Academic work: Perceptions of senior academic administrators

This article reports on selected findings of the first stage of a qualitative study of academic work in Australian universities. This stage examined the perceptions senior academic administrators from the humanities, sciences, social sciences and professional areas hold of the work roles of academics. The article presents their perceptions of ‘research’ and ‘scholarship’ and the link between the two, as well as the interrelationships between research, scholarship and teaching. The findings show a high level of consensus and coherence in the views presented. The article examines possible reasons for such a unanimity of perception and raises further questions for investigation.     

Transforming academic practice through scholarship

In the context of the fast changing university, how are academics to grow the capacity to cope with continual change and what can academic/faculty developers do to assist them? The paper first establishes the context of higher education as a challenging environment. It then reviews ideas about scholarship and explores the application of these ideas to university study of students and academics. It examines the role of the scholarship of teaching and learning in developing the capacity for critical reflection and then applies these ideas to academic practice more generally. Finally, the implications for academic development are addressed.

Dans un contexte de mutation rapide de l’université, comment les universitaires parviennent‐ils à développer la capacité à faire face au changement continuel et que peuvent faire les conseillers pédagogiques pour les aider? Cet article décrit d’abord le contexte de l’enseignement supérieur comme un environnement rempli de défis. Il examine ensuite des idées liées à l’érudition (scholarship) et explore l’application de ces idées à l’étude universitaire des étudiants et des universitaires. L’article examine le rôle joué par le scholarship of teaching and learning dans le développement de la capacité de réflexion critique et applique ensuite ces idées à la pratique académique de façon plus générale. Finalement, les implications pour le développement pédagogique sont présentées.     

The dimensions of academic scholarship: Faculty and administrator views

Faculty and administrators responded to 32 activity statements related to scholarship on a frequency basis and on the characteristicness of the role. Approximately 1,000 faculty members in 24 colleges and universities and 55 administrators from 5 of the schools participated. Factor analysis revealed 6 dimensions of scholarship — professional activity, research (publishing), teaching, service, artistic endeavor, and engagement with the novel, the last being a new conception, one valued highly by both faculty and administrators in all types of colleges and universities. Significant differences appeared with respect to faculty and administrative views on the importance of research in regional universities.     

Perceptions of rewarding excellence in teaching: motivation and the scholarship of teaching

This article explores the challenges presented in using the scholarship of teaching as a model of teaching excellence when devising an appropriate approach to reward. It argues that the complexity of staff motivation has to be addressed by a critical evaluation of institutions' commitment to the scholarship of teaching. An expectancy model of motivation drawn from organizational behaviour literature is suggested as an approach to analysing the distance between espoused commitment to the scholarship of teaching and academic staff perspectives. The context of the discussion is set against the background of the UK Government's approach to funding incentives to promote reward for teaching excellence in higher education and the literature related to practices employed in HEIs. The views of academic staff drawn from seven focus groups across all subject areas in one institution demonstrate the need to take account of the motivation process and the need to have a shared understanding of what constitutes excellence.     

高中生成就动机与学业情绪、学业成绩的关系研究

为探讨高中生成就动机与学业情绪、学业成绩的关系,采用问卷对285名高中生进行调查.结果显示,趋近动机(Ms)与积极学业情绪和学业成绩呈正相关,且对两种积极学业情绪和学业成绩均有正向预测作用,对消极低唤醒学业情绪有负向预测作用;回避动机(Mf)与积极学业情绪和学业成绩呈负相关,而与消极学业情绪呈正相关,并能正向预测消极低唤醒学业情绪,负向预测积极低唤醒学业情绪和学业成绩.积极低唤醒情绪和消极低唤醒情绪在成就动机和学业成绩之间起部分中介效应,积极高唤醒情绪只在趋近动机和学业成绩间部分中介效应.     

Silent escalation: salaries of senior university administrators in Ontario, 1996–2006

The real compensation of senior university administrators in Ontario has increased by over 43% in the last decade. The escalation is especially pronounced for presidents and provosts: their pay has risen by 63% in real terms between 1996 and 2006. These trends have been evident in universities of all types, for both genders and for professional as well as non-professional faculties. Besides documenting this hitherto unnoticed phenomenon, we explore the determinants of this escalation. Increased university size, and the consequent complication of administrators’ duties undoubtedly plays some role in the increase, though it likely does not explain all of it. Increased competition in the market for senior administrators may be contributing to the escalation, as may heightened rent-seeking behaviour.     

Perceptions of assessment in a senior physics class

Students' responses to assessment tasks are likely to be affected by a range of factors including teaching approaches, the nature of the curriculum, the nature of the assessment task, socialising influences, and perceptions of the teacher's assessment objectives. This paper describes the perceptions of assessment practices held by senior physics students and their teacher in one Brisbane school. The nature and rationale for these practices were inferred from an examination of school documents. Congruences and dissonances between and within these indicators of physics assessment practices in the school are explored, with particular reference to gender. Specializations: science education, science teacher education, physics education.     

The scholarship of teaching: A comparison of conceptions held by experts and regular academic staff

Over the past decade the scholarship ofteaching has received considerable attention inthe higher education literature as a reactionto the widely cited Carnegie Foundation'sreport ``Scholarship Reconsidered'; however, theconcept has remained devoid of a unifieddefinition. A recent Delphi study conductedwith a selective group of scholars whoseexpertise lies in the area of universityteaching and learning indicated the extent towhich these ``experts' agreed with each other onimportant features and unresolved issues theyassociate with the scholarship of teaching. Building on the results of the Delphi study,the present article discusses the results of asecond survey comparing these ``experts' 'conceptions with those of a larger group ofscholars whose expertise lies in a differentacademic field (``regular academic staff'), inorder to identify the similarities anddifferences in the conceptions of thescholarship of teaching held by each of the twogroups. While regular academic staff werefound to associate the scholarship of teachingmore with good or effectiveteaching ``experts' pointed to notions such aspeer review and scholarly standards. Thediscussion of the results focuses on the notionof consensus reached within and betweenthe two groups. It is argued that in order topromote changes in policy with respect to whatis to count as scholarship, identifying andreporting ``experts' ' conceptions, thoughclearly necessary for promoting moreenlightened discussions on the issue, willremain insufficient. Policy change in academeis more likely to ensue as a result of thewider academic community reaching consensus onthe meaning, and nature, of the scholarship ofteaching. The wider academic community includes``experts', as well as colleagues in departmentsand disciplinary associations. The articleconcludes by exploring the notion of consensusthrough the lens of critical social theory.     

The hiring of academic administrators since the 1972Higher Education Guidelines

With the announcement of the 1972Higher Education Guidelines, colleges and universities were mandated to expand recruitment activities beyond the usual network approach. The intent of theGuidelines was to broaden the search process with the ultimate goal of placing more candidates from underrepresented populations. The purpose of this study was to determine if any change occurred in hiring practices and, particularly, if any change occurred in the hiring of candidates from underrepresented populations for select academic administrative positions in four-year colleges and universities as advertised in theChronicle of Higher Education during the period from 1972 to 1976. It was found that changes in recruitment had taken place but that changes in hiring appeared not to have occurred.     

The quality of scientific scholarship and the “graying” of the academic profession: A skeptical view

The results of a number of citation studies have been utilized to support the view that the graying of the academic profession will have no impact on the quality of work produced in various scientific disciplines. This conclusion is challenged. It is argued that citations may not indicate the most innovative and creative work, that age may be negatively related to the creation and reception of innovative work, and that the age structure of a scientific community may have an impact on the ability of innovative work to be produced and accepted.     

高中生学业成绩及相关因素的研究

本研究采用分层随机抽样方法,对五所高中各年级学生进行考试焦虑、学习方法及其它相关因素的测量和调查;对１４０５个有效样本进行了统计处理,发现学习方法、考试焦虑程度影响学业成绩;父母的职业、母亲的化程度对学生的学业成绩有影响;家庭经济收入、是否独生子女与学生的学业成绩无关;任学生干部累计年限越长,学业成绩优秀率越高。     

International engineering students—avoiding plagiarism through understanding the Western academic context of scholarship

Despite the best attempts of academic staff to teach students the mechanics of citation, the rules of referencing continue to be broken, particularly by those new to Western university systems (either first-year undergraduate students or international students from different cultural backgrounds). In late 2003, 16 postgraduate international engineering students failed an assignment as a result of plagiarism. In response, collaboration between the lecturers and the learning support staff over three years yielded significant improvements in academic scholarship. The improvement in performance was achieved by making cross-cultural assumptions about academic scholarship in the Western context explicit, while putting in place additional workshops for students. Instead of focusing on policy, remediation and punishment, staff worked to foster an understanding of critical scholarship in the Western academic context. The approach also demonstrated the benefits of partnership between engineering faculty and learning support staff.     

Perceptions of the prevalence and seriousness of academic dishonesty in Australian universities

Academic dishonesty is a fundamental issue for the academic integrity of higher education institutions, and one that has lately been gaining increasing media attention. This study reports on a survey of 1206 students and 190 academic staff across four major Queensland universities in relation to student academic misconduct. The aim of the survey was to determine the prevalence of academic misconduct, and to investigate the extent to which perceptions of dishonesty are shared between students and staff, as preliminary steps toward developing effective strategies to deal with the academic dishonesty/misconduct problem. Results indicate a higher tolerance for academic misconduct by students in comparison to staff, particularly with respect to falsification of research results and plagiarism, as well as considerable underestimation by staff of the prevalence of virtually all forms of student academic misconduct. Overall, the study’s findings confirm the significance of the issue of academic dishonesty within the Australian tertiary sector, indicating considerable divergence between students and staff in terms of perceptions of the seriousness and prevalence of student academic misconduct. We suggest that university administrators need to examine this issue closely in order to develop mechanisms for managing and curtailing the level of academic misconduct, since a failure to do so may lead to a further undermining of the academic integrity of the Australian tertiary sector.