Experiences Of Academic Staff Research Articles

Reframing Unseen Exams in Post-Pandemic Pedagogy Based on Student Perceptions

The COVID-19 pandemic had unprecedented impacts, both directly and indirectly, on student populations across the UK. As teaching has returned to ‘normal’, in person exams have made a comeback and so has the debate about the value of unseen exams as a method of assessment. This research provides a comprehensive insight into student perception of exams in light of their COVID-19 educational experiences. This research combines student perspectives on unseen exams, considering this is a generation of students who have perhaps never sat a regular written exam before due to pandemic. Student perceptions are combined with academic staff experience on delivering unseen exams to identify their suitability within curriculums that promote authentic assessment and research-led teaching. The thematic analysis of results identifies that students feel strongly about the purpose, fairness, and authenticity of unseen exams, and the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have lasting impacts on student perception of their university experience. The themes identify practical considerations for academic staff when considering the inclusion of unseen exams in their teaching, most notably with respect to accessibility, support needs, and assessment design.

Mission impossible? Identity based incompatibilities amongst academic job roles relate to wellbeing and turnover

Academic staff experience high levels of work-related stress and poor mental health. As a result, many institutions face high staff turnover. These outcomes may be driven by complex and, at times, apparently oppositional objectives academics need to meet around research and teaching. These factors may present both practical and social identity-based incompatibilities. The current study tested the role of these incompatibilities upon mental well-being and turnover. A sample of 141 UK resident academics completed scales measuring levels of social identification with being an academic, an educator and a researcher, identity based and practical incompatibility, mental health, experience of the workplace and turnover intention. No direct links were found between practical incompatibility and outcomes. However, higher identity incompatibility was related to poorer mental health. Identity incompatibility was also related to turnover intention, mediated by both mental health and workplace experience. Contrary to predictions, these effects were not moderated by identity difference or identity strength. The current findings present evidence that role-based incompatibilities have both practical and identity-based foundations and highlight important caveats to the benefits of multiple identities on well-being observed in other domains. The findings also suggest practical steps through which complex occupational roles can be best structured to improve mental health and reduce turnover.

Universities with standards but not standard universities: students and academics reflection of university operating standards in Tanzania

Quality of teaching and learning in higher education is explained by the teaching and learning milieus through which academic staff and students interact. Subsequently, governments across the globe have been establishing standards that aim at improving the teaching and learning milieus in universities as part of the efforts to facilitate the provision of quality university education that address national and global needs and contexts simultaneously. This paper draws evidence from the quantitative data gauging the reflection and experiences of academic staff and students regarding the extent to which milieus for the provision of education in post-1995 universities reflect the goals of the standards established to govern the operation of universities in Tanzania. Overall, the study found dissatisfactions from both academic staff and students regarding the extent to which the teaching and learning milieus in post-1995 universities in Tanzania reflect the standards. This poor reflection may have negative impacts on the realisation of the goals the standards intend to achieve. The study therefore underscores the need for the government to plan, design and enforce the appropriate standards that would have notable impacts on the academic experiences of academic staff and students and subsequently provision of education for national and global needs.

Experiences of Academic Staff Towards Promotion and Professional Development in Selected Public Universities in Tanzania: A Situational Analysis

There has been a constant debate regarding fairness during the promotion process and academic growth among the academic staff in higher education around the world. In the context of Tanzania, higher education depends on the academic qualifications, ranks, experience and level of job satisfaction among their academic staff for quality teaching, research and consultancy works. This mixed study focused on the experiences and attitudes of 85 staff on promotion and motivation from a selected public university in Tanzania. Quantitative data were collected from 74 academic staff, 1 professor, 4 senior lecturers, 30 lecturers, 25 assistant lecturers and 14 tutorial assistants. Moreover, 3 staff from the human resources directorate and 8 heads of academic departments were interviewed. The results demonstrated that the majority of the academic staff (82%) were satisfied with the sponsorship process in local and overseas trainings (N = 61) and the duration of three years for new promotions (N = 65 and 88%). On the other hand, the majority of the academic staff were dissatisfied with being involved in decision-making for in-service training opportunities (N = 65, 88%). Similarly, academic staff were dissatisfied with the promotion criteria and promotion process (N = 60, 81%) and (N = 45, 60%) respectively. The qualitative data revealed the dissatisfaction of academic staff on awareness of the current institutional promotion criteria and standards that may open loopholes for rude administrations. It was concluded that promotion in various universities has been associated with some micro politics and hullabaloos. Since academic staff qualifications are global, criteria for promotions should remain homogeneous, fair and equal to all staff.

