Showing papers in "International Journal for Academic Development in 2016"
TL;DR: Higher education in the United Kingdom has rather lagged behind other countries in developing an interest in, scholarly research on, and realisation about the importance of student engagement as mentioned in this paper. This...
Abstract: Higher Education in the United Kingdom has rather lagged behind other countries in developing an interest in, scholarly research on, and realisation about the importance of student engagement. This...
511 citations
TL;DR: In an era where calls for accountability within higher education are becoming more predominant, post-secondary institutions are reconsidering the purpose(s) of higher education as discussed by the authors, and for students to lea...
Abstract: In an era where calls for accountability within higher education are becoming more predominant, post-secondary institutions are reconsidering the purpose(s) of higher education. For students to lea...
227 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a case study in teacher education in Sweden, focusing on creating spaces for student engagement through co-creating curriculum, highlights democratic values and a multidimensional learning view as underpinning such endeavors.
Abstract: This paper discusses a case study in teacher education in Sweden, focusing on creating spaces for student engagement through co-creating curriculum. It highlights democratic values and a multidimensional learning view as underpinning such endeavors. The main findings are that co-creating curriculum is an ambiguous process entailing unpredictable, thought-provoking, motivational, collaborative, and transformative aspects. The conclusion points to the importance of challenging traditional roles of students and teachers as well as organizational structures and regulations, and argues that academic developers have a vital role in supporting teachers in creating spaces for larger-scale student engagement initiatives.
73 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the experiences of staff and students engaged in a novel "student scholars" program established through a university teaching and learning institute in Ontario, Canada, and described the benefits and challenges perceived by individuals partnering through this initiative.
Abstract: This article presents the results of research that examined the experiences of staff and students engaged in a novel ‘student scholars’ program established through a university teaching and learning institute in Ontario, Canada. Drawing from participant reflections and focus group data, we describe the benefits and challenges perceived by individuals partnering through this initiative, using the theoretical framework of threshold concepts to understand these experiences. We describe ways in which participants experienced partnering as both troublesome and – in some cases – transformative, and consider the implications of these findings for academic developers engaging in and/or supporting faculty with the process of partnering with students.
72 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a special issue explores practices and research on student-staff partnerships, and considers the implications for academic development, highlighting the difficulty of moving partnership from theory to practice, and emphasizing the democratic values at the heart of partnerships.
Abstract: Cultivating student–staff partnerships through research and practice Student engagement is a central theme in higher education around the world. Over the last several years, student–staff partnerships have increasingly been portrayed as a primary path towards engagement. Indeed, Healey, Flint, and Harrington argue that ‘engaging students and staff effectively as partners in learning and teaching is arguably one of the most important issues facing higher education in the twenty-first century’ (2014, p. 7). This special issue explores practices and research on student–staff partnerships, and considers the implications for academic development. In higher education, partnerships between students and academic staff in learning and teaching can be understood as ‘a collaborative, reciprocal process through which all participants have the opportunity to contribute equally, although not necessarily in the same ways, to curricular or pedagogical conceptualization, decision-making, implementation, investigation, or analysis’ (Cook-Sather, Bovill, & Felten, 2014, pp. 6–7). Partnership practices vary widely across disciplines, institutions, and countries. This special issue reflects that diversity with articles from Australia, Canada, Sweden, and the UK. These articles highlight that partnership is an emergent practice that is often unfamiliar to students, staff, and academic developers (Bovill, 2014) – and that partnership does not always fit easily within existing cultures in higher education. A common theme throughout this special issue is the difficulty of moving partnership from theory to practice. In the first article, Marquis and colleagues evaluate a student scholars programme at McMaster University in Canada. The authors, including both students and staff, use the theoretical lens of threshold concepts to consider the troublesome nature of partnerships for all involved. This article is refreshingly honest about some of the challenges faced in this work, including when staff attempt to make space for student perspectives yet paradoxically leave students feeling less capable of contributing to the partnership. Woolmer, with student and staff colleagues at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, critically analyze their experiences when co-creating an undergraduate course that spanned a range of science disciplines. They underscore the importance of beginning partnerships by explicitly addressing the aims and intended processes of the work. At the same time, they stress that too much early attention to structure can stifle the development of authentic partnership. Bergmark and Westman, scholars in teacher education at the University of Luleå in Sweden, extend this consideration of processes by emphasizing the democratic values at the heart of partnerships. In common with other authors in this issue, they carefully consider some of the tensions in trying to encourage students to take on more responsibility for co-design when students report that it is ‘hard to give concrete suggestions on tasks when you have little knowledge about the subject’. Jensen and Bennett at the University of Huddersfield in England outline an interdisciplinary study of their student–staff partnership programme focused on enhancing dialogue about learning and teaching through observation of teaching sessions. The most successful of these partnerships, Jensen and Bennett conclude, ‘created space for conversation and collaboration, a liminal space where students and staff stepped outside normal roles and the traditional learner-teacher relationship’.
