Towards quality teaching in higher education: pedagogy-focused academic development for enhancing practice

Academics are under increasing pressure to demonstrate effective teaching. However, teaching reforms are often more concerned with quality assurance than instructional improvement. This paper draws on qualitative data from academics at one Australian university to explore perceived impacts of an academic development program which used an evidence-based pedagogical framework, the Quality Teaching Model (QTM), to enhance conceptual understandings of quality teaching. Participants reported direct benefits to analysing practice, course planning, collegial collaboration, and improving the student experience. We argue that the QTM holds considerable potential for helping shift attention from managing quality to realising quality in higher education.