Teaching assessment in higher education: an investigation of current approaches

Nowadays universities and higher education institutions have three major functions: teaching, research and offering services to the society. Given the importance and economic, social, cultural and political role of universities in the society, it is vital to control their quality in order to avoid wasting funds and human resources and to safeguard their potential for competing in the future as quality is the most important component for the life of an organization.Therefore, to pay due attention to each of these functions is particularly important and would affect the efficiency of universities.Although it is repeatedly stated that teaching and research are equally important, however, in the process of selection, employment, and promotion of academic staff research activities are actually given priority over teaching in universities. Accordingly, indicators of higher education have exceedingly centered on research outputs overshadowing teaching. Several factors are responsible for such neglect, including overemphasis on student feedback questionnaires as the main source of information for teaching assessment despite various indications of their low reliability and validity.This paper aimed to explore contributing factors in undermining quality of teaching compared to research activities, as a result of the present procedure of teaching assessment primarily based on student feedback. It also discussed the criticism made against the current teaching assessment process as well as other factors responsible for such a malfunction that in turn have indirectly resulted in ignoring the quality of teaching in universities.