68 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that we are trapped in a positivist, new managerialist spiral of demonstrating the value of our work, or can we take the lead in reframing the discourse on how educational development proves its worth.
Abstract: Measurable targets, key performance indicators, value for money – whatever we may think of the ‘impact agenda’, it looks like it is here to stay. Are we trapped in a positivist, new managerialist spiral of demonstrating the value of our work, or can we take the lead in reframing the discourse on how educational development proves its worth? This paper suggests that how we gather and present evidence is currently not fit for the purpose of demonstrating the value of educational development to our institutions. The paper argues that reconceptualising ‘impact’ as ‘evidencing value’ could release us from inadequate or instrumental approaches to evaluation. Evidencing does involve measuring and evaluating, but it also acknowledges the role of judgement, experience, and contextual knowledge in determining what needs to be evaluated, and how. It allows us to reconfigure what can legitimately be included in our heterogeneous mix of evaluation data. Examples of frameworks which might support us in evidenci...
58 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a model for developing student and staff partnerships to enhance the quality of teaching and learning and situates the model in literature on student engagement is presented. But the model does not address the issue of student-teacher relationships.
Abstract: This paper explores a model for developing student and staff partnerships to enhance the quality of teaching and learning and situates the model in literature on student engagement. The model enables staff and students to step outside their normal roles and the traditional student–teacher relationship into a less pre-defined mode of interaction and liminal space where conversations about teaching and learning can take place. At the most transformative, this model enables academic staff to get a sense of learner perspectives and to view students as partners and collaborators while students develop insights into the perspectives of staff. The authors argue that the model represents an innovative approach to engaging students in a meaningful way in enhancing teaching and learning and has the potential to reframe the student–teacher relationship into a more collaborative one that goes beyond listening to students.
57 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a survey of over 1000 educational developers from 38 countries on six continents was conducted to help the field gain a clearer picture of itself at the international level, providing a profile of developers' demography, institutional locations, academic backgrounds, and current roles, and discuss the implications for educational development as a field and developers as a community.
Abstract: Educational development (also called academic or faculty development) has been described as fragmented, disconnected, and a ‘family of strangers,’ due mostly to the different academic backgrounds of its members. In this paper, the authors report on a survey of over 1000 educational developers from 38 countries on six continents. To help the field gain a clearer picture of itself at the international level, the authors provide a profile of developers’ demography, institutional locations, academic backgrounds, and current roles, and discuss the implications for educational development as a field and developers as a community.
52 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the relation between academic development, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and educational research is considered with reference to questions of academic identity and disciplinary expertise, arguing that as developers, we need to consider carefully the ways in which we frame how we approach attempts to foster reflective practice through the scholarship.
Abstract: This essay considers the relation between academic development, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and educational research. It does so with reference to questions of academic identity and disciplinary expertise, arguing that as developers we need to consider carefully the ways in which we frame how we approach attempts to foster reflective practice through the scholarship of teaching and learning. Rather than positioning SoTL as educational research, it may make more sense to approach it strategically as a means of development oriented towards more local levels of practice.
51 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the life history of a university academic and the ways in which he learned in different communities of practice during his career, and argue that both the external context and the individuals within the community impinge on learning.
Abstract: This article focuses on the life history of a university academic, and the ways in which he learned in different communities of practice during his career. This account raises questions about the applicability of situated learning theory to a knowledge-based organisation, and argues that both the external context and the individuals within the community impinge on learning. It suggests that the role of academic staff developers may vary depending on the CoP and should include developing networks, facilitation, providing relevant expertise, improving harmony within CoPs and harnessing the benefits of internationally dispersed CoPs.
45 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors demonstrate, through two UK-based institutional case studies, that a partnership approach provides an opportunity for staff and students where each appreciate the others' perspective and the barriers to learning are reduced.
