources available in the Library, as well as to the search aids it offers.
SHCA Quality Report for 2009-10 4
13. ‘E-learning outcomes’. It remained an unresolved point whether the progressive development
of IT skills should feature in and affect the course and programme learning outcomes across the
School. Archaeology students requested in SSLC that IT-training specifically relevant to
archaeology (e.g. GIS) be integrated into the curriculum, but the trained personnel and suitable
equipment necessary to meet this desire are not currently available. Colleagues will continue to
reflect on the place of IT-related skills in course and programme learning outcomes.
14. Grade descriptors for exam answers. There was no movement on this issue, as wider
questions about the grade descriptors used in the School have led to discussions which are
ongoing.
15. Staff monitoring of tutors’ teaching. See Item 47.
16. Reaching POT targets. See Item 46.
COURSE MONITORING
17. Archaeology course monitoring. It was an unsettled year due to the introduction of 2 third-
year core courses, ‘Theoretical Archaeology’ and ‘Archaeology in Practice’, to replace existing
compulsory courses in the honours curriculum, and redesigned ‘Archaeology 2’ modules. The latter
had a less successful introduction than the (highly successful and well received) honours modules,
and refinements have been undertaken. Problems with maintaining ‘Archaeology of Scotland 1’,
the teaching of which relies heavily on guest lecturers, also came to the fore.
18. Classics course monitoring. No overview is possible in this Report due to the ongoing non-
submission of the subject area’s Quality report. When that report has been received, its course
monitoring findings will be discussed at the Quality Roundtable (see Item 4).
19. History course monitoring. The different assessment models now in place and reflections on
adopting and refining these (particularly in relation to the assessment of non-written skills) was a
dominant theme. There is no plan to insist on any single model; the objective is rather to foster a
climate where colleagues who wish to innovate or experiment can do so. Some of those who do
not currently assess non-written skills were frustrated by the enforced discontinuation (on the
advice of the Director of Quality) of mark-deductions from essays to penalise seminar non-
attendance.
The use of electronic material was another strong theme. Many colleagues are positive
about the impact of ‘e-reserve’, for example, whereas others worry that the e-reserve/e-journal
culture discourages adequate engagement with vital monographic and other print material.
SHCA Quality Report for 2009-10 5
20. Postgraduate course monitoring. The principle issue was student criticism of aspects of core
training courses in both History and Archaeology in line with previous years, which had already
occasioned the comprehensive review of skills training provision which took place (see Item 25).
In response to previous feedback a Dissertation handbook was introduced in History; student
concerns raised in Classics about essay-writing guidance will be addressed. More difficult issues
included student access to training in languages other than English and, in lab-based archaeology
programmes, to greater lab- and staff-time, matters which are not easily resolved within existing
resources.
PROGRAMME MONITORING
21. Archaeology programmes. Discussions began concerning the future of the six Archaeology
pre-honours modules, and are likely to result in a reduced number of modules whose content is
more carefully linked-up and whose learning outcomes harmonise more closely with national
benchmarks.
22. Classics programmes. See Item 18.
23. History programmes. Pre-honours recruitment continued to be strong. A very large cohort
was admitted to History and to the wider College, which had a significant impact on these courses
(as very popular outside courses). Internal re-organisation and innovation continued to produce
new pre-honours courses, including ‘The Making of the Modern Body’ as the second-semester
second-year Social history module, whilst other recent creations/repackagings seemed to have a
positive effect on recruitment.
At honours level the progress of the core courses ‘History in Theory’ and ‘History in
Practice’ continues to be monitored. Overall, student responses indicate their success, but there
are some issues to be addressed and resolved. For example, HiP’s operation as a 20-credit course
over two semesters creates curricular imbalances for some students. The issue of progression
from third to fourth year was examined in the Economic and Social History curricula, which unlike
the others do not include a 40-credit ‘special subject’ course exclusive to the fourth year.
24. Postgraduate programmes. There was significant growth (by 28 per cent) in student numbers
in the Graduate School, and much needed relief was brought to the very popular MSc programmes
in Osteoarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology with the arrival of a new member of staff.
