Operationalisation of Higher Education Teaching Performance (HETP): recognising and rewarding teaching as a part of science is enabled by Open Scholarship

Abstract

Higher Education Teaching Performance (HETP) refers to academics’ performance in university teaching, including the design of teaching concepts, the implementation of courses, and the preparation and assessment of examinations. Although teaching is a central element of academic life and closely connected to research in the Humboldtian tradition, the academic Recognition & Reward System (RRS) primarily values research achievements, which are often measured through quantitative indicators. As a result, teaching performance remains less visible and less rewarded, potentially reducing incentives for high-quality teaching and risking a decline in educational quality. This thesis addresses this imbalance by aiming to make HETP more visible within the RRS through the operationalisation of teaching performance into measurable indicators. From an educational science perspective, the thesis explores how open scholarship—particularly Open Educational Resources (OER)—can contribute to this goal by increasing the visibility and measurability of teaching outputs. To this end, the thesis includes a mapping review of open scholarship indicators and discusses the development, applications, and limitations of quantitative approaches such as OER statistics, concluding with a synthesis of findings and an outlook for future research.