Effective University Teaching and Learning

University teaching and learning has been a contentious issue for many decades. This was largely due to the tension between the predominant functions of universities, namely, research, teaching, and service or leadership (Dewar, 2002). Traditionally, research has been perceived by academics as the more prestigious activity due to its potential to contribute to the knowledge base, build scholarly reputations, and to acquire research funding. An additional factor in lowering the priority of teaching was that many universities maintained promotion criteria which privileged research output over that of teaching. These factors highlight the realities with which university administrators and faculty within academic development centres have been contending. University administrators are now faced with a changing context. There are more students and more diverse students accessing higher education due to the increasing expectation of employers for skilled and qualified staff. With the reduction of funding to universities students have been expected to pay higher fees. This has produced a consumer or client orientation whereby entering university studies has been perceived to be a transactional (user pays) rather than an educationally transformational relationship (Scott & Dixon, 2008; Dixon & Scott, 2008). Many universities have encountered the phenomena that students perceived payment of fees as a guarantee of academic success within their courses, rather than viewing it as an access to educational opportunities (Scott & Dixon, 2008; Dixon & Scott, 2008). This has placed academics in an invidious position whereby they feel pressured to pass students even in cases of poor performance. There are also other pressures on faculty.