Abstract: Many higher education institutions are adopting learning and teaching approaches that embrace ‘students as partners’. This can be met with trepidation by academic staff and students. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate, through two UK-based institutional case studies, that a partnership approach provides an opportunity for staff and students – where each appreciate the others’ perspective and the barriers to learning are reduced. We propose five learning points upon which academic developers might reflect and act in order to get to the very heart of how we might achieve and sustain partnership work.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an over-time, partnership approach to orientation and development presented in this article effectively supports new faculty as they develop their academic identities, including opportunities for dialogue and collaboration with students offered before new faculty arrive on campus.
Abstract: Addressing both the increasingly complex process of becoming an educator at the tertiary level and the growing recognition of the importance of student engagement, student–faculty partnerships have emerged as one way of fundamentally rethinking academic development. Participant reflections suggest that the over-time, partnership approach to orientation and development presented in this article effectively supports new faculty as they develop their academic identities. The approach includes opportunities for dialogue and collaboration with students offered before new faculty arrive on campus, as part of orientation before classes begin, during the first semesters of teaching, and in subsequent semesters.
TL;DR: In this article, a multidisciplinary lesson plan aimed at developing science skills for Physics and Astronomy, Geographical and Earth Sciences, and Chemistry students at a research intensive Scottish university is presented.
Abstract: This paper reflects upon the development of a multidisciplinary lesson plan aimed at developing science skills for Physics and Astronomy, Geographical and Earth Sciences, and Chemistry students at a research intensive Scottish university. The lesson plan was co-developed with a small group of staff and undergraduate students from these disciplinary areas. The authors discuss the rationale and process for developing the course, drawing upon literature relating to students and staff co-creating curricula in higher education. The authors conclude by offering suggestions for the academic development community about ways in which this kind of collaboration can be supported at local and institutional levels.
TL;DR: This paper examined the commonalities between a pre-established set of discourses about resistance to teaching development and views about teaching and learning in academics' comments on student evaluations of teaching, and the identification of commonalities are used to speculate about implications for academic development approaches both with teachers and institutions.
Abstract: Societal, governmental, and research expectations of universities in contemporary western society have led to increasing calls for teacher professionalism and accountability as well as research excellence and research-informed teaching. Consequently, demands on academic staff development continually emerge, which academics may view as oppressive. This paper reports research that critically examined the commonalities between a pre-established set of discourses about resistance to teaching development and views about teaching and learning in academics’ comments on student evaluations of teaching. The comparative study and the identification of commonalities are used to speculate about implications for academic development approaches both with teachers and institutions.
TL;DR: The UK Higher Education Academy offers accreditation aligned to the professional standards framework (PSF), which contextualises the role of teaching and supporting learning, and offers a mechanism for individuals' commitment to be recognized.
Abstract: The status of teaching and learning is an issue those providing and supporting higher education grapple with. The UK Higher Education Academy offers accreditation aligned to the professional standards framework (PSF). The PSF contextualises the role of teaching and supporting learning, and offers a mechanism for individuals’ commitment to be recognised. Here, we present a case-study of 19 established academics who reflected on their experiences of gaining recognition through their university’s accreditation scheme. Respondents prioritised institutional structures and outcomes such as student recruitment, job security, and status as drivers for engagement. Institutional leadership was significant in driving the accreditation agenda.
TL;DR: In the context of the Sydney Teaching Colloquium (SCTC) as mentioned in this paper, student ambassadors were engaged as student ambassadors to participate in and research the institution's learning and teaching conference.
Abstract: Engaging students as partners in learning, teaching, and curriculum renewal is driven by different agendas, and takes multiple forms. Although the research is clear on the ethical necessity of student participation in these efforts, the institutional challenges remain ongoing and writ large. This article offers an account of an innovative students-as-partners initiative at the University of Sydney, in which six undergraduates were engaged as student ambassadors to participate in and research the institution’s learning and teaching conference – the Sydney Teaching Colloquium. While students have regularly been sought out as contributors to, and representatives of, the student voice, the initiative marked a significant departure from the university’s tendency to rely on student feedback surveys and committee representation as its main institutionalised forms of student voice. Over four months, these student ambassadors worked with the central academic development unit to plan, execute, research, and...