Exploring the Experience of Degree Apprentices and Academics in Fostering Managerial-Level Competencies: A Case of Vocational Degrees within the UK Higher Education

The paper presents the experience of academic staff and degree apprentices in fostering degree-level knowledge, skills, and behaviour (KSBs) in management fields. Indeed, vocational degrees bring together contemporary academic theory and research with a practical understanding of activities within the sector. A model proposed by Edmund (2007), where a successful work-integrated programme is likened to ‘apprentices, employers, and universities’ in a training approach. As such apprentices' learning journey begins with (apprentice-employer relationships), followed by education (apprentice relationships with the institution) and codification of knowledge (apprentice, employer and learning provider relationship). To operationalize Edmund’s model in this paper, KSBs are acquired by the degree apprentices in the classroom setting (theory) and the application of acquired KSBs in the work environment (practice) to solve real-life issues in management fields. Consequently, a new message is required to reposition the vocational degrees narrative in the public domain as sub-standard degrees that are fit for purpose. To address this issue, the paper established that degree apprentices are well-equipped with advanced methodological and theoretical competencies, they are trained to analyse and manage an ever-changing workplace, and to be self-reliant, adaptable, and confident in their discipline as it develops over time. The paper results confirmed that the vocational degrees pathway is very competent in the development of managerial-level competencies for management professionals. It contributes positively to the management sector in terms of degree-level knowledge, skills, and behaviour. To enhance the credibility of vocational degrees the government needs to do more in the awareness campaign within under-represented communities.

AI in Education: Examining ChatGPT Awareness and Usage among University of Science & Technology Students, Aden

The integration of artificial intelligence tools, specifically ChatGPT, in education poses both opportunities and challenges. However, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding regarding the effectiveness and impact of using ChatGPT in educational settings, particularly within the context of Yemen specifically the University of Science & Technology (UST) in Aden. To address this gap, there is a need to assess the current use of ChatGPT and explore the perceptions and experiences of academic staff and students regarding its implementation. By identifying potential issues, benefits, and concerns, this study aims to contribute valuable insights for the successful integration of ChatGPT and improve the overall educational experience at the UST University. Ultimately, the goal is to contribute to a more informed and effective use of AI tools, improving the overall educational experience of Yemeni universities and potentially serving as a model for similar institutions.

“Being in the digital box”. Academic staff experiences in online practical teaching: A qualitative study from six universities and countries

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused radical changes in education, as in everything else, bringing many challenges. Despite all the difficulties, the COVID-19 pandemic has enormous opportunities for online teaching and the use of digital technologies. A comprehensive understanding of this period is needed to investigate these opportunities. Thus, this study aims to explore the academic staff's experiences of online teaching and the use of digital technologies in practical skills-based courses in health care education. This study was conducted at six universities from six countries (Türkiye, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Latvia, Lithuania). Data were collected between June 17, 2021 and November 30, 2021 via a focus group with an in-depth interview technique. 22 focus group interviews were conducted with a total of 117 participants. Colaizzi's method was used to evaluate the data to discover, comprehend, and define the experiences of academic staff. The analysis of the interview data resulted in 6 themes, 25 subthemes and 56 categories that captured participants' experiences regarding online teaching of practical skills and using digital technologies in health care education. The findings of the study provide crucial information that will help online teaching and digital technology for practical skills be successfully integrated.

