Ant Bagshaw ant@apwb.uk @antbagshaw Learning Gain in Context: where does it fit in the turbulent world of HE policy? Ant Bagshaw ant@apwb.uk @antbagshaw

Learning Gain in Context A crisis of standards? Jobs = Money = Quality What’s the current/future relationship between research and policy The multifaceted nature and purpose of higher education leads to a breadth of conceptions of learning gain. Combining useful approaches from across the projects leads towards understanding learning gain as a change in knowledge, skills, workreadiness and personal development, as well as enhancement of specific practices and outcomes in defined disciplinary and institutional contexts.

What’s the context? A Higher Education sector that is ever more competitive and more fragmented; across providers, also the UK’s four systems Universities ”on the wrong side of history”, [perceived as] not performing ideologically, economically, socially Generally poor value for money (individual and collective taxpayer); “too many people go to university”

“I’ve spoken before about the need to ensure that students get a quality education in return for the investment they make. If the perception grows that universities are offering threadbare courses, or prioritising getting bums on seats over quality, the credibility of the HE sector as a whole will suffer… “This is why we have pushed ahead with the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework and Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset. And it is why I have been vocal on issues like the growth of unconditional offers, mental health on campus and the rise of essay mills.” Sam Gyimah September 2018

A crisis of standards? Grade inflation Unconditional offers Loss of confidence in autonomous universities’ ability/willingness to delivery robust standards

Reform June 2018

UCAS July 2018

Jobs = Money = Quality TEF: conflation of “Learning Gain” with employment outcomes and salary (+ further study) Provider can supplement the metrics, but the principle is set; LEO will dominate future perceptions of quality Insufficient evidence of added value by universities (impact of background, region, labour market etc.)

“Learning Gain” in TEF DfE October 2017

What’s the current/future relationship between research and policy Is Learning Gain (well-defined) too complex for policymaking? Post-Hefce, is there mandate, competence, appetite and budget for improving policy through research? What can/should researchers, universities, policymakers do about it? The multifaceted nature and purpose of higher education leads to a breadth of conceptions of learning gain. Combining useful approaches from across the projects leads towards understanding learning gain as a change in knowledge, skills, workreadiness and personal development, as well as enhancement of specific practices and outcomes in defined disciplinary and institutional contexts.

Learning is non-linear Learning is non-linear. This challenges simple approaches to learning gain as ‘distance travelled’ between points A and B; Context is all important. In our research, subject level was a more significant differentiator, methodologically and in terms of outcomes, than the institutional level; Student Engagement is incredibly challenging. We know students are ‘over-surveyed’ and ensuring their commitment and engagement in research of this kind has required persistence and facilitation. If the sector is going to take up learning gain approaches on a large scale, this has to be embedded in curriculum design. Methodological rigour is essential. LEGACY used a variety of methodological tools and techniques from small scale interviewing to large scale data tracking. However, we will better understand ‘learning gain’ if we integrate this with the impacts of broader institutional practices and cohort experiences. LEGACY September 2018

Learning Gain in Context There are serious standards questions for the HE sector to answer LEO will dominate views of quality, getting alternatives accepted will be difficult Onus on the sector to initiate/deliver research for policymaking, shouldn’t hope for too much from DfE/OfS The multifaceted nature and purpose of higher education leads to a breadth of conceptions of learning gain. Combining useful approaches from across the projects leads towards understanding learning gain as a change in knowledge, skills, workreadiness and personal development, as well as enhancement of specific practices and outcomes in defined disciplinary and institutional contexts.

Ant Bagshaw ant@apwb.uk @antbagshaw