When academics integrate research skill development in the curriculum

This study considered outcomes when 27 academics explicitly developed and assessed student research skills in 28 regular (non-research methods) semester-length courses. These courses ranged from small (n?=?17) to medium-large (n = 222) and included those from first year to masters in business, engineering, health science, humanities and science, across five universities in three Australian cities. The two-year study used three data sets to determine the outcomes of development and assessment initiatives: student pre- (n?=?779) and post-questionnaires (n?=?601), interviews with students (n?=?46) one year after completing a course that developed research skills and interviews with academics (n?=?17) involved in developing and assessing student research skills. These multiple sources provided evidence that students developed a variety of discipline-specific research skills and that these skills were useful for subsequent studies and especially for employment. Academics indicated that the process of making explicit the development of student research skills led to enhancement of their teaching, helping the academics to clarify major course purposes as well as enabling them to provide more substantial feedback to students than in the past. Academics also indicated that this teaching process changed their understanding of disciplinary research and, for some, even suggested new directions in their research.     

What makes an excellent lecturer? Academics’ perspectives on the discourse of ‘teaching excellence’ in higher education

ABSTRACT

In the context of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), we examine academics’ perspectives on the discourse of ‘teaching excellence’ based on an empirical study with 16 participants from five post-1992 universities. The article reports the findings on academics’ views of the term and concept of ‘teaching excellence’, examples of what ‘teaching excellence’ may look like in practice, whether a distinction between ‘good’, ‘good enough’ and ‘excellent teaching’ can be made, and the measurability of ‘teaching excellence’. The research findings suggest we need a more nuanced inclusive interpretation of ‘teaching excellence’ which recognises the conjoined nature of teaching and research in higher education, and also rebalances a focus on outcome-related measures with understandings of purposes and development of the processes of learning.     

Struggling to handle teaching and research: a study on academic work at select universities in the Chinese Mainland

In order to raise the international reputation and quality of higher education in China, the Ministry of Education initiated new university employment reform, which pressed academics to produce more research. Recent employment reform has aggravated the conflict between teaching and research. This study uses mixed methods to investigate how academics perceived the employment reform and how they employed various strategies to handle teaching and research. Our study indicates a trend of deprofessionalization in academic work and an increasing tension between teaching and research. Handling teaching and research required a strong and conscientious effort on the part of academics. Concerted efforts should be made to offer a more supportive environment for academics to balance teaching and research.     

Wikipedia and the University,a case study

This article discusses the use of Wikipedia by academics and students for learning and teaching activities at Liverpool Hope University. Hope has distinctive aspects but we consider the findings to be indicative of Wikipedia use at other British universities. First we discuss general issues of Wikipedia use within the university. Second, we examine existing research on Wikipedia use amongst students and academics. Based upon a sample of 133 academics and 1222 students, our principal findings were: (1) 75% of academics and students use Wikipedia; (2) student use is typically confined to the initial stages of assessments; (3) a quarter of academics provide guidance on how to use Wikipedia and (4) 70% of academics use Wikipedia for background information for teaching purposes, something that it is not influenced by whether student use is tolerated or not. Our conclusion is that whilst Wikipedia is now unofficially integrated into universities, it is not ‘the’ information resource as feared by many and that an enlightened minority of academics have attempted to assimilate it into their teaching.     

Theory and practice in a science education course for elementary teachers

In this action research work, I analyze the theory–practice integration in teacher preparation within the context of a science and technology (S&T) education teaching methodology course aimed at future elementary teachers. The course was designed, developed and evaluated taking into account this relationship as one of its axes. The results reveal that the proposal favors progress in theory–practice integration and stimulates the students’ reflection and research. By means of a written report and an oral presentation, the students communicated their reflections on S&T teaching in the context of their concomitant professional practice. They also collected and presented resources and activities they found useful for teaching, practiced the use of certain educational S&T kits, and looked for and shared S&T pieces of news from different mass media. They additionally conducted a school learning project simulation and reflected on it. Besides, they prepared three written essays about theoretical–practical assigned readings and discussed them. In this paper, I refer to achievements and difficulties that emerged during the process, relating them to other research findings in the area and to theoretical considerations. Finally, I make proposals for further efforts in this field.     

Teaching is … opening up spaces to explore academic work in fluid and volatile times

Universities are built upon the collaborative work of academic staff and students, yet the nature of this work has been undergoing profound and rapid change. Pressures within Australia’s higher education sector have led to a fracturing of traditional academic roles and growing feelings of disconnection. While there have been many narrative, ethnographic and autoethnographic explorations of academic work, few studies have employed visual arts-informed methodologies to interrogate the ways in which academics represent their teaching, research and community engagement work. In this article we outline findings about academics’ views of their teaching work. These findings surfaced from an arts-informed participatory research project, that sought to open up a space for (re)presentations of academic work. With a focus on teaching, three through lines emerged during the analysis: voicing absences and resistances; initiating layers of reflexive moments and expressing complexity through collage. We argue that the academics’ responses allow us to trace the emotional terrain of contemporary academic work. They also open up ways to unpack, express and make visible academics’ complex thoughts, feelings and ideas about teaching practices.     

The Ethical Function of Research and Teaching

Abstract

It is the epistemic as well as the ethical responsibility of academics to aim to approach their research and teaching with a proper understanding of the ultimate ethical purpose or telos of their defining activities and products,which is the practical aim of promoting human flourishing. Minimally, academics should aim at understanding, and a key component of understanding is to understand the ideal ethical purpose of what is being researched and taught. For instance, sadistic Nazi medical researchers and teachers—Mengeles of sorts—in addition to having reprehensible commitments,would be significantly ignorant about their own intellectual concerns by virtue of their abject (belief-expressing) commitments. I will show that insights drawn from extreme cases such as this one apply across disciplines and in less extreme cases.     

Praxis,educational development and the university sector in Australia

In this article, we utilise recent theorising on praxis and educational development to explore how academics in universities can foster public, institutional and more personal development, even as they are challenged by what are sometimes described as more ‘managerial’ and ‘neoliberal’ conditions. The research draws upon a variety of sources of data, including publicly available correspondence on the university sector in Australia, interviews with colleagues, and personal reflective journals. These data reflect three instances of educational praxis development in the Australian university context, and at three scales/levels: nationally; unit-wide (university/faculty/institute); and sub-unit/individually. The findings reveal such development in the form of: academics using mainstream media to inform the general public about the nature of university industrial relations and funding at a national level; junior and senior academics collaborating and engaging in mentoring practices to build institutional research capacity at a university/institutional level; and, individual academics meeting to develop individual teaching practice. Through explicating the characteristics and value of educational development for and as praxis, we provide resources for hope for better understanding how the work of universities, including their broader mission to inform the public, might be enacted more educationally.     

Media relations and universities: an assessment of digital newsrooms

Reviews of editorial practices and academic studies have shown that journalists often rely on organization websites—and online newsrooms in particular—to inform news stories. Yet, at a time when many academics are called upon as experts by the media, university newsrooms have been ignored. To fill this gap, this study assesses newsrooms of universities to determine whether they are providing adequate resources to cover the institution or identify experts. Previous research demonstrated higher ranked Fortune 500 companies have more comprehensive newsrooms, potentially putting them at an advantage when it comes to news coverage. To better understand whether disparities exist among the top US institutions, this study features a content analysis of the newsrooms of the top 202 universities ranked by U.S. News & World Report. Findings show that although higher ranked universities typically feature more comprehensive newsrooms, universities at all levels are missing opportunities to provide journalists with information necessary to cover the university, thus limiting visibility to outside stakeholders. The most common features were internally written news stories and links to social media. Resources specifically for journalists were less common. Assessing newsrooms is valuable because they influence media coverage, which can improve credibility and perceived external prestige.     

Research,Teaching and Scholarship in an Expanding Higher Education System 1

It is argued that, basically, academics engage in three activities: teaching, research and scholarship, and that the activity of scholarship must be recognised and separately funded. The concept of scholarship is derived from its historical roots, according to which it supports both teaching and research, but is extended to support all activities in which academics engage. This makes it possible to develop an expanding system of higher education in which all academic activities are appropriately recognised and rewarded and which can operate with significantly lower unit costs than has been the case in the past. However, the need to provide funding for scholarship puts a lower bound to acceptable unit costs.     

A collegial quality development process for identifying and addressing barriers to improving teaching

ABSTRACT

Challenges to ensuring teaching quality in higher education give ongoing impetus to invest in teaching quality improvement. While a significant body of literature has recognised challenges faced by academics seeking to improve teaching practices, processes for developing constructive responses to identified barriers have attracted less attention. A synthesis of literature on barriers to improvement of teaching is presented and used as a framework to assist an identification of barriers. This article reports on a national Australian trial of a collegial quality development process aimed at supporting academics to both identify and surmount barriers to improving teaching quality. Evidence of the nature and extent of barriers to improving teaching was collated from data provided by 28 academics across five Australian universities. Adopting a thematic analysis approach, a broad range of perceived barriers were identified, largely consistent with barrier categories defined in the extant literature internationally. Findings reveal that, with the support of peers, participants were able to implement effective solutions to their identified barriers to improving teaching quality. This article provides a synthesis of current barriers to improve teaching and offers a collegial quality development process as a strategy to overcome these barriers.     

The balance between teaching and research in Dutch and English universities in the context of university governance reforms

The expectations and demands with respect to teaching and research have been changing for universities due to changes in their institutional environments. Born out of changing national research policies and modern governance arrangements, efficiency, effectiveness and output-oriented cultures have become increasingly important. In this article we ask the question of what the consequences of these changing institutional environments are for the teaching-research nexus as experienced by academics at universities. We explore the changing practices of teaching and research in eight research units in research-led universities in England and The Netherlands. The sources of our empirical investigation are documentary evidence as well as interview data from 48 academics in biotechnology and medieval history. Our findings suggest that teaching and research are increasingly falling apart as two distinct activities. Success or failure in research acquisition and performance assessments has serious implications for the work portfolios in terms of teaching and research load of the research units.     

Towards a methodology to determine standard time allocations for academic work

An online survey of workload activities was circulated to academics across Australia seeking estimates for the time to undertake a range of academic-related tasks associated with teaching, research and service. This article summarises the most important findings from the teaching data of the 2059 respondents. This detail of workload data has not been reported before across the Australian university sector. The findings showing that most academics work more than 50 h per week are consistent with previous studies. Although the estimates of the individuals varied greatly, statistical inquiry indicated the median time required does not vary by experience and online teaching generally requires more preparation time than on-campus teaching. The paper proposes this methodology as a credible means to derive realistic time-based standards for other aspects of academic work and will assist university managers by providing an external benchmark upon which to develop local academic workload models.     

The Academic Work Environment in Australian Universities: A motivating place to work?

This paper identifies positive (motivating) and negative (demotivating) sources of academic work motivation in Australian universities. In 1998, the Academic Work Environment Survey (Winter, Taylor, & Sarros, 2000) was administered to a stratified sample (five positions, five disciplines) of 2,609 academics in four types of university (research, metropolitan, regional, university of technology). A total of 1,041 usable surveys were returned (response rate of 40 per cent). Across the sample, academics reported moderate levels of work motivation. Work motivation was found to be relatively strong at professorial levels but weak at lecturer levels. Quantitative and qualitative findings indicated the work environment in academe is motivating when roles are clear, job tasks are challenging, and supervisors exhibit a supportive leadership style. The work environment is demotivating where there is role overload, low job feedback, low participation, and poor recognition and rewards practices. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of study findings for university leadership.     

Professors' Views on the Influence of Arab Society on Science and Technology

This study investigated types of societal agents and the nature of their influence on Science and Technology (S&T) from Arab University professors' standpoint. Thirteen items from VOSTS instrument, developed by Aikenhead, Ryan, and Fleming (1989), were modified and used in this study. Five more items were developed by the researcher to meet the purpose of the study. The instrument was administered to 64 university professors at the Faculties of Science, Engineering, Agriculture, Medicine, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Education. The results showed that out of the four societal agents (government, the private sector, the public at large, and culture) identified by McGinn (1991) the first and the last have the most potent influence on S&T in the Arab world. The study also found that the influences of the Arab culture on S&T have positive and negative nature. Positive influences are cultural, political or economic. Positive cultural influences are: the promising role in reviving ijtihad ³ to encourage researchers to study and understand nature, the placed emphasis by Islam on the importance of pursuing knowledge, and international competition. Political and economic positive influences are the Arab people's intent to be in position equivalent to developed cultures regarding S&T and Arab states efforts in preparing researchers in different areas. Negative influences are also cultural, political, or economic. For example, forcing taqlid ⁴ in different aspect of life is a damaging cultural influence. Political and economic negative influences include little or no research funding, bureaucracy, heavy dependence on imported scientific and technological products, and brain drain. The study recommended the following: (1) to revive the concept of ijtihad to encourage developments in S&T; (2) to provide children with adequate conditions and resources to acquire good background in S&T in a way that considers students' world view; (3) to ensure enough financial resources for instituting S&T; (4) to empower Arab universities to participate effectively in instituting S&T; and (5) to unify Arab states efforts to establish a strategic plan for instituting S&T.     

Women and professional development in higher education: A search for understanding

Abstract

Participation in professional development related to teaching is higher for female academics than for male academics at the University of Canberra. There is some evidence that this trend is widespread although variable across different universities and professional development activities. Various explanations are suggested as to why this occurs, including: that more teaching in universities is done by women than men; that women are naturally more committed to teaching than men; that structural inequities cause women to be more concentrated in the lower academic ranks and, therefore, more involved in teaching‐related activities; that women more than men believe professional development is important to enhance their teaching practice; that they are less confident in their academic role than men; that they feel more alienated and isolated in their work environment; and, that they are seeking role models and mentors. The paper explores these various explanations and suggests that a combination of factors probably causes the observed differential participation by women in professional development activities. What is more important than a search for explanations is an acknowledgment of the need to value and reward such behaviour. The paper concludes with an argument for valuing women's emphasis on teaching and their continued involvement in professional development related to teaching.     

Do organisational commitments matter in teaching approaches among academics in elite universities in Beijing?

This research investigated the statistical predictive power of organisational commitments for academics’ teaching approaches. Participants were 268 academics working in six elite universities in Beijing, mainland China. Results showed that academics’ organisational commitments as measured by the Organisational Commitment Inventory significantly predicted their teaching approaches as assessed by the Approaches to Teaching Inventory – beyond gender, age, taught academic discipline, academic rank and type of institution. Limitations and theoretical contributions of the study are noted; and practical implications of the findings are discussed in relation to academics and university senior managers.     

An early career academic network: what worked and what didn’t

This article documents the experiences of three early career academics trying to establish a network of early career academics (ECAs) in a middle-ranked university in Australia. The changing context of academia means that ECAs face considerable challenges in understanding and negotiating effective career paths. Some of the issues encountered include insecure employment arrangements; unclear and shifting expectations; heavy workloads and competing demands; and conflicting experiences around the collegiate culture of academia. As research and teaching institutions, universities must ensure the ongoing development of new academics. While there is a growing interest in exploring the issues confronted by new academics, much remains to be done to better understand, and improve, the pathways of academic development. To this end we reflect on our efforts to establish an ECA network that aimed to enhance professional development, facilitate an improved research culture and establish an informal peer support network. We did so through establishing an online presence for sharing information, hosting a series of professional development seminars and hosting a 2.5 day writing retreat. Our experiences suggest that, while efforts to enhance the capacity of ECAs are worthwhile, the very same pressures that our network was attempting to address were simultaneously creating barriers to ECA involvement in the network and its activities.