Programme monitoring was aided by an end-of-programme questionnaire for taught and research
students (95 per cent response), which will be extended to doctoral students from 2010-11. It is
clear these that provision is highly satisfactory from the student viewpoint. Library provision,
however, generated a high level of concern across the School (30 per cent dissatisfied),
SHCA Quality Report for 2009-10 6
particularly in subjects where crucial printed material is not published in the UK (and thus not
available in the NLS). Similar issues were raised by undergraduates in the NSS and elsewhere (see
Item 12).
Students also completed the university questionnaire, but the response rate was only 23
per cent. The Graduate School will seek to increase the response rate by employing some of the
techniques used to encourage NSS responses (although here too response rates tend to be
disappointing).
25. Taught elements of PGR programmes. A cycle of reviews of graduate training (both taught
and research programmes) was instituted, with History the first subject area to be reviewed.
These reviews were in response to concerns of variable seriousness raised by both staff and
students about different aspects of the existing courses. An external assessor, Prof. Colin Jones,
currently President of the Royal Historical Society, was involved, along with student and staff
reps. Significant innovation arising out of the review included changes to the core courses for the
taught programmes and the introduction of a two-semester training and dissemination seminar for
first-year doctoral students. 2010-11 will see similar reviews in Archaeology and Classics, after
which a cycle of reviews will be maintained.
26. Supervised elements of PGR programmes. The policy document circulated by the College
Postgraduate Dean was circulated to all colleagues and research students by the School Graduate
Director on 10 January 2011, with instructions for putting appropriate monitoring systems in place
with immediate effect. Review of the situation properly belongs in next year’s Report. However,
it may be noted that many features of the policy were already in place in 2009-10, the principal
innovation being a student-led approach to the recording of supervisory meetings.
ANALYSIS OF UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STATISTICS
27. Archaeology: pre-honours course statistics. The principal feature of the data is the more
attenuated profiles for ‘Archaeology 1’/1A/1B in the past two years, as compared with the
previous two years. From 2006-8 an average of 62.8 per cent of students gained Bs, as compared
with 46.8 since 2008-9. The average number of As has risen from 9.1 per cent to 12.2, whilst the
average number of Cs has also risen from 19.8 per cent to 23.5. These more attenuated profiles
may reflect careful adherence to the new marking scale. On the other hand, the ‘Archaeology 2’
profile has remained remarkably stable, with a very slight increase in the proportion of Cs and Ds.
The profiles for the non-degree course ‘Archaeology of Scotland 1’ are also remarkably
stable over the same period, but notable for the fact that Cs predominate rather than Bs,
amounting to more than 40 per cent of the total marks on average, with Ds also being more
common than in the degree courses. This course is mainly taken by Visiting and outside-subject
SHCA Quality Report for 2009-10 7
students whose aptitude and commitment may be rather less than is common for the degree
courses.
28. Classics: pre-honours course statistics. See Item 18. One matter does demand comment
here. 2009-10 saw the introduction of four new first-year courses, ‘The Greek World’ 1A/B and
‘The Roman World’ 1A/B, replacing a total of six modules, two each in ‘Ancient History’,
‘Classical Archaeology’ and ‘Classical Literature’, by integrating them into a more compact and
interdisciplinary suite of courses. The profiles of the new courses closely resembled those from
the final three years of ‘Classical Literature’, the most buoyant of the three pre-existing courses,
diverging pretty sharply from the final three profiles for ‘Classical Archaeology’ and (especially)
‘Ancient History’. In ‘The Greek World’, 58.4 per cent of students gained As or Bs, as compared
with the following averages from 2006-9: ‘Ancient History: Greek’ (44.5 per cent); ‘Classical
Archaeology: Greek’ (43.7 per cent); ‘Classical Literature’ (55.9 per cent). The parallel figures
for the Roman-themed modules were 58.9 for the new courses and averages of 25.2 per cent
(History), 52.7 per cent (Archaeology) and 55.9 per cent (Literature). These much-more-buoyant
profiles for the new courses are difficult to explain without input from the subject area and
further experience of these courses.
29. History: honours course statistics. 20 honours courses ran at 40 credits and 67 at 20 credits.
Among the former type, where fourth-year finalists predominate, the overall mean mark was
63.25, with means for individual courses ranging from 59 to 68. The range and standard deviation
tended to be low, suggesting a certain clustering of marks in the 2.1 bracket. For 20-credit
courses the overall mean mark was slightly lower at 62.78; and the two core courses, ‘History in
Theory’ and ‘History in Practice’, both had means of 61.
A contrast is provided by the Dissertation ‘courses’, which are taken by all single honours
students and many combined honours students in their fourth year. For example, in the History
Dissertation (112 students) the mean was 65 and 34.8 per cent of students gained a first-class
mark (compared to 20.3 per cent gaining first-class degrees); in addition, the range (50) was very
high and the standard deviation (16) was also quite high. The significant point here is that the 40-
credit Dissertation, where the marking scale appears to have been used particularly fully, carries
considerable weight in the final classification. This is especially the case for students who took
their third year abroad (31.25 per cent of whom gained first-class degrees), for whom the
Dissertation provides one-third of the marks which make up their arithmetical mean. Among the
conclusions which could be drawn from this evidence is that students do their best work in the
Dissertation, which is the culmination of the four years of study and involves detailed research on
a topic of their own choice. A further point is that staff seem particularly willing to use the upper
reaches of the marking scale to assess a detailed piece of research which can be judged according
to criteria closer to professional standards, such as peer review for publication.
SHCA Quality Report for 2009-10 8
30. History: pre-honours course statistics. The principal feature of the data is the relatively
small proportion of students who gain As: in only a small number of courses is the proportion close
to that of final-year students who gain first-class degrees in History. Of first-year courses only
‘British Economic and Environmental History’ has a profile of this kind: this is a relatively small
(c.70 students) course taken by relatively few History students, but a large number of students
from other Schools whose familiarity with social science methodologies may be a factor in the
distinctive profile. Of the courses notable in 2008-9 for relatively low numbers of As there has
been a pleasing increase in the performance of students on ‘Medieval Scottish History’, although
the other first-year course in Scottish history had a very low proportion of As.
Of the second-year courses ‘Africa, Asia, Australasia’ (available from 2010-11 as a pair of
20-credit courses) and ‘Introduction to Medieval Europe’ (ditto) had relatively high numbers of
students gaining As. Other second-year courses have relatively low numbers of As. Although there
are variations in the constituencies of students on each course the variation in performance
continues to be a cause for concern (see Item 9).
31. Archaeology: degree outcome statistics. Just 17 students graduated, the first time in four
years that this number fell below 20. Five gained first-class degrees, amounting to 29.4 per cent
of the cohort, but it is normal for 4-5 firsts to be awarded, and this anomalously-high proportion is
probably a function of the small size of the cohort. The profile of results since 2006-7 continues to
share with Classics a much more attenuated character than that for the History degrees, with a
significant proportion of the cohort gaining 2.2 classifications.
32. Classics: degree outcome statistics. With an average of 56 finalists per annum distributed
among 11 degree programmes internal to the School, it is difficult to find statistical merit in close
analysis of the data relating to single programmes. Taking all programmes together, the figures
for 2009-10 show a sharp fall in the proportion of first-class degrees at 14.3 per cent – the first
time in four years that this figure has fallen below 20 per cent – with a correspondingly sharp rise
in the proportion of 2.1s (66.1 per cent) from the previous year (56.7 per cent). 17.9 per cent of
students received a 2.2 classification, in line with recent results in Classics but strikingly
attenuated (as in Archaeology) as compared with History.
33. History: degree outcome statistics. The principal feature of the data over the past three
years is the overwhelming dominance of the 2.1 degree classification; the number of first-class
degrees has risen modestly. This is most evident in the MA History, the only single-honours
programme with sufficiently large a cohort for proper analysis. A total of 113 students graduated,
nearly 90 per cent of whom gained a first-class or 2.1 classification. Given the very high quality of
the intake (c.17 applicants for every place), a high level of achievement is to be expected.
Nevertheless, the apparently greater willingness (see Item 29) to use the upper end of the
marking scale for Dissertations and long ‘History in Practice’ projects than for examination
answers (in particular) probably has a significant impact on classification by arithmetic mean.
SHCA Quality Report for 2009-10 9
A relatively small number of History students take combined degrees and for most of
these programmes the numbers are too small to make meaningful comments (and the situation is
much the same for Archaeology and Classics). The dominance of the 2.1 can be seen again in the
profiles of two of the larger ones – MA History and Politics and MA English Literature and History
(which tend to recruit around 20 students).
