LET’S HAVE A SHOW OF HANDS: TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION TEACHING SURVEY 2017
National Student Survey
and teaching excellence framework
Technology
Standards
Students
Teaching at my institution
My teaching and me
ACADEMICS
%
Agree
%
Strongly
agree
26.5
4.3
21.8
5.0
16.7
35.2
18.9
%
Neither
agree nor
disagree
14.4
5.8
40.6
10.6
37.6
28.6
15.6
23.3
43.1
14.6
40.1
24.8
10.0
25.4
28.0
45.0
14.5
42.4
13.9
4.1
29.3
15.7
2.5
6.2
22.8
35.4
10.9
18.5
24.4
15.1
14.5
16.1
19.2
29.9
32.8
42.7
25.2
3.9
39.3
16.6
8.5
If I need advice on my teaching, I know where to get it
My students value my teaching
Students engage with my feedback and questions
My students are well prepared academically for university study
7.2
1.1
1.8
13.5
13.4
4.0
9.8
34.4
15.2
9.4
11.9
23.9
43.5
48.0
52.2
22.5
20.7
37.4
24.3
5.8
My students come to lectures and tutorials having done the required background reading
My office drop-in hours are very busy
My international students demonstrate an adequate level of my university’s language of instruction
16.6
12.9
9.1
35.5
26.3
23.5
24.3
30.1
28.5
21.9
20.0
34.7
1.8
10.7
4.1
My students have been caught committing plagiarism at least once
I regularly suspect that my students have committed plagiarism
The majority of a student’s final mark should depend on a final exam
Modular assessment is a better aid to teaching than exams are
Students complain that I set them too much work
Students complain if their marks are lower than they expected
I have been asked by a manager to mark more leniently (in general)
Specific grades I have given have been raised by managers before grades were announced to the student
6.9
14.2
33.2
2.8
4.6
2.4
36.2
49.0
14.2
34.7
41.4
11.0
34.5
13.4
27.0
27.5
18.6
23.6
12.5
22.1
27.4
16.4
13.7
10.0
47.6
21.1
8.9
45.0
27.7
47.5
15.3
8.3
12.7
6.4
4.0
19.2
5.8
20.4
7.9
5.2
%
Strongly
disagree
%
Disagree
I spend more of my contracted hours carrying out teaching than research or administration
My teaching is a source of satisfaction to me
I find my teaching more rewarding than my research
My teaching is informed by my research
Teaching is the most important function of an academic
I prefer to give lectures, rather than smaller group teaching
Research is valued more than teaching at my institution
7.8
1.8
8.5
1.9
7.0
22.0
10.9
I have enough time to prepare lectures and seminars
There is too much administration associated with teaching at my institution
The quality of my teaching is assessed by my institution
It is possible at my institution to be promoted by virtue of good teaching
0
200
400
600
800
1000
Modern students are intellectually less able or less well prepared than they were in the past
15.0
18.8
27.6
26.3
12.3
Assessment standards in my institution are slipping
Recording lectures and making them available online helps students
Recording lectures and making them available online lowers attendance at lectures
15.7
8.9
5.6
29.6
18.1
19.6
21.9
23.1
29.4
21.0
37.0
28.4
11.8
13.0
17.0
5.6
14.5
41.2
32.0
6.7
I enjoy using social media to engage with students between lectures and tutorials
I often engage with students on social media outside office hours
11.0
30.1
18.4
26.8
32.1
19.6
30.4
18.2
8.2
5.3
I feel that I have to be constantly available to students via social media or email
17.3
25.3
12.9
29.3
15.2
NSS scores accurately represent teaching quality
The NSS improves teaching quality
The NSS gives students too much power
Students would be better served without the NSS in its current form
Students would be better served without the NSS in any form
The TEF will accurately assess teaching quality
The TEF will improve teaching quality
The TEF will improve the status of teaching
It is possible to comparatively assess students’ learning gain between entering university and leaving
university
The TEF should take into account a university’s proportion of HEA-accredited lecturers
50.9
45.1
6.0
1.7
7.7
50.9
43.9
29.0
11.3
31.2
28.4
18.8
7.1
27.3
24.4
20.0
18.7
20.5
11.1
14.3
31.9
22.9
33.2
20.4
24.4
23.3
26.2
6.0
10.9
23.7
33.8
15.1
3.7
10.5
24.5
36.0
0.8
1.3
19.6
34.5
16.8
0.7
1.3
4.6
6.1
18.5
16.4
24.3
27.8
13.0
Using social media to engage with students between lectures and tutorials improves learning
36 Times Higher Education 16 February 2017
THE RESPONDENTS: WHO TOOK PART?
