Academic Development In Higher Education Research Articles

Echoes of social experience: Tracing the link between a sense of belonging in school physics classes and physics students’ persistence in higher education

Abstract The present study investigates on an exploratory level the extent to which the sense of belonging that university physics students experienced in their physics classes in secondary school impacts their intention to drop out or alter their course of study in higher education. Analysing data collected between April and June 2022 among first-year physics students at 20 German universities (N = 263), we find a significant and negative effect on the part of participants’ (remembered) sense of belonging in school physics classes on their intention to drop out or change their studies. Parallel mediation analysis further reveals that this effect is fully mediated by students’ current sense of belonging to physics and their university. Notably, the indirect effect via participants’ current sense of belonging to physics is approximately four times as high as the indirect effect via university belonging. These results emphasise the importance of social embeddedness in early physics experiences on students’ academic development in higher education. Limitations of these results as well as implications regarding a potential improvement of persistence and satisfaction within physics-related higher-education programs are outlined at the end of this paper. 

The student voice on integrative teaching and learning of academic literacy at a South African university of technology

Academic literacy skills are universally considered as a valuable and integral part of academic development in higher education, yet they often remain peripheral to or are completely absent from many qualifications. At the presently selected institution, there is little consensus on the most effective model to design for and implement as far as academic literacy is concerned, and whether this should be embedded within core curricula, or as a stand-alone, credit-bearing subject. Conspicuously absent in conversations on this matter however, is the student voice, which is what the present study seeks to draw on. An analysis of students’ reflections on an integrated model of learning and teaching of academic literacy was evaluated, where the skills are taught within the context of an academic discipline. The academic literacy component was embedded within a single course taught in a Biotechnology qualification. Upon completion of the learning activities, ten students were interviewed, and a questionnaire was administered to a further fifteen students, to gauge feedback on the usefulness of the integrated model of academic literacy. We report that the pedagogy improved and enriched the overall learning experience. Students reflected that the approach enabled better access to Biotechnology content and made the discourse of the discipline more explicit, as they unlocked academic literacy skills, compared to if an academic literacy course was taken alone. More broadly, the study highlights the need to draw on student reflection and experiences in the design and implementation of pedagogies and the value of remaining responsive to student voices.

On ‘Becoming’ Contemplative Academic Development Practitioners: Reflections through Collaborative Autoethnography

The onslaught of COVID-19 heralded a turn in higher education as society has begun to question the purpose, values and practices of higher education. COVID-19 presented the unique opportunity to re-imagine and re-envision how one conceptualises the roles and responsibilities of academic development practitioners. How are they responding to their own evolving selves, their environmental cues, and shaping the shifts of redirection within higher education? In this article, we draw from two research traditions to examine the processes of re-imagining academic developers’ becoming: contemplative pedagogy and collective autoethnography. In our data collection, we use the concurrent model in autoethnography as we draw on personal memory data, archival materials, self-observation, self-reflection, self-analysis and interviews with each other. This contributed to a thick description of our personal and professional lives and practices. We show how these collective research traditions and approaches provided nuanced understandings of the role of place and space in evolving academic development in higher education. This article argues for the value of a contemplative autoethnography as an approach to transforming academic development practices, particularly in providing insight into professional development, identity and personal experience.

The Influence of Financial Aid Systems on Student Academic Development in Higher Education in China

The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the multiple mixed financial aid systems and the academic development of college students in Chinese higher education. Under the assistance of National Student Financial Aid Center of China, this study used sample data from the questionnaire survey conducted among students in 11 colleges and universities, and used logistic regression analysis based on human capital theory and student development theory to investigate the effects of different forms of financial aid on students’ academic development in higher education. The main results of the study showed that, firstly, receiving National Scholarships, National Encouragement Scholarships, and National Student Loans were significantly and positively correlated with receiving excellent grades, but receiving National Grants and work-study positions were significantly and negatively correlated with receiving excellent grades. Secondly, receiving higher National Scholarships and work-study funding significantly increased students’ probability of receiving excellent grades, but receiving higher National Student Loans funding significantly decreased students’ probability of receiving excellent grades. Further analysis of the influence of different forms of financial support on students’ academic development revealed that receiving National Scholarships and National Encouragement Scholarships can significantly increase the probability of study exchanges between sponsored students, teachers, and classmates and of attending seminars; receiving higher National Scholarships and work-study positions can help sponsored students clarify their study goals and increase study exchanges with teachers and classmates. The results of this study showed that the students’ academic development is influenced by the National Scholarships and work-study positions. Based on the results of the empirical study, countermeasures and suggestions were proposed in terms of precise financial aid systems, allocation of financial aid resources, and work-study positions, so as to improve the impact of higher education mixed financial aid systems on college students’ academic development in China.