34. Postgraduate degree outcomes. A total number of 99 MSc students were admitted, of whom
28 (28.3 per cent) gained distinctions, a proportion which was remarkably similar across
Archaeology (30 per cent), Classics (28.6 per cent) and History (27.4 per cent). There were 2
Diploma students in Archaeology and 1 in Classics, thus mirroring the attenuated profiles
characteristic of both subject areas at undergraduate level (see Items 31-32). Now that the
Graduate School has robust QA procedures in place, it will be possible in future reports to analyse
annual patterns in these profiles more closely than is currently possible.
PROGRAMME REVIEWS
35. No programme reviews were conducted in the School in the year under review. A PPR is
scheduled for June 2011.
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROVISION
36. The School had no responsibilities in the area of designing or delivering CPD provision.
COLLAB0RATIVE PROVISION
37. The Graduate School was successful in attracting collaborative doctoral funding from the
AHRC and from Historic Scotland which will allow for collaborative projects beginning in 2010-11.
The School is well placed to form such collaborative partnerships with heritage institutions and
repositories of historic material in Edinburgh, and three further applications for collaborative
doctoral funding are in the pipeline for 2011-12. Each collaborative project arises out of a unique
partnership and conforms to usual School practices regarding supervisory arrangements, annual
reviews of progress, and so on.
There were a small number of History taught Masters 10-week internships in local cultural
institutions (e.g. National Museums Scotland), co-supervised by School staff and examined
internally. Graduate teaching in Classics and in medieval programmes made fruitful use of some
collaborative core teaching input from across the College and from outside scholars.
SHCA Quality Report for 2009-10 10
EXTERNAL EXAMINERS
38. Archaeology. Concern was expressed by one external that the moderation process be made
more transparent to students via course materials, but otherwise there were no matters raised of
a general nature.
39. Classics. See Item 18.
40. History. Some externals raised the issue of establishing ‘marking profiles’ for staff, a matter
already under consideration (see Item 9). Some perceived overlap between the essays and exam answers written by students on a given course: from 2010-11 colleagues will have course essay
questions to hand when jointly scrutinising exam question-papers (a practice already in place in
some sections), and an additional check will be carried out by the Examinations Officer prior to
the papers being sent to externals for comment/approval. One external raised concerns about the
award of very high first-class marks by the section under his scrutiny, some of which were
Dissertation marks (see Item 29 for reflections). One external queried the progression built into
the structure of the History curricula, due to the fact that all first- and second-year History
courses are classified as SCQF Level 8 and honours courses at Level 10. This is of course a question
which the whole university faces. Progression is built into the History curricula in that all third-
year students take ‘History in Theory’ and ‘History in Practice’, and all fourth-year students
undertake the Dissertation and (in most cases) a ‘special subject’ exclusive to fourth-year
students. Exactly how best to express progression of this kind in terms of SCQF Levels requires
further thought.
41. Postgraduate. By mid-January 2011 only 4 of the expected 20 external examiner reports for
2009-10 had been received, which provides little basis upon which to comment.
ASSESSMENT AND FEEDBACK
42. The University Feedback Standards and Guiding Principles document having been introduced in
summer 2010, no actions for its implementation were undertaken in the session under review. NSS
2010 saw all three subject areas achieve satisfaction results at or near 60 per cent, representing
improvement over three years of 5 per cent for Archaeology, 8 per cent for Classics and 7 per
cent for History. Several students acknowledged favourably efforts made to improve in this area
(outlined in previous Reports) in their “open comments”, but specific and general criticisms
relating to assignments, marking and feedback outstripped all others in this part of the survey
(38.5 per cent of all respondents).
SHCA Quality Report for 2009-10 11
43. The NSS results in this area remain puzzling, if encouraging in this instance. External
examiners continue to provide no evidence to suggest that colleagues’ written feedback on
assignments is substandard, and one History colleague won the EUSA Teaching Award for Feedback
in 2009-10. That colleague had adopted a ‘feedback-rich’ honours assessment model which
featured assessment of non-written skills and the provision of feedback at several points
throughout the course. The totality of the evidence thus suggests that student satisfaction may
hinge on the frequency of feedback they receive, rather than its quality or even quantity, as
such. For that reason, recent staff enthusiasm for introducing more ‘feedback rich’ honours
assessment models (see Item 10) may significantly repay the effort involved. Similarly
opportunities for student inspection of exam scripts will persist, despite disappointing take-up
figures.
At the same time, refinements of a qualitative nature continued, including to the
proformas attached to assessed coursework; and coursework moderators will in future be
expected to comment on feedback (and not merely marking) as an aspect of their role.
ACADEMIC AND PASTORAL SUPPORT
44. The University Academic and Pastoral Support document having been introduced in summer
2010, no particular actions for its implementation were undertaken in the session under review.
The School began its own internal review of its Director of Studies (DoS) system, which was
overtaken (to an extent) by the university’s movements.
Students are informed about the support system in place, including the roles of the
Student Support Office (SS0) and the DoS, at their Induction, and again at their entry to honours.
Supplementary guidance (e.g. seeking deadline extensions) is included in course materials. Most
members of staff are DoS’s and, like all teaching staff, advertise office ‘open consultation’ hours.
DoS’s have responsibility for up to thirty students each. The ongoing necessity of reallocating
students to new DoS’s in order to accommodate research and other forms of leave places strain on
the system for staff and students alike.
DoS’s have now mostly adapted to the introduction of the SSO and the division of
responsibilities between the two. The SSO plays an important role in supporting students,
particularly as a ‘drop-in centre’ for routine queries and an alternative source of support when
students require urgent assistance outside their DoS’s normal office hours. It also plays a vital role
in coordinating the work of Special Circumstances Committees. In recognition of its value, the SSO
is located immediately inside the main entrance of the School’s new accommodation.
45. It is curious that Archaeology, having adopted School models for Academic Support, earned a
top-quartile NSS 2010 satisfaction rating of 88 per cent (improving 13 per cent over three years),
as compared with 70 per cent for History (albeit with a 5 per cent improvement) and 75 per cent
for Classics. Archaeology’s results suggest that the School models are well-conceived, and it has
SHCA Quality Report for 2009-10 12
not gone unnoticed that the three subject areas performed in inverse proportion to their size in
this aspect of the NSS. In the “open comments”, dissatisfaction relating to the quality and
quantity of staff contact-time was pronounced, but the concerns raised tended to be quite
finalist-specific, relating to lack of formal contact time in the Dissertation year and to Dissertation
supervision itself.
Aspects of Dissertation supervision have also featured in SSLC meetings and external
examiners’ comments in Archaeology and History, particularly as regards improving consistency of
supervisory practice and provision of essential guidance. 2009-10 saw movement towards greater
consistency through the introduction of a Dissertation handbook for the Archaeology, History and
Scottish History Dissertations, modelled on the existing handbook for the separate Economic and
Social History Dissertation.
PEER OBSERVATION OF TEACHING
46. The School expects all full-time teaching staff, as a normal aspect of their duties, to
participate in Peer Observation of Teaching as a formal means of encouraging and facilitating
peer-to-peer discussion of methods and approaches to teaching. As in previous years, the scheme
was sporadically observed, prompted by a named member of the administrative team, in different
parts of the School. Other staff seemed to expect more active ‘management’ of the scheme by
some member of School management, and in its absence were not inclined to participate.
With the creation in 2008-9 of the office of “Deputy Head of School” with special
responsibility for staff support through such means as workload calculations and appraisals, it was
a recommendation of the 2008-9 QA Report that the responsibility for overseeing POT be assumed
as part of the Deputy Head’s brief. Due to a number of transitional factors relating to the bedding
down of this management role, as well as changes in the administrative structure, no active role
was played in POT by the Deputy Head of School in 2009-10. More robust participation in the
scheme is to be expected next year.
47. It was further recommended in the 2008-9 Report that staff formally monitor the teaching of
postgraduate tutors, on the model of POT, as a means of providing them with additional support
and training. However, this remained a practice confined to Classics.
TEACHING AND LEARNING SPACES
48. The session was spent in great anticipation of the School’s relocation from four separate
buildings in the Central area to a single shared accommodation in the ‘west wing’ of the Old
Medical School, a move which began in August 2010 and was completed in December. This exciting
opportunity to make the most of ready access to new, state-of-the-art teaching and learning
SHCA Quality Report for 2009-10 13
spaces, including AV and IT equipment, an integrated student resource centre, and dedicated
spaces for School postgraduates (including allocated desks, computing labs, seminar rooms,
lockers and use of the senior common room) was avidly taken up by the School, but a full
consideration of the fruits of these efforts and investment properly belongs to next year’s Report.
This is also an issue at PGT level where new training courses for MSc and PhD students are being
developed.
ENHANCEMENT AND GOOD PRACTICE
49. Items in this Report which may particularly deserve notice include:
• the fact that each subject area is required to complete a report (and thus a thorough
internal review) to be shared and discussed internally at a Quality Roundtable
• the use of end-of-programme questionnaires by the Graduate School
• the stress placed on careful analysis of the “open comments” in the NSS, rather than
relying solely on its (higher-profile) statistical aspects, as a tool upon which to base action
• the ongoing experimentation with new assessment models, particularly in relation to non-
written skills: these do, however, raise certain concerns relating to Teachability which will
require ongoing reflection
• the introduction of a cycle of reviews of graduate training by the Graduate School
• the expectation on the part of coursework moderators to comment on feedback as well as
marks
• the formulation of a School Learning and Teaching Strategy
• the introduction of methods- and skills-based core courses in honours curricula to flag up
transferable skills, and the involvement of the Careers Service in developing these
TEACHABILITY
50. The School Teachability Officer advises the undergraduate and graduate committees on
Teachability matters and serves as Adjustments Coordinator, communicating with course
organisers and course secretaries concerning adjustments to be made for individual students. The
Undergraduate Administrator coordinates the efforts of course secretaries to ensure that course
materials conform to appropriate presentational standards. The School’s new accommodation has
the highest level of physical disability access, as well as enriched provision of IT teaching
resources that aid in the teaching of students with sight or hearing problems.
The School’s last Teachability audit having taken place in 2005-6, the question of when to
conduct another one has been raised with the Disability Office.
SHCA Quality Report for 2009-10 14
COLLEGE LEARNING AND TEACHING STRATEGY PRIORITIES
51. The School formulated its own Learning and Teaching Strategy in 2009-10 as a vehicle for,
among other things, the implementation of the College strategy. The School Strategy identifies
three broad areas for strategic attention: promoting and safeguarding academic standards; promoting and meeting student expectations and requirements; and promoting and nurturing a
model academic environment. Some of the more specific key objectives underneath these
broader headings include:
• promoting and supporting student independence and initiative (particularly above Level 8),
not least through effective induction at key progression thresholds
• supporting ‘Enhancement’ initiatives, thoroughly informed by student opinion, particularly in
relation to the use of IT, coursework feedback and modes of assessment
• encouraging research-led learning and teaching (and indeed teaching-led research)
• providing levels of intellectual and pastoral support to students appropriate to higher
education
• equipping students with the skills and attributes to succeed in the world of work or in further
study
• working closely with the University Library and other service providers to maximise support of
School students and staff
52. Oversight of this Strategy and its effective integration into the strategic planning of the
undergraduate and postgraduate committees falls under the brief of the Director of Quality. A
document of suggested means of transforming the Strategy into practical action has been
formulated for 2010-11, based on the related College document. Its ongoing effectiveness, as well
as its harmonisation with College priorities, will be monitored on a continuous basis through
subject area QA reporting and the Quality Roundtable.
Matters arising from 2009-10 reporting on Strategy-related issues include:
• reflections on the effectiveness of how students are inducted in the habits and practices of
intellectual autonomy and independence, from first year to fourth, which might be
flagged-up to students in more transparent ways in stock explanations of assignments
• ongoing efforts to communicate library needs to Information Services
• ongoing efforts by the Liaison Librarian to provide discipline-specific instruction in
bibliographical and library skills in many courses
• the growing emphasis on methods- and skills-based courses in the History and Archaeology
curricula, through core courses focused on theoretical/philosophical and practical/hands-
on aspects of these disciplines, which should be useful in flagging up transferable skills
• moving ahead with further innovations in the assessment of non-written skills, as well as
diversification of the more ‘traditional’ methods of assessment which remain very
important indicators of learning
SHCA Quality Report for 2009-10 15
• recognition that the record of graduates in the job market might be stronger, and that the
take-up of services from the Careers Service could also be better (although both ‘History
in Practice’ and ‘Archaeology in Practice’ include consideration of career options
developed in tandem with Careers Services)
• the presence of research-teaching linkages at all levels of each undergraduate curriculum • various case-studies of research-teaching linkages at graduate level, including
archive/museum internships (e.g. at the Royal College of Physicians, where a student
project gave rise to a web exhibition developing an area of staff research interest),
courses based on research for active funded research projects, and courses linked to
academic conferences to be hosted in Edinburgh
• recognition of the importance to be placed on helping students to feel a sense of belonging
and inclusion, and the relevant challenges associated with large units and classes, as well
as the potential blurring of distinctions arising from the co-location and physical
integration of units, accommodations and facilities which were formerly physically
separate
FORWARD LOOK
53. A number of the recommendations made in the previous Report (see Items 6-16) relate to
complex and/or weighty matters requiring ongoing attention. It may be noted in particular that
the School is reassured, to a degree, that the Library is taking steps to identify for retention
material which is used, as opposed to borrowed. It retains some residual dismay, however, at the
amount of student and staff effort that was required in 2009-10 to press senior Library
management to accept criticisms concerning plans for the future of vital resources for teaching,
research and research-teaching linkages in History, Classics and Archaeology. There is growing
concern (based on evidence discussed in Items 12 and 24) that dissatisfaction with the Library
may be exercising no small influence over the School’s NSS results and its efforts to grow its
graduate business. As such, Library-related matters are likely to continue to loom large in moving
forward.
54. From 2011-12, due to the arcane practises of Admissions, a very large cohort of students will
be entering third year, followed by a very small cohort and then, in all likelihood, a further larger
cohort. These fluctuations may require careful consideration and planning in relation to striking
the right balances of teaching provision at each level.
55. As the focus on practical skills, including IT skills, increases, teaching spaces where all
participants (not just the teacher) have access to a PC will become increasingly necessary. Some
spaces of this nature will be available in the new School building, but the relative shortage of such
spaces around the Central Area may very soon inhibit further development of this kind of
SHCA Quality Report for 2009-10 16
teaching. Certain aspects of practical training may also raise troublesome issues as regards
Teachability.
56. The changes to the academic year coming into effect in 2011-12 raise a number of questions
which are currently attracting attention and debate. They create serious difficulties for the
retention of Archaeology’s first-year practical week during the Easter vacation, which will have to
be discontinued, despite good pedagogic reasons for delivering practical skills and fieldwork
training in this format. An attempt will be made to salvage aspects of this training, but it is a pity
that such a meritorious aspect of our teaching must be sacrificed in order to accommodate
changes whose pedagogic benefits are less obvious.
57. The ‘Archaeological Fieldwork’ honours course continues to provide a solid grounding for those
interested in practical aspects of archaeology, but student numbers are increasingly disappointing.
The fieldwork demands over the summer vacation may be off-putting for a student body
increasingly reliant on summer work to remain financially capable of study: a reliance which may
become universal if very significant tuition fees become introduced in Scotland. It is difficult,
however, to see how the Archaeology curriculum could continue to meet its learning outcomes if
this course was discontinued.
58. The potential for making use of the money being released by the University for developing
distance and e-learning projects will be investigated. This could have particular benefit for
graduate teaching by creating on-line versions of our courses which could theoretically be
delivered in those years that they are not being taught on the ground.
59. The move to the new building has come with a range of short- and long-term challenges and
opportunities, both of which require careful attention in order to ensure that the challenges are
met and the opportunities (not least as regards the high quality of the teaching spaces and the
resource centre) are pursued with vigour.
60. The Director of Quality, having seen out the usual three-year tour of duty from 2007-8 to
2009-10, has agreed to remain in post until 2011-12 in order to act as ELIR Liaison. It is considered
that the Quality systems already in place for the collection, caching and review of data, and that
the administrative support already routinely provided, will provide the Director of Quality with a
sturdy platform upon which to carry out this liaison function.
Dr James Fraser Director of Quality [email protected]
28.1.2011