Time-Pressure in teaching and student counselling: does this affect the quality in higher education?

​One of the most noteworthy results from NOKUT’s national Teacher Survey, is that the time resource allocated to teaching and student counselling is viewed as insufficient by a significant portion of the respondents. These results are consistent across subject field and faculty affiliation. In this paper we identify possible causal factors underlying this negative assessment, and examine their potential negative impact on teaching quality. We have employed a mixed-methods approach, using both statistical analysis of survey data and qualitative interviews with teachers from higher education. Our findings indicate that, in several academic environments, time allocated to teaching and student counselling may not be sufficient to meet practical needs. This seems to be a key factor in the negative assessment of the time resource. Several developmental trends in higher education seem to underlie (and strengthen) this phenomenon. Though the quality in teaching does not seem to be directly affected by the experienced time constraints, there are indications that they may limit further development and innovation of teaching methods and practices.