In Search of Staff Development: A study of academic staff appraisal

The academic award restructuring of 1991 established a trial period for academic staff appraisal for the purposes of staff development. The trend in Australia towards more formal performance management for academics has occurred during a period of substantial change to the structure of higher education and institutional management, and brought debate on whether appraisal, for either summative purposes (where performance assessment is for remuneration or promotion purposes) or formative purposes (where the emphasis is on planning personal development), is appropriate for academic staff. Arguments have been put forward for the benefits of appraisal processes with primarily developmental intent. Thus far there have been reports of the characteristics and processes of appraisal schemes, but less data on outcomes; in particular, little evidence to indicate the extent to which schemes lead to worthwhile staff development. This paper reports selected findings of a study of the evolving appraisal scheme of The University of Melbourne. The study was conducted after the scheme's second year of operation by the Centre for the Study of Higher Education which played an advisory role in an internal review of the scheme. The findings reveal some uncertainty among staff about the intentions of the scheme, and tensions between summative and formative purposes, perhaps not surprising given the contentious issue which staff appraisal has been in higher education. Nevertheless, positive outcomes were identified, but possibly too few to claim that the scheme was fully achieving a developmental objective. These findings raise questions about the effectiveness of academic staff appraisal nationally and suggest that it is time to reconsider the policy linkage between appraisal and staff development.     

Research and the academic developer: A new agenda

This paper argues that there is a need for academic developers to reassess their relationship to research, and suggests that research has to come centre stage in the practice of staff, educational and∧or academic development. The paper discusses the reasons for this and considers the implications for academic development practice. It begins with a discussion of some trends that signal the growing importance of inquiry for higher education. It highlights the important role that research and scholarship are coming to have in preparing students for a society characterized by uncertainty, complexity and plurality. It is argued that developers must become involved in this and that, if they are to be taken seriously in the future, they must become credible as researchers. Different models of the relationship between research and teaching highlight the role of developers in moving teaching and learning forward in a higher education context where teaching and research are more closely allied. Finally, the paper considers what developers need to do to prepare for the challenges lying ahead. In the argument, examples from the author's own practice are used to illustrate developers' changing agendas.     

On becoming an academic developer: A personal journey

Abstract

Academic Development is a diverse and complex profession that is becoming an increasingly important aspect of higher education, albeit that in general terms it is not necessarily highly enough valued at institutional and departmental levels. To raise the profile of the profession it may be tempting to provide a narrow definition of the nature of Academic Development and the appropriate credentials of the ‘Developers’. Such a move could stifle the creativity and the diversity of skills that exist within the profession and that render it problematic to define. However, to place value on our chosen field it is important for Developers to work towards a shared conception of Academic Development as a unique profession. The intention of this paper is to contribute to the dialogue and discussion of this issue through critical reflection on my personal journey into this profession. While some of the issues raised by Andresen (1996) relating to the nature of Academic Development, pathways to credibility within the profession and issues relating to accredited programmes for Academic Developers are addressed, it is important to state that this paper is limited to reflections on my own journey, which I consider to be neither unique nor ordinary, into the profession.     

Concepts of change: enhancing the practice of academic staff development in higher education

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.     

Outsourcing academic development in higher education: staff perceptions of an international program

Increasingly, higher education support services are being outsourced. Our case study was of a program from a global, USA-based, non-profit organisation. From in-depth interviews, we investigated staff perceptions of academic development workshops and the efficacy of outsourcing to a transnational tertiary-support program. We found that interviewees valued the academic development. They believed greater consideration should be given to cultural differences between exporting and importing countries; to evidence-based assessment of, and institutional leadership support for, the program; and to discipline-based and tertiary-level skills. Our preliminary findings may inform university management about improved approaches to outsourcing academic development to international commercial providers.     

Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable: a narrative account of becoming an academic developer

This article uses a narrative retelling of my journey to academic development to offer a new insight into induction initiatives: alongside a critical commitment to student learning, new academic developers need to build an informed and scholarly ‘idea of the university’. As universities renew focus on teaching and learning, student retention, and success, there is a corollary increase in new academic developers. Newcomers need a full picture of the field; induction that focuses on the narrow institutional context and aspects of best practice is unlikely to fully prepare new academic developers for tensions they may encounter.     

The instructional designer as a staff developer: A course team approach consistent with the Concerns‐Based Adoption Model

This paper draws upon contingency theory to support a flexible eclectic approach to staff development in distance education. The approach utilizes the Concerns‐Based Adoption Model focussed towards developing instructional design skills in academic staff. Strategies are described for lecturers in each of the seven stages of concern. For the staff development procedures to be effective, it is argued that study materials development should take place within an infrastructure which involves the writer(s) and an instructional designer in a team. Perhaps, the main message of the paper is merely that flexible eclecticism is a desirable approach to staff development — and contingency theory offers that concept — and staff developers need to be mindful of differing staff attitudes — some of which are identified by CBAM.     

Beyond Student Evaluation of Teaching: Identifying and addressing academic staff development needs

Student evaluation of teaching is a commonly accepted means of obtaining feedback on the quality of university teaching. However, its usefulness in contributing to improved teaching performance is dependent on the extent to which staff respond to and apply the information obtained in this way. This paper reports the results of a project designed to extend the application of student evaluations by using them as the basis for staff development. Survey findings from 87 staff and 127 students indicate the priorities for academic and course development perceived by each group. Booklets based on these perceived needs were developed by collaborative staff-student groups and made available to enable staff to improve their teaching in response to student evaluations.     

A case study of academic staff integration in a post-merger Chinese university

The aim of this study was to discover and better understand through a case study, the phenomenon of academic staff integration in a post-merger Chinese university. The analysis was undertaken by using a cultural framework derived from relevant literature. The results indicate that adjustments to academic values and beliefs, the cultural dimension, are crucial in the integration process. This study also identified factors, which could affect academic staff integration, such as leadership, organisational objectives, regulations, geographic division, and cultural differences. Being aware of these factors could provide university managers with useful guidelines on how to facilitate the integration of academic staff members from different pre-merger institutions.     

Transfer of academic staff learning in a research-intensive university

In both Australia and abroad, there is an increasing pressure towards professionalisation of university teaching, with the expectation that academic development courses, such as the Graduate Certificate in Education Studies (higher education), lead to better teaching and learning practices. However, the knowledge, skills and/or attitudes that educators intend students to learn may not transfer successfully back to the workplace. This may occur for a variety of reasons, including individual characteristics of the learner (e.g. ability, motivation), and situational characteristics (e.g. the climate for transfer, including adequacy of resources and peer/manager support). The present study investigates the impact of these factors on teaching staff in a research-intensive university. Two in-depth case studies, followed by thematic analysis of 15 Graduate Certificate alumni interviews regarding post-course experiences, revealed that qualities of the work environment played significant roles in interviewees' post-course attitudes, intentions and activities related to the transfer of learning. Implications for encouraging transfer under similar circumstances are discussed.     

不能承受之重——论经济效益和学术发展共同期许下的高校学报改制

时下,高校学报在学术面貌上备受责难,其中深层次上是期刊传统和期刊体制的问题。在推动文化产业化的大背景下,出版管理部门欲从经济的视角寻求突破,推动学报在内的非时政类期刊整体商品化,通过市场法则的优胜劣汰调整期刊格局。对此,出版管理部门态度坚决,但学术界、期刊界乃至教育界却反响强烈。学术是全民族的事业,产业化不能以牺牲学术为代价,而高校学报属于公益性的学术平台,本身又难以自负盈亏,故应借鉴国际上的成功经验,对高校学术期刊给予政策上的倾斜与保护,将其界定为非企业化或非营利性机构。学报的学术面貌确实已亟待改善,但不能用经济机制来解决学术问题。学术问题和教育问题还是要在学术体制和教育体制内部解决,而且,这是一个涉及多方面、多领域的综合性改革,不能一蹴而就,简单处理。     

A distributed model for managing academic staff in an international online academic programme

Online delivery of programmes of Higher Education typically involves a distributed community of students interacting with a single university site, at which the teachers, learning resources and administration of the programme are located. The alternative model, of a fully “Virtual University”, which assumes no physical campus, poses problems of resource provision, recognition, and accreditation. We describe here an intermediate solution, based on an established on-ground university, but in which both students and teachers are distributed worldwide. We discuss the issues of management, communication, and quality assurance that are faced in implementing this fully distributed model. We describe the solutions we have applied in a wholly online programme of Higher Education which is delivered to over 2,000 graduate students in more than 100 countries by a worldwide pool of instructors.     

Allocation of academic staff in universities

This article is concerned with allocation of academic staff between departments in a university. The article considers general principles of staff allocation and then goes on to consider specific techniques for university staff allocation. Practical problems likely to be associated with implementing the results of a given method of staff allocation are also discussed. Finally the question of decentralised decision-making and possibility of allowing some freedom of choice between appointment of academic staff and other resources is considered.     

Professional development for institutional research: A descriptive profile of academic programs and an analysis of curriculum

A survey of 88 American higher education programs found that 9 of the programs offer an area of concentration in institutional research and 17 programs have an institutional-research core course. These programs are identified, and the content of the curriculum is described. Planning topics received the most emphasis in institutional research courses; topics related to facilities and research methodology received low emphasis scores. The theoretical or practitioner orientation of the core course is analyzed in the second section. In most of the courses, there was a positive correlation between the topics emphasized in the core course and the theoretical orientation of those topics, but the coefficient was significant in only a few cases. As expected, programs with an area of concentration tend to stress theoretical concepts in their core course, while programs without an institutional research concentration are more practitioner-oriented.     

Classroom management,school staff relations,school climate,and academic achievement: testing a model with urban high schools

Urban learning environments pose distinct instructional challenges for teachers and administrators, and can lead to lower achievement compared to suburban or rural schools. Today’s educational climate increasingly emphasises a need for positive academic outcomes, often measured by standardised tests, on which student educational opportunities, teacher benefits and school funding can be based. By applying an ecological framework to the urban school environment, it could be possible to better understand and ultimately improve the educational context at multiple levels. This study examined how classroom management, staff relations and school climate contribute to academic achievement, as measured by ACT scores. In a large urban American public school system, 208 teachers from 38 high schools were surveyed. A model was tested in which, when academic achievement was accounted for over time, classroom management and staff relations contributed positively to school climate, and climate in turn contributed to academic achievement. Structural equation modeling revealed that the data fitted the proposed model. Results illustrate the roles of school and classroom factors related to academic performance and underline the importance of classroom management strategies and positive learning environments. Results suggest avenues for interventions to increase academic achievement by supporting students through the lens of an ecological framework.     

Staff development by telephone: a note

In the autumn of 1985, over 20,000 new undergraduates, who were about to start one of the five Open University Foundation courses in the following February, received a corresponding package of materials designed to prepare them for study. In this article, Fred Lockwood ‐ from the University's Institute of Educational Technology ‐reports the results of a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of these preparatory materials.