Conference Themes - What do they tell us?

Over the past five years there has been a proliferation of conferences related to teaching and learning in higher education. In Australasia there has been a dramatic growth in local, national and international conferences, workshops, forums, seminars and symposia. These activities have been sponsored by individual institutions, by professional societies and by private commercial providers. They have been attended by senior university administrators as well as front-line academic practitioners. Themes range from the most generic (e.g. Different Approaches: Theory and Practice in Higher Education, HERDSA, Perth, 1996) to the more specific (e.g. Improving Student Learning Through the Disciplines, Oxford Brookes University, 1999).

Reviewing conference themes from the past three years does reveal some common threads. Over this period approximately 50 conferences related to teaching and learning in higher education were publicised locally. These events were located in Australasia and other parts of Asia, North America, the UK and mainland Europe, and South Africa. Quality, IT, improving student learning, assessment, the impact of change and a focus on the discipline appear to be six relatively common ideas around which recent conferences have been organised. Technology, now much more closely linked to pedagogical imperatives (e.g. Technology in Teaching and Learning, 22nd International Conference on Improving University Teaching and Learning, Brisbane, 1999), has provided much of the focus. The more generic focus on quality (e.g. 11th International Conference on Assessing Quality in Higher Education, Manchester, 1999), and what it means in teaching and learning, while prominent, seems to have almost had its day. Improving Student Learning through the Disciplines (7th International Improving Student Learning Symposium, York, UK, 1998) highlighted an international trend towards a greater focus on various facets of student learning including the realities of learning in a particular discipline. The discipline focus is also evident in a staff development context through Supporting Educational, Faculty & TA Development within Departments and Disciplines (International Consortium for Educational Development in Higher Education Conference, Austin, 1998). Assessment appears to get a prominent place in the US, with the annual American Association for Higher Education assessment conference (e.g. Assessment as Evidence of Learning: Serving the Student and Society, Colorado, 1999). A focus on change is a theme one might expect. Various aspects of change are in evidence, from Global Issues & Local Effects: The Challenge for Educational Research (AARE - NZARE Conference, Melbourne, 1999), to Capacity-building for Quality Teaching and Learning in Further and Higher Education (Bloemfontein, South Africa, 1998), to Teaching and Learning in Changing Times (Teaching and Learning Forum, Perth 1998). Much of the change focus has been on internationalisation (e.g. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Advancing International Perspectives, Adelaide, 1997).

So what does all this tell us? Could it be a time for themes such as 'back to (or even forward to) the basics', or perhaps 'good teaching (using IT or whatever) means good learning', or perhaps even 'Higher Education - good wine needs no bush'!