Enhancing Academic Development: A reflexive exploration of Staff and Students’ Experiences on curriculum co-creation

Academic development of students and staff is a critical element in higher education, especially with reference to their engagement in curriculum development. While higher education institutions advocate for the inclusion of students in curriculum co-creation, in practice, this has not been easily implemented. The urgency to create this collaborative ecosystem necessitates a reflexive contribution. In this article, I explore the experiences of academic staff and students on their engagement in curriculum co-creation with a specific focus on developing a study guide for the newly developed module, which is part of the decolonisation process. The emphasis on meta-cognitive skills and the social justice element in the curriculum development process ensures a responsive curriculum that meets the needs of society, students and staff in a cohesive and integrated manner. I underpin this reflective study on Schon’s theory of reflection on action. I argue that engaging students in curriculum creation stimulates deep learning, an empowerment attribute which I explore as it enhances innovative and critical thinking. This study employed qualitative methods of collecting and analysing data, followed by identifying important themes from the data. The reflections and emergent themes provide pathways to enhance academic development to encourage curricula co-creation processes in higher education.

EXPERIENCES OF SOUTH AFRICAN ACADEMICS MOVING FROM CONTACT TO EMERGENCY REMOTE TEACHING: LESSONS FOR THE FUTURE

The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the academic programme of most higher education institutions. To counter this disruption, universities moved from contact to emergency remote teaching. To understand the process of this move, the study explored the experiences of academic staff at a South African university with a transition from contact to emergency remote teaching and the lessons that were learnt for the future. The study was underpinned by Online Collaborative Learning theory (Harasim 2012). A qualitative exploratory case study was conducted to answer the research questions. We generated data from eight academic staff members using focus group discussion and analysed it using an inductive thematic framework. From the analysis, the participants held divergent ideas on digital equity and access to technology, creating online interactive content and teaching modalities, proficiency with the technology and training, limitations with the Learning Management System (LMS) Moodle. The findings indicate the need to prepare academic staff and students for emergency remote teaching before a disruption occurs. The COVID-19 pandemic taught the university that was the research site several lessons about technology-enhanced learning, including the importance of flexibility, technology, student engagement, access and equity, and collaboration. Universities have learned that online learning can be effective but requires careful planning, investment, and ongoing evaluation to ensure success. Importantly, the findings acknowledge that the success of online teaching during the pandemic was influenced by a wide range of factors, including technological infrastructure, pedagogical approach, faculty training and support, student readiness, and the culture of innovation within the community and university.

Review of Teresa Heinz Housel's Mental Health among Higher Education Faculty, Administrators, and Graduate Students: A Critical Perspective (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021).

What does it mean to be mentally ill in academia? This is the central question of Teresa Heinz Housel’s edited book which focuses on the experiences of academic staff, university administrators, and graduate students experiencing mental illness and mental health distress. Divided into three sections of four chapters each, including “Mental Health Distress and Mental Illness in Academic Culture,” “Intersections of Mental Health and Marginalised Academic Populations” and “Institutional Policies on Mental Health and Recommendations for Best Practice,” the book covers a variety of perspectives and experiences and draws on both qualitative and quantitative research methods. [...]

How does day-to-day stress appraisal relate to coping among office workers in academia? An ecological momentary assessment study.

Existing literature indicates that academic staff experience increasing levels of work stress. This study investigated associations between day-to-day threat and challenge appraisal and day-to-day problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and seeking social support among academic office workers. This study is based on an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) design with a 15-working day data collection period utilising our self-developed STRAW smartphone application. A total of 55 office workers from academic institutions in Belgium (n=29) and Slovenia (n=26) were included and 3665 item measurements were analysed. Participants were asked approximately every 90min about their appraisal of stressful events (experienced during the working day) and their coping styles. For data analysis, we used an unstructured covariance matrix in our linear mixed models. Challenge appraