Showing papers in "International Journal for Academic Development in 2003"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that academic developers have a key role to play in assisting universities to engage effectively in the design and development of more effective teaching and learner environments.
Abstract: Teaching and learning on campus takes place within specific physical settings that are integral to the process. The traditional, teacher‐centred and didactic instruction of universities has been embedded in the constructed environment of the campus, particularly the lecture theatres and other formal classrooms. However, these same facilities now threaten to impede the implementation of more student‐centred and flexible learning approaches being introduced in higher education worldwide. Recent attempts to create new teaching and learning facilities on university campuses have often resulted in celebrated architecture that has proved to be educationally problematic. What types of physical settings are required to support the teaching and learning processes emerging in higher education? This paper draws on the author's work in the field, and argues that academic developers have a key role to play in assisting universities to engage effectively in the design and development of more effective teaching and lear...
152 citations
TL;DR: The problem of continuing professional development of professionals in higher education is that it operates around a series of unresolved tensions: between higher education institutions as major providers for other professionals and as a relatively new provider in terms of its own professional development; between the prestige associated with continued professional development in the service of research and that accorded to learning and teaching as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The problem of continuing professional development (sometimes capitalised as CPD) of professionals in higher education is that it operates around a series of unresolved tensions: between higher education institutions as major providers for other professionals and as a relatively new provider in terms of its own professional development; between the prestige associated with continuing professional development in the service of research and that accorded to learning and teaching. These problems are compounded by a tendency to regard professional or staff development as comprising only those sorts of activities that are formally recognised. Rather than attempting to resolve these two tensions, the paper argues that problematising our conceptions of continuing professional development can open up space for debate. The paper re‐visits some of the recent history of CPD in order to pinpoint some of the contradictions. This allows new questions to emerge: for example about whether the multiple practices of contin...
75 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reflect on their experiences of being academic developers and suggest how our profession might advance in the future, focusing on academic development and how we can support our clients more effectively.
Abstract: In this paper the authors reflect on their experiences of being academic developers and suggest how our profession might advance in the future. Our inquiry focuses on academic development and how we can support our clients more effectively. We propose that the profession of academic development should aim for academic status with many more research‐active staff contributing to its knowledge base. If this profession were located within the already recognized research field of higher education, we believe a number of potential benefits could accrue. These include a new level of professional standing, greater efficiency in our universities and a more substantial academic development community. Our thoughts and arguments on the nature of our work are framed within a discussion of professional identity, knowledge and academic freedom.
50 citations
TL;DR: In terms of teaching practice, developing a positive capacity for continuous improvement may involve deep change with the potential to threaten the core values and personal belief systems of staff and the students whom they teach as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Achieving change at any level of educational activity is not easy. In terms of teaching practice, developing a positive capacity for continuous improvement may involve deep change with the potential to threaten the core values and personal belief systems of staff and the students whom they teach. Recent theorising and discussion concerning conceptions of teaching and learning is an acknowledgement that the task of achieving change and the role of change supporters is not just a pragmatic one. This paper considers some of the issues faced by academic staff developers attempting to transform teaching practice. The author draws upon late twentieth century philosophy and extensive theorising about educational and organisational change with a view to suggesting this literature's potential to support the work of change supporters, such as academic staff developers.
46 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report on research in progress on a Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education and Training course offered at Rhodes University in South Africa and highlight some important questions that have arisen on the ways in which the theoretical framework of the course has or has not met the needs of diverse groups of lecturers within the specific South African context.
Abstract: The changing context of higher education both internationally and in South Africa has presented challenges to lecturers that have led in some institutions to the introduction of accredited professional development courses for academics. Such courses for university lecturers are relatively new in South Africa. This paper reports on research in progress on a Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education and Training course offered at Rhodes University in South Africa. It highlights some important questions that have arisen on the ways in which the theoretical framework of the course has or has not met the needs of diverse groups of lecturers within the specific South African context. A central theme of the course is that of the critically reflective practitioner. Lecturers are encouraged to explore the ontological and epistemological underpinnings of their disciplines and to examine the philosophical assumptions of their espoused theories about teaching and learning as well as their teaching practice. The t...
37 citations
TL;DR: Learning-centred education (LCE) has the potential to meet the diverse needs and circumstances of a multidisciplinary faculty cohort enrolled in a certificate program on teaching and learning by engaging participants in a learning community, and by drawing upon a wide range of appropriate teaching strategies to facilitate learning and development of student abilities as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Learning‐centred education (LCE) has the potential to meet the diverse needs and circumstances of a multidisciplinary faculty cohort enrolled in a certificate programme on teaching and learning by engaging participants in a learning community, and by drawing upon a wide range of appropriate teaching strategies to facilitate learning and development of student abilities. Action research design was employed to examine the theory‐practice relationship of LCE within the UBC Faculty Certificate Programme on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Research data, both quantitative and qualitative, collected over a 12‐month period, suggest that a multidisciplinary faculty cohort exhibits diverse learning styles, and that individual faculty members are at different stages in developing a scholarly approach to teaching and learning. Furthermore, data suggest that LCE can be used to organise a faculty certificate programme around teaching and learning issues relevant to university faculty and that some structurin...
35 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore an approach to academic development that focuses on developing and using research as a means of understanding the complexity of teaching and learning within specific discipline environments, which shifts the attention of the academic developer from the enhancement of teaching using traditional methods such as workshops, formal courses, or in-faculty curriculum and assessment advice, to encouraging and supporting participant research on learning and teaching.
Abstract: In this paper we explore an approach to academic development that focuses on developing and using research as a means of understanding the complexity of teaching and learning within specific discipline environments. This approach shifts the attention of the academic developer from the enhancement of teaching using traditional methods such as workshops, formal courses, or in‐faculty curriculum and assessment advice, to encouraging and supporting participant research on learning and teaching, and disciplinary‐based research. Focusing on research development gives academics the opportunity to develop their teaching scholarship, prepare publishable work, and cultivate teaching and learning practices that are aligned with their specific discipline environments. We discuss the philosophy of this approach to the enhancement of academic work through the synergy between teaching and research. We illustrate our discussion with some recent examples in which we have used this approach successfully.
28 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an individual teaching development program based on the tenets of solution focused brief therapy (SFBT) is presented for a lecturer of a large third-year subject in an Australian university.
Abstract: Universities commonly use individual teaching development as one of a suite of strategies to improve teaching and learning outcomes. This paper outlines an individual teaching development programme based on the tenets of solution‐focused brief therapy (SFBT). The programme was trialled with a senior lecturer of a large third‐year subject in an Australian university. The approach resulted in evidence of positive changes in teaching. The potential and wider application of this approach is considered.
22 citations
21 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a study of how academic development units use on-line technologies for academic staff development is described, concluding that in most contexts the World Wide Web was considered useful for the administrative rather than the educational needs of academic staff.
Abstract: This paper describes a study of how academic development units use on‐line technologies for academic staff development. Changes in technology and in the academic workplace are making it increasingly possible to use on‐line learning opportunities for professional development, and on‐line learning environments might thus be expected to provide opportunities for university teachers to reflect on their teaching practice and share these insights and experience with colleagues within and across disciplines. The study reported here reviewed 31 web sites in Australia and the UK to determine what range of aims of academic staff development where being met in their implementation of on‐line learning. The paper concludes that in most contexts the World Wide Web was considered useful for the administrative rather than the educational needs of academic staff.
17 citations
TL;DR: The Tutor Training Network (TTN) as mentioned in this paper is an effective strategy for wholesale staff development to support institution-wide implementations of policy or changes in practice at the University of Queensland.
Abstract: As part of the 1997–1999 Teaching and Learning Enhancement Plan, the University of Queensland mandated that all its academic departments should conduct tutor training The University's academic development unit, TEDI (the Teaching and Educational Development Institute) designed a network‐based staff development strategy for the development of departmental staff designated as tutor trainers The strategy was known as the Tutor Training Network (TTN) This paper describes the strategy and reports on an evaluation of the Network programme The data show that although it was very successful, the network‐based strategy has a limited lifespan Nonetheless it is an effective strategy for wholesale staff development to support institution‐wide implementations of policy or changes in practice
TL;DR: In this paper, an interactive training program for beginning faculty is presented, which is based on the principles of full recognition of the subjective theory of the faculty and establishing an equal relationship between the teacher and the student.
Abstract: The evaluation of a first step implementation of an interactive training program for beginning faculty is presented. The training program is based on the principles of full recognition of the subjective theory of the faculty and establishing an equal relationship between the faculty and the trainer.To evaluate the actual implementation of the model questionnaires on the implementation of the two principles, participants’ reactions to the training and fulfilment of expectations towards the training were used. The results of the training are assessed with questionnaires on the learning of the participants, their expected use of knowledge and skills, their expected development and a pre and post measurement of instructional beliefs. The results show that the interactive model of faculty training was implemented and seems appropriate for training beginning faculty. The goals of the training were attained, except for directional change in instructional beliefs of the faculty. It is hypothesised that global cha...
TL;DR: In this article, beginning lecturers and teaching assistants' instructional beliefs were measured in order to prepare faculty development initiatives at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium).
Abstract: A large body of research findings reveals that teachers’ beliefs are an important variable to consider when designing faculty development initiatives. Consequently, beginning lecturers’ and teaching assistants’ instructional beliefs were measured in order to prepare faculty development initiatives at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium). In order to adjust these initiatives to the specific needs of the participants, we wondered whether these beliefs differed according to discipline or teaching experience. Two research questions were formulated: