Author
Paul Ashwin
Professor of Higher Education, Lancaster University
I am a Professor of Higher Education and my research interests are focused on the relations between teaching-learning and knowledge-curriculum practices in higher education. I am also interested in the relations between these practices and higher education policies as well as the relations between theories and methods in research into higher education. The kinds of questions that I explore in this research include: What counts as high quality teaching and learning in higher education? How is this positioned in policies and practices? How do we research and theorise these competing notions of quality?
12 pieces
Newest first, since December 2015
· Comment
Back to the future for the TEF? Back to school for OfS?
OfS is again flirting with the idea of linking tuition fees to TEF outcomes – a proposal that, as Paul Ashwin argues, is as unworkable now as it was a decade ago.
· Comment
Ventriloquising the student interest
Paul Ashwin argues that the Office for Students’ proposed strategy puts government priorities into the mouths of students
· Comment
The independent review of the OfS gets its completely wrong on quality
Paul Ashwin remains profoundly unconvinced by the the Behan review prescription on regulating quality and standards
· Comment
Rank hypocrisy – how universities betray their promises on responsible research assessment
It is time for universities to stop the nonsense of participating in flawed university rankings exercises, argue Paul Ashwin and Derek Heim
With Derek Heim
· Comment
What use is TEF to applicants?
There’s a danger in the way TEF is presented to applicants. Paul Ashwin spots the warning signs.
· Comment
What’s the future for the TEF – and how might we shape it?
A laser-like focus on enhancement would improve the TEF dramatically, argues Paul Ashwin
· Comment
Can OfS help level up the country?
Is OfS the right regulator for the times we live in – and if not, how could it better serve students? Andy Westwood, Paul Ashwin, Syahadah Shahril, Johnny Rich and Joy Elliott-Bowman have ideas
With Andy Westwood, Syahadah Shahril, Johnny Rich and Joy Elliott-Bowman
· Comment
The government’s response to the Pearce review of TEF doesn’t do justice to it
The government’s failure to seriously engage with the Pearce review’s proposals sets the TEF on a course towards irrelevance, argues Paul Ashwin.
· Comment
Higher education is transformative – it should be open to all
Marking publication of his new book Transforming University Education: A Manifesto, Paul Ashwin argues that universities must be for more than the academic elite.
· Comment
Policymakers claiming the NSS is driving down standards should get their own house in order
The government has announced a major review of the National Student Survey. Paul Ashwin questions the assumptions behind the review.
· Comment
Knowledge is power: the purpose of quality teaching
Quality teaching is about transforming lives. Paul Ashwin argues that excellent teaching leads to students acquiring powerful knowledge.
· Analysis
Three muddles that will undermine the TEF
Higher education professor Paul Ashwin sets out three muddles in the design of the TEF as set out in the Green Paper, which will undermine some of the good aspects of what the policy is trying to achieve.