TL;DR: The authors provides reflections on the growth and influence of educational development, and the changes in approaches to teaching in universities, and identifies some areas in which educational development and developers face challenges for the future, including educational technology, leadership and resistance to change.
Abstract: This essay provides reflections on the growth and influence of educational development, and the changes in approaches to teaching in universities. It also identifies some areas in which educational development and developers face challenges for the future, including educational technology, leadership and resistance to change.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider how, as part of their intercultural repertoire, teachers can benefit from developing an understanding of language, and, in particular, the general principles governing how we mean in language and the lingua-cultural variability that impacts upon the process of doing so.
Abstract: Higher education institutions around the world are educating an increasingly diverse student population. While this responds to government discourse around widening participation and the need to internationalise, and while it can make for a stimulating teaching-learning environment, it can also present teachers with certain challenges that demand greater intercultural competence. This article considers how, as part of their intercultural repertoire, teachers – and by extension, students – can benefit from developing an understanding of language, and, in particular, the general principles governing how we mean in language and the lingua-cultural variability that impacts upon the process of doing so. It proposes awareness-raising activities as a way of promoting such understanding.
TL;DR: In this article, a qualitative study of educational accessibility at one Canadian university was conducted and the authors made a series of recommendations for academic developers hoping to establish effective development initiatives focused on accessible teaching and learning.
Abstract: In light of the growing population of students with disabilities at colleges and universities worldwide, faculty development connected to accessible teaching is of paramount importance. Drawing from the existing literature and from the results of a qualitative study of educational accessibility at one Canadian university, this article offers a series of recommendations for academic developers hoping to establish effective development initiatives focused on accessible teaching and learning. Key issues considered include the need to support instructors in translating principles of inclusive teaching into practice, the value of discussion-based approaches that take up difficult questions about minimum standards, and the question of whether development initiatives should be discipline-specific or interdisciplinary, mandatory or optional. Recommendations for further research are also discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, a participatory, situative approach to engaging disciplinary academic teams in the internationalisation of the curriculum process is proposed, drawing on Star Trek and nomadic spaces.
Abstract: One consequence of globalisation is the demand on academics to better prepare students for work and life in an interconnected world through curriculum internationalisation. Many academics are hesitant, resistant, or ill-prepared to engage with curriculum internationalisation. This paper explores how this can be addressed by reconfiguring the way academic developers engage with academics within their teaching/program teams at the discipline level. Drawing on Star Trek and nomadic space, we theorise a participatory, situative approach to engaging disciplinary academic teams in the internationalisation of the curriculum process. We illustrate this from our work with teaching/program teams in two Australian universities.
TL;DR: The Continuous Development of Active Student Participation (CDSP) as mentioned in this paper project at Uppsala University is a co-led project between students and academic developers. But it is not a learning practice that is valid for students and teachers alike.
Abstract: The ‘Continuous Development of Active Student Participation’ at Uppsala University is a co-led project between students and academic developers. The group has forged a new kind of student–faculty partnership within academic development. Teaming academic developers with students to work together on improving higher education pedagogy is a critical aspect in this work as both perspectives are valuable and necessary in creating a learning practice that is valid for students and teachers alike. There is significant potential for this model to be implemented by universities elsewhere.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors highlight the potential for educators in such fields as teacher-training, nursing, medicine and other professional disciplines, to make better use of their daily work material in publication.
Abstract: A major challenge for higher education academics is to research and publish when faced with substantial teaching responsibilities, higher student numbers, and higher output expectations. The focus of this piece is to encourage publication more generally by educators, and to build publication capacity, which academic developers can facilitate. The author’s experience as a busy social work educator highlights the potential for educators in such fields as teacher-training, nursing, medicine and other professional disciplines, to make better use of their daily work material in publication.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that research-boosting advice should be "write every day" even during the busiest of teaching times, but this research boosting advice is not supported by empirical evidence.
Abstract: Numerous books, blogs, and articles on research productivity exhort academics to ‘write every day’ even during the busiest of teaching times. Ironically, however, this research-boosting advice hang...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the viva experiences of 87 social science PhD graduates from three Irish higher education institutions through a questionnaire that assessed outcome, preparation, conduct and post-viva.
Abstract: This study examined the viva experiences of 87 social science PhD graduates from three Irish higher education institutions through a questionnaire that assessed outcome, preparation, conduct and post-viva. The majority were awarded their PhD with minor corrections, considered their viva as a summative assessment, and emphasised its purpose as authentication, examination and defence. Most felt well prepared yet few had experienced a ‘mock viva’ or viva workshop. Even those with minor corrections identified aspects of the viva for improvement. The study recommends that academic development programmes should incorporate assessment literacy for PhD students and supervisors and the need for evaluation of graduates’ viva experiences.
TL;DR: In this paper, an analysis of the environment within which academics make decisions to invest in their role as teachers was conducted at the University of Cape Town, where a significant group of academics have found ways to assert their academic identities as teachers despite the possible consequences and risks that this position entails.
Abstract: It is often assumed that academics working in a research intensive university are unlikely to invest in the professional development of their teaching. Institutional structures and culture tend to undermine investment in academics’ teaching role. This study, conducted at the University of Cape Town, draws on an analysis of the environment within which academics make decisions to invest in their role as teachers. While acknowledging the privileging of research embedded in the institution, a significant group of academics have found ways to assert their academic identities as teachers despite the possible consequences and risks that this position entails.
TL;DR: This article developed a transnational curriculum design framework that synthesises knowledge about what impacts on curriculum design, which aims to help academic developers communicate complex educational concepts and foster international communities of practice, and guide cyclical implementation that is focused on achieving equivalent and quality educational outcomes for students regardless of their location across the globe.
Abstract: Transnational education is now essential to university international development strategies. As a result, tertiary educators are expected to engage with the complexities of diverse cultural contexts, different delivery modes, and mixed student cohorts to design quality learning experiences for all. To support this transition we developed a transnational curriculum design framework that synthesises knowledge about what impacts on curriculum design. This framework aims to help academic developers communicate complex educational concepts and foster international communities of practice. It guides cyclical implementation that is focused on achieving equivalent and quality educational outcomes for students regardless of their location across the globe.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider why academics on Continuing Professional Learning (CPL) programs often struggle with practice-based learning, and why they can find the reflective portfolio particularly challenging, and identify how convenors might build the trust required for participants to offer an authentic account of their practice.
Abstract: In this paper we consider why academics on Continuing Professional Learning (CPL) programmes often struggle with practice-based learning, and why they can find the reflective portfolio particularly challenging. We first argue that convenors should articulate the differences between ‘academic learning’ and ‘learning in academia’ for participants. Furthermore, in an environment where trust has been increasingly replaced by the monitoring of performance, CPL participants can find themselves on unfamiliar learning territory in conditions which are not conducive to risk-taking. We identify how convenors might build the trust required for participants to offer an authentic account of their practice.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the role of the SMART goal-setting framework in the Peer Assisted Teaching Scheme (PATS) and found that the proposed strategy can align with a variety of educational areas yet many were underdeveloped, or misaligned with the suggested strategy.
Abstract: The rapid changes facing higher education are placing increased focus on the quality of the student experience, achieving learning outcomes, and employability expectations. As a result, academics in teaching roles are increasingly measured on performance via student evaluations amplifying attention on professional development initiatives for academics. One such initiative is the Peer Assisted Teaching Scheme currently in practice across many Australian universities. The critical component of the scheme is the establishment of teaching goals that provide focus and direction for the peer partnership. This study addresses two questions: (1) Around which aspects do academics set their goals for teaching improvement? and (2) How do academics’ goals align with the SMART goal-setting framework that is prescribed in the scheme? Findings from five Australian universities showed that goals align with a variety of educational areas yet many were underdeveloped, or misaligned with the proposed strategy. The i...
TL;DR: This article sketch the International Journal for Academic Development (IJAD) first 20 years, its contents and concerns and staffing, and suggest future directions for both research and practice in academic development.
Abstract: This paper starts by sketching International Journal for Academic Development (IJAD’s) first 20 years, its contents and concerns and staffing. Suggestions follow on future directions for both research and practice in academic development. These suggestions build in particular, but not exclusively, on reviews of and projections for academic development by my fellow founding IJAD editor Chris Knapper in this issue, Graham Gibbs (2013), and David Baume and Celia Popovic (2016). Some thoughts on the future of IJAD are added.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors collected 15 case studies from Birmingham City University (UK) to display the benefits of staff and student partnership to encourage student engagement, and the case studies are split int...
Abstract: This book has collected 15 case studies from Birmingham City University (UK) to display the benefits of staff and student partnership to encourage student engagement. The case studies are split int...