Course management as a source of comparative advantage

Abstract

Universities have to do more with less. We should explicitly target teaching productivity as well as research productivity. We can encourage mentoring, sharing best practice and cooperative teaching. We consider the division of labour and specialisation within teaching functions. There are gains from specialising according to comparative advantage: tasks are assigned where the opportunity cost is lowest. Against this there are increases in co-ordination costs. One specialisation is course management, i.e. managing the teaching process, (tutor/markers, student engagement, resources and marks). Effective course management is course-specific and imbedded in the teaching-learning process. Efficient marks management is an easily centralised specialist function. Appropriate IT is critical. The FoC Review of Teaching Support is a good starting point.