Staff Self‐Appraisal at the Departmental Level: A Case Study

The introduction of academic staff appraisal in higher education institutions in Australia will require a considerable expansion in staff development facilities. An important issue will be the relative emphasis to be placed upon central staff development units as against structures at the faculty or departmental level. This case study, conducted at Macquarie University and aimed at improving teaching in higher education, explores the Self‐Appraisal Workshop as one such structure and suggests that it provides a very useful format at the faculty or departmental level because it brings together people teaching similar course units. As a result it is easier to integrate aspects such as curriculum design, assessment policies, academic content and teaching methods, than it is at the central level where staff development workshops usually have a cross‐faculty mix. An evaluation, based upon student ratings of teaching, interviews and staff reflection on the process, suggests that the Self‐Appraisal Workshop is a valuable technique for staff appraisal and development.     

Peer partnership to enhance scholarship of teaching: a case study

This paper reports on the outcomes of a peer partnership program trialled at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia. The program was designed based on a community of practice methodology to bring together academic staff for the purpose of advancing teaching practice. The program encouraged professional and supportive environments for the purpose of critical reflection and personal development. The belief was that quality teaching is core business and vital to university organisational goals. Peer partnership programs support improvement in teaching and learning. Participants in the program reported the program enhanced their commitment and insight into teaching and that there is willingness to be involved if supported by colleagues and an organisation. Feedback from participants in the program was positive and outcomes arising from the QUT Peer Partnership Project were the development of an online peer partner tool-kit, staff development training, an instructional DVD and integration of the project goals within QUT staff development programs.     

Learning Problems of Overseas Students: Two Sides of a Story

Research into the nature and extent of problems faced by overseas students in Australia is based almost entirely on surveys of this population either by staff of support services or by or on behalf of policy making bodies. The nature of educational difficulties ‐‐ ‘language’ and ‘study’ problems ‐‐ is still relatively unknown, however it has been explored to some extent by study skills counsellors and teachers of English as a second language. Little is known about perception of these problems by academic staff. This paper describes learning problems of overseas students as seen by the academic staff at the University of Queensland and compares them with the perception of learning problems held by overseas students. Academic staff (145) representing 50 departments, and 136 overseas students representing 14 courses at postgraduate level and 10 courses at undergraduate level responded to questionnaires identifying educational problems and suggesting possible solutions.     

Peeking under the covers: on‐line academic staff development in Australia and the United Kingdom

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.     

澳大利亚昆士兰大学教学情况初探

考察澳大利亚昆士兰大学的教学情况－师资队伍、教学评估以及淘汰机制等，可为我们的教育管理、教学改革提供有益的借鉴。     

Teaching Educational Administration externally at post‐graduate level at the University of New England

The North American origins and the subsequent development in Australia of educational administration as a field of study are described briefly.? The close links between the development of the field itself and the development of the external mode of study are explored with particular reference to the key role in both developments played by the University of New England. The external teaching of the University's Master of Educational Administration degree, which requires both coursework and research, is considered in detail. The views of academic staff on the process and problems of supervising research and thesis writing by external students are reported and discussed.     

Freedom and control in higher education: Who needs a policy?

The question posed in the title refers to policy for the professional development of academic staff. The answer is considered in five parts with reference to (a) staff associations; (b) university councils; (c) university departments; (d) individual staff; and (e) students.Policies and professionalism are discussed with reference to experiences in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the U.K. A professional development policy is considered to be a prerequisite for in-service programmes for academic staff, for evaluation of academic performance and career related decisions. Members of a profession should accept responsibility for the practice of the profession.In particular, detailed reference is made in the Appendix to the history of the preparation of a policy for the professional development of academic staff by the New Zealand Association of University Teachers.     

Collaborative Staff Development

This article discusses a facilitative and collaborative model of teaching development in higher education. It explores the effectiveness of such a model in the light of the staff (faculty) development literature and the authors' five years of experience in its application through the TRAC (Teaching, Reflection and Collaboration) network facilitated by the Academic Staff Development Unit (ASDU) at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia.Denise C. Scott received her B.A. and M.Ed.St. from the University of Queensland and is a Lecturer in Teaching and Learning (Higher Education) at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia (QUT). She coordinates the TRAC (Teaching Reflection and Collaboration) Network for the Academic Staff Development Unit at QUT and has a particular interest in the role of collaboration and interaciton in learning. Patricia A. Weeks received her Ph.D. from Queensland University of Technology in the area of Professional Development, and she is a Senior Lecturer in the Academic Staff Development Unit at QUT. She coordinates the Graduate Certificate in Education (Higher Education) offered to lecturers at QUT and also teaches a unit within the course entitled The Reflective Practitioner. She consults on issues related to teaching and learning, and her special interests are in action research, narrative inquiry, and models of reflective practice.     

Participatory evaluation: implications for improving electronic learning and teaching approaches

This paper examines the participatory approach used by a group of academic support staff in evaluating an academic professional development resource designed to support e‐learning and teaching. The resource, titled Designing Electronic Learning and Teaching Approaches (DELTA), showcases examples of electronic learning and teaching approaches developed at Monash University, Australia. The evaluation included individual and collective reflection, dialogue and action, drawing on the features of participatory action research. This paper explores the value of this critically reflective, participatory approach for evaluation to improve the use of new learning technologies, demonstrating how it provided a clear decision‐making framework for iterative improvement of the DELTA site by identifying consensus items for action and recording other items for later consideration, while also contributing to team members’ own professional development.     

The work of an academic: Jack of all trades,or master of one?

Abstract

This paper stems from conversations between the authors who recently came to work together in staff and educational development. Having pursued different academic careers in Higher Education (HE), we questioned whether we had a common understanding of our academic community. In particular, we discussed two aspects. First, the extent to which our different disciplinary backgrounds influenced our perspectives on academic practice and our attitudes and approaches to staff and educational development. If we held different views on academic practice, how many other variations were we likely to encounter? Second, we felt it important to be sensitive to the needs of our colleagues in terms of their practices. The research that emanated from our discussions began with an empirical study, reported in this paper. We explore tensions between the various work activities performed by academics at the University of Sheffield. Eighty staff maintained a diary over a specified week early in the academic year 1997‐98. They recorded time spent on the activities of research, teaching, administration, external work, and professional development. Biographical data, including staff grade, length of service in HE, and length of service at the University were collected via a questionnaire attached to the diary. It would appear that the majority of academics surveyed support a role in both teaching and research, with a preference to spend more time on research at the expense of administration but not at the expense of teaching. These empirical data help us to understand more about the role of academics in changing times, and how we, as staff and educational developers, might become more effective and efficient.     

Using organisational theory in the promotion of evaluation — a case study

This paper discusses the use of organisational theory in a research and development project at the University of Queensland. It focuses on the introduction of a student evaluation of teaching scheme for feedback purpose and for use in annual appraisals, as well as for tenure and promotion decisions. It is a case study of planned change introduced into a traditional university within the framework of the literature on change, university systems and the academic profession. The paper demonstrates that organisational theory helps (a) to clarify the context and the conditions which facilitate introduction of change in a traditional university, and (b) to evaluate strategies to initiate and implement change. When the student evaluation of teaching system was developed and first promoted in Semester 2, 1982, 37 staff members had their teaching evaluated. Since then it has grown to a regular evaluation of teaching in over 300 class sessions, with 150–200 staff members participating each semester, and about 15,000 students returning questionnaires. This makes it a unique scheme in Australian universities.     

A peer-assisted teaching scheme to improve units with critically low student satisfaction: opportunities and challenges

This paper outlines a peer-assisted teaching scheme (PATS) which was piloted in the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University, Australia to address the low student satisfaction with the quality of information and communication technology units. Positive results from the pilot scheme led to a trial of the scheme in other disciplines. The trial was supported by an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Teaching Fellowship grant. Specifically, this fellowship was designed to (a) improve the quality of student satisfaction within identified units and (b) build leadership capacity using currently recognised outstanding teachers. PATS builds on the current research that highlights the benefits of peer-assisted learning programmes and draws on Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and Lave's situated learning literature but applies it to academic teaching staff. Data are collected via unit evaluation instruments and focus group sessions. The effectiveness of the scheme is measured via changes in unit evaluation ratings and a thematic analysis of the focus group data. Results show an overall improvement in student satisfaction of the quality of units and highlight both the opportunities and challenges PATS provides academics for teaching improvement.     

Monitoring the Use of a Staff Student Liaison Committee for Feedback in Quality Engineering Education

The paper explores the use of a staff student liaison committee (SSLC) as one of the mechanisms for assuring quality in civil engineering education. The School of Civil Engineering at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia, is used as a case study. The school has a SSLC which meets about six times per year and has representatives of all undergraduate courses and some academic staff. It was thought that the SSLC was well regarded by staff and students and contributed to the learning experience of students within the school. A questionnaire was used to ascertain the views of staff and students regarding the effectiveness of the committee in promoting good quality education. The findings indicated that the SSLC was playing an important role, but that it was not as well regarded as academic staff thought, and that many students were not fully aware of its activities. The school has used the findings to adopt new methods of distributing information to the student body and for ascertaining student opinion, principally electronically.     

How academic is academic development?

University provision for academic development is well established in the USA, UK and many other countries. However, arrangements for its provision and staffing vary. In Australia, there has been a trend towards professional rather than academic staff appointments. Is this appropriate? In this paper, the domains of academic development work are explored and roles that are essentially academic in nature – and those that are not – are identified. Upon investigation, the current staffing balance in Australian central units appears appropriate, but a further move to increase the proportion of professional appointments in central Australian academic development units would be counter-productive.     

Academic Adjustment: The Other Side Of The Export Dollar

Asian students bring to Australia a very different educational and intellectual experience from that which awaits them in tertiary studies here. Traditional attitudes to knowledge and styles of learning can lead to severe problems of intellectual culture shock, especially in approaches to knowledge and academic authority. If these students are to make a successful adjustment to the styles of teaching and learning in Australia, they need specific assistance in methods of study and language development. Academic staff may also have to recognize these problems of transition by adapting their own styles of teaching. If in the course of their studies here these students do not become capable of independent thinking and a critical approach to their area of expertise, they may not be able to adapt their new knowledge to the needs and constraints of their home country on their return. This paper is based on the experience of the Study Skills Unit at the Australian National University in working with postgraduate and undergraduate overseas students, and on two extended study tours in Southeast Asia and Burma to gain understanding of the cultural and educational backgrounds of students from this region. It draws attention to the need for academic institutions to provide adequate support systems for any increased intake of overseas students.     

Influence of improved teaching practices on student satisfaction ratings for two undergraduate units at an Australian university

To track the quality of instruction delivered at the University of Western Australia, the university surveys all units using its Students’ Unit Reflective Feedback (SURF) metrics, and faculties use these metrics to benchmark student satisfaction. Consequently, teaching staff are actively encouraged to adopt teaching practices that will increase the average levels of these metrics. Using a ‘before-after’ approach, we compared these metrics before and after the implementation of improved teaching practices that addressed specific weaknesses identified through student responses for two undergraduate units. Despite the implementation of improved teaching practices, SURF scores did not increase significantly for the two units assessed, due possibly to the components of the academic programme covered by the SURF questions, the field-based nature of the units, and the difficulty in measuring an increase in the SURF scores of units which already score highly. This poor sensitivity of the SURF metrics to the implementation of improved teaching practices could have implications for their use for performance assessment by the university.     

Promoting a culture of scholarship among educational developers: exploring institutional opportunities

Educational developers tend to be located in centres and units of teaching and learning outside the academic mainstream. They have little opportunity to engage in scholarship. Through an overview of the literature on educational development and educational professional roles and responsibilities, the author suggests that promoting a culture of scholarship among educational developers will contribute significantly towards their pedagogical professional development. It will enhance the quality of professional consultation between educational developers and academic staff in the faculties. The discussion concludes with suggestions for implementing innovative strategies to promote a culture of scholarship within the higher education academic mainstream.     

Evaluation of a networked staff development strategy for departmental tutor trainers: benefits,limitations and future directions

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.     

关于加强高等特殊教育师资队伍建设的几点思考

论述了加强现代化高等特殊教育院校的师资队伍建设的重要性,指出要强化先进的特殊教育理念、先进的现代教育技术、良好的特殊教育师德三种素质,培养学术大师、教学大师、“双师型”教师三种人才．树立以人为本、教学为本、持续发展二三种观念。