ABSTRACT
Neither ‘evaluation’ nor ‘quality’ are currently well-defined, universally accepted terms in university teaching. Evaluation may refer to anything from the normal everyday formative feedback and self-criticism which teachers tend to do automatically, to the rigorous summative teacher assessment used in some institutions and countries to inform decisions on promotion, performance related pay and tenure. In North America ‘evaluation’ also refers to the assessment of students. Quality is also difficult to pin down in teaching. It may be viewed from the different perspectives of a range of stakeholders: students, teachers, institutions, employers, government, public and so on. It is also multi-dimensional, depending on the range of purposes attributed to the teaching and its outcomes by each of the stakeholders. It follows that any discussion of the evaluation of the quality of teaching will be contentious, at best. I will try to make my points clearly, so that you at least know what it is you are disagreeing with.