Problematising pedagogical action research in formal teaching courses and academic development: a collaborative autoethnography

ABSTRACT In this paper, we explore action research as a method of academic development. Our focus is specifically on formal taught programmes such as PGCerts, MAs and doctoral studies as well as CPD workshops. In our dual roles as action researchers and academic developers, we had independently noticed that the type of action research that often featured as an assessed component of taught programmes held characteristics which differed from the approach that we knew and had practised. We had worked together as colleagues for several years and as our professional relationship grew so did our combined understanding of pedagogical action research (PedAR) – a form of action research that focuses on learning and teaching in higher education. Collaborative autoethnography helped us to problematize and surface the difficult tensions and dilemmas in our academic development practice. As part of the process we tried to hear our own internal voices which highlighted doubts, frustrations, contradictions, and sometimes joy. We also used the dialogue to step back and consider what else may be going on ‘out there’ to explain the emergence of particular types of PedAR. We analysed an ongoing, semi-structured, deliberately critical emailed conversation in which we shared experiences and observations to answer our research question ‘How do our own experiences inform a critique of the use of PedAR in academic development in higher education?’

Life course productivity model to analyze academic research issues: a longitudinal analysis at one Taiwanese university

ABSTRACT Research productivity has been a critical issue in terms of academic development in higher education. In this study, we adopt a life-course perspective to examine the personal factors, mostly age-related, affecting research productivity in a Taiwanese research-oriented university. Covering a time series of 20 years, our dataset includes individual research performance of faculty and other relevant covariates over their life course. The growth curve model designed for multilevel modeling of repeated measures is applied to capture the age effect. Our analysis contributes to the thread of this literature in several dimensions. First, the faculty’s early academic achievement is positively associated with their later performance providing support for the cumulative advantage theory. Unlike the prediction of the utility maximizing theory, faculty with an administrative position leads to higher productivity. Finally, reinforcement still plays a critical role in regulating the productivity for non-early promising faculty.

Student Perceptions of Feedback in Higher Education

Text Feedback is critical to students’ academic development in higher education. Despite this, evidence suggests that students do not consistently engage with feedback or recognise the value of it. This study explored student perceptions of feedback in one university in England. Data were collected using focus groups. The results indicated that the participants valued feedback that is detailed and personal. They also demonstrated a preference for verbal feedback rather than written feedback. Participants recognised the benefits and limitations of peer feedback and there was evidence to suggest that participants valued the judgements of their lecturers above those of their peers. The data indicate that lecturers should utilise a range of feedback modes, including face-to-face, verbal, written, audio and video feedback. The study suggests that the use of written feedback in higher education may not be effective because students may not engage effectively with it, particularly if they achieve a high grade. Taking into consideration the important role that feedback plays in promoting learning, it is vital that modes of feedback are used which students are likely to engage with. Given the fact that students have different preferences, it is therefore suggested that lecturers utilise a variety of modes of feedback. The limitation of this study was the small sample size and therefore the results are not generalisable. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.18.11.3

What a difference a day makes: reflection retreats as academic development in higher education

ABSTRACTA growing body of research supports the learning and teaching of reflective practice in higher education; however, the application of reflective skills beyond the classroom, and specifically in professional development, is underdeveloped. While the value of reflective practice may not be clearly apparent for academic and professional staff, universities as complex organisations are searching for effective catalysts and supports for development and change. Reflective practice may be this catalyst and support. This paper introduces a new epistemological spectrum of approaches to reflection and examines a range of reflective activities from across the spectrum for their potential application in academic development. A mixed methods research approach generated findings from two reflection retreats: one for Australian university staff and one for Chinese academics. While some similarities and differences were identified across both groups, it is suggested that reflective practice activities can be a catalyst for positive academic and professional development.

Students-as-producers: Developing valuable student-centered research and learning opportunities

The desire to connect teaching and research to create a productive and progressive framework for student learning has become one of the most significant spaces for academic development in Higher Education over the recent past. The positive effects on student learning through the inclusion of real-life, complex and unstructured research-like activities needs to be at the core of undergraduate education, and following this paradigm the student acts as producer of knowledge instead of simply knowledge consumer. The concept underpinning 'student-as-producer' is that learning is grounded in research and research-like activities so much of what the student learns will be through their own discoveries, working in collaboration with academic advisers and other students in a supportive research-rich environment. This paper focuses on the research practices and activities during a study carried out by undergraduate students from the School of Political Science and Sociology at the National University of Ireland Galway, primarily designed as a student-as-producer project, under the guidance of an academic supervisor/facilitator. Students were placed at the center of deliberations, design, development and implementation of the research and subsequently have become the focus of this particular reflective paper. What were their experiences at various stages of the process, what do they think were worthwhile and valueless in the practice, and what learning principles, if any, were paramount? A series of semi-structured open questions were posed to uncover pressures and barriers to their overall learning experiences resulting in some thoughtful and helpful lessons to enhance such student-centered learning in the future.

Institutional governance and management systems in Sub-Saharan Africa higher education: developments and challenges in a Ghanaian Research University

This article examines the developments and challenges of higher education in developing countries. Using a thorough qualitative interview of deans, directors and heads of Department of the University of Ghana, this paper draws on their analysis to discover unexplored issues that affect the universities in developing countries. The study identifies weakness in institutional policies and infrastructure deficiency of higher education in Ghana as key challenging factors. Findings also show congestion of students in academic facilities of learning, teaching overloads and lack of research facilities as key factors hampering academic development in higher education. Therefore, the work advocates for the development of policies that take into account the institutional realities in the field of higher education. Governmental policies aimed at enhancing higher education in developing economies must first improve the existing institutional set up for their chance of success.

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.

Sharing Stories among Teachers

A casual review of the literature reveals a modest collection of studies that draw on personal experience about academic development in higher education. The following Postcard outlines a strategy ...

Are We Asking the Right Questions?

This is a conceptual review of the literature variously referred to as faculty development, educational development, instructional development, and academic development in higher education. Previous empirical reviews covering more than 30 years of published literature could draw only tentative and weak conclusions about the effectiveness of educational development practices. The authors used different questions that queried the nature of educational development practice and the thinking underlying practice. Their conceptual review yielded a framework with six foci of practice (skill, method, reflection, disciplinary, institutional, and action research or inquiry) that was drawn from an analysis of the design elements of the educational development practices in the research they reviewed and from an analysis of the conceptual, theoretical, and empirical literature cited by those articles. This six-cluster framework provides a new way of thinking about the design of practice and a more meaningful basis for investigating the effectiveness of educational development practice.

Interdisciplinary Collaborative Research for Professional Academic Development in Higher Education

Although faculties are more diverse, decentralized, and increasingly isolated in technology-supported modern universities, effective technology use can also foster faculty professional academic development and collegiality. This scoping literature review applied Cooper’s systemic review model and a categorical content analysis technique targeting decentralized collaborative research teams in higher education. Findings indicate technology supports formal and informal university and nonuniversity networks, as well as various collaborative research structures; all contributing to professional academic development. Shared attributes of successful collaborative online teams include a sense of social presence, accountability, institutional and team leadership. Collaborative teams are integral to research and allow more faculty members to contribute and benefit from professional academic development through scholarship. Collaborative team research should be investigated further to understand and promote cross-discipline and cultural collaboration potential for research and professional academic development possibilities with special attention given to opportunities for women, online, and adjunct faculty

Harmonizing technology with interaction in blended problem-based learning

This paper discusses the harmonizing role of technology and interaction in a qualitative study on blended problem-based learning within the context of academic development in higher education. Within this setting, and as both designers and tutors in blended PBL, it is important to seek best practices for how to combine instructional strategies in face-to-face and computer-mediated environments that take advantage of the strengths of each and avoid their weaknesses. A qualitative study of the lived experiences of 17 academic staff participants in a blended problem-based learning module was considered likely to provide a much-needed analysis of current thinking and practice on the potential of interaction in this form of professional academic development in higher education. Specific aspects of interaction (technical, peer, content and the learning experience) within blended problem-based learning tutorials are analysed to provides research-based information about the realities of delivering a PBL programme using technology. The study argues that the intersection of PBL and learning technologies can offer different ways of teaching and learning that require exploration and reflection of pedagogy and technology as in integrated approach that must work effectively together. The synergy from the collaborative blended PBL approach in this module could result in the coherent and comprehensive provision of training, support and research work throughout higher education institutions.

A family of strangers: the fragmented nature of academic development

This paper draws on the experiences of 20 academic developers as they examine the proposition that the organisation and work of academic development in higher education is fragmented. Academic development was seen to have neither the status of a field nor a profession, and there was recognised tension between an institutionally focused service model that could be everything to everyone and one that could be distinguished as more conventionally ‘academic’ with theoretical knowledge as the basis for practice. Against the proposition, there was evidence of shared values and acceptance of diversity of purpose. We conclude that academic development has been fragmented since its inception and it remains resistant to cohesive change. Data suggest that to develop a unified community, academic development could seek field-status by encouraging all staff to provide their services by way of research-led teaching with each developer using their research knowledge and experiences of academic life to underpin practice. Only then will it have the necessary credibility and foundation from which it can work out its broader purposes and provide a quality service.

Assessing the contribution of collections of case studies to academic development in higher education

In recent years there has been a proliferation of paper-based and electronic collections of case studies focusing on different facets of academic practice in higher education. Inherent in their compilation and dissemination is the assumption that these collections contribute to improvements in practice. How justified is such an assumption? This question serves as a backdrop to the paper in which attention is given to the range and variety of collections of case studies; their nature and purpose; positive and negative arguments concerning their value; and their role in educational development. It is concluded that, if collections of case studies are to make an effective contribution to educational development, academic developers should attend to a variety of questions concerning their adoption and use.