Following damning criticism in the National Student Survey, attempts to improve the teaching experience at Edinburgh University have been announced, with plans to restrict the university's focus on research.

Vice-Principal Professor Jeff Haywood told students at the Annual General Meeting of the Edinburgh University Student Association (EUSA) that the university was taking seriously proposals put forward at the Student Representatives Council (SRC) earlier this semester. These ideas involved the improvement of teaching standards by cutting focus on research.

Professor Haywood told The Journal: “The approach is multipart, some of which is clearly to ensure that staff do the teaching they are assigned properly – and to a high standard – and that their research is not used to excuse low-quality teaching.”

He said that it was easier for staff to be rewarded for research-based work than for teaching, adding that the university needed to do more to encourage good consistent teaching over time: “We need to rectify this, for example, by having more about teaching quality on the university website, more funding for teacher development, more concentration on this in promotion and in appraisal, more general support for teachers as a community of professionals in the subject area, and more public praise by line managers for good work done.

“In general, we tend to believe that carrots are better than sticks at getting high-quality results rather than simple compliance. Sometimes one needs firm managerial action, but, in general, rewarding good behaviour is best.”

EUSA’s new teaching award scheme won support at the SRC earlier this semester after it was recognised that the university did not do enough to reward good teaching.

Following the publication of the Joint Future Thinking Taskforce Report last week, concerns have been voiced that the government’s commitment to funding research at universities means that these proposals are at loggerheads with Holyrood. Others, however, argue that a grassroots approach should be taken and that teaching should be equally as important as research.

The Taskforce Report mandates a new horizon fund which will “support specific incentive-based arrangements with individual institutions.” This funding path, which will be taken from the mainstream funds, could restrict investment in universities which do not focus on research and whose priorities are not, therefore, overtly in line with that of the government.

Professor Haywood said: “Teaching doesn’t have the same degree of freedom from government funding except where fees apply.”