PROFESSIONAL AND SUPPORT STAFF
%
Strongly
disagree
%
Disagree
%
Neither
agree nor
disagree
%
Agree
%
Strongly
agree
COUNTRIES
Australia 5%
European country 4%
US 3%
Other 2%
Canada 1%
Asian
country 1%
UK 84%
Research is valued more than teaching at my institution
Teaching is the most important function of an academic
Academics have enough time to prepare lectures and seminars
There is too much administration associated with teaching
The quality of teaching is assessed by my institution
It is possible at my institution to be promoted by virtue of good
teaching
6.7
3.8
8.6
0.0
2.9
18.1
21.0
29.5
42.9
17.1
15.2
31.4
9.5
19.1
16.2
21.0
10.5
13.3
33.3
36.2
31.4
41.9
50.5
28.6
29.5
11.4
1.0
20.0
21.0
8.6
GENDER
Female 59%
Male 41%
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
ROLE
Our students are well prepared academically for our level of
teaching
0
200
8.3
400
Our international students demonstrate an adequate level in our
institutional language of instruction
600
34.6
800
1000
18.9
32.7
5.5
1200
0
9.7
25.4
26.3
35.9
2.8
Our students regularly commit plagiarism
The majority of a student’s final mark should depend on a final exam
Modular assessment is a better aid to teaching than exams are
Students complain when they are set too much work
Students complain if their marks are lower than they expected
Academics are sometimes asked to mark more leniently (in general)
Specific grades awarded by markers are sometimes increased before
they are announced to students
Modern students are intellectually less able or less well prepared
than they were in the past
Assessment standards in my institution are slipping
Recording lectures and making them available online helps students
Recording lectures and making them available online lowers
attendance at lectures
Using social media to engage with students between lectures and
tutorials improves learning
11.5
33.2
0.9
0.5
0.5
17.5
20.7
35.0
46.1
9.7
10.6
10.6
30.4
25.4
27.2
11.1
16.1
16.6
14.8
25.4
36.4
21.2
8.3
54.4
61.3
57.6
21.2
14.3
5.1
1.4
18.9
11.1
16.6
5.5
3.2
13.8
28.1
29.5
23.0
5.5
12.0
2.3
5.1
35.5
10.1
28.1
24.0
19.4
23.5
22.1
49.8
29.5
6.5
18.4
13.8
2.3
13.8
35.0
39.6
9.2
Our academics often engage with students on social media outside
office hours
Academics should be constantly available to students via social
media or email
NSS scores accurately represent teaching quality
7.4
24.4
34.6
30.9
2.8
44.2
33.6
11.1
7.8
3.2
31.8
38.9
19.1
9.5
0.8
6.5
1.6
5.7
36.0
29.6
21.3
7.3
28.5
20.0
53.2
35.2
23.2
18.0
19.5
37.4
26.4
24.2
22.4
29.6
23.8
30.9
23.6
38.4
8.1
6.4
16.8
36.1
37.4
4.1
13.6
8.9
0.0
0.8
0.8
4.9
8.8
10.4
26.4
43.2
11.2
1200
0
200
400
The NSS gives students too much power
Students would be better served without the NSS in its current form
Students would be better served without the NSS in any form
The TEF will accurately assess teaching quality
The TEF will improve teaching quality
The TEF will improve the status of teaching
It is possible to comparatively assess students’ learning gain
between entering university and leaving university
The TEF should take into account a university’s level of HEAaccredited lecturers
600
800
1000
1200
Academics 90%
Professional and support staff 10%
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
UK INSTITUTION TYPE
pre-92 58%
0
200
post-92 42%
400
600
800
FACULTY
Creative arts 3%
Engineering and
technology 8%
Arts and
humanities
24%
Social
sciences
17%
Business and law 14%
Education 10%
Biological
and physical
sciences,
mathematics
12%
Medicine, veterinary
medicine, dentistry
and health 12%
16 February 2017 Times Higher Education 37