Abstract
Most universities in Australia have established at least one organizational unit with a responsibility for academic development. While ‘academic’ could embrace all aspects of the role of academics, including research, innovation, and contributions to community and professional bodies, the expectation is that the focus will be on learning and teaching. In this paper, I address the extent to which – and the sense in which – this is true. I use the results of several surveys conducted in Australia in 2007 and information emerging from a forum of Australian university personnel associated with the development of academics. These sources show that academic development units often perform a range of functions that go beyond the development of learning and teaching. Reviewing the available data, I conclude that the current role of academic developers is very much influenced by strategic pursuits of universities. In this climate, the potential for academic development to operate with the integrity of a practice informed by the disciplined study of learning and teaching is more limited than it was during periods where the understanding of learning and teaching drove the enterprise.
Highlights
Most universities in Australia have established at least one organizational unit with a responsibility for academic development
How does academic development relate to teaching? This paper references surveys conducted by David Gosling in the UK and in South Africa on academic development in Australia to provide a basis for international comparison
The question I addressed in this paper was how does academic development relate to teaching? A functional answer and a qualitative answer are proffered
Summary
Most universities in Australia have established at least one organizational unit with a responsibility for academic development. The data referred to in this paper indicates that, while ‘academic’ could embrace all aspects of the role of academics, including research, innovation, and contributions to community and professional bodies, the focus will be on learning and teaching. In appealing to the clientele of universities and to their prospective employers, strategic approaches may address aspects of the learning environment ranging from online and library facilities to student support and the management of learning resources, including the management of staff They are likely to involve quality assurance and improvement measures. Learning-oriented approaches have been informed by research into learning in higher education, such as those based on phenomenography, associated with the work of Ference Marton (Svensson, 1997) With this conceptual underpinning, academic development could be said to be a discipline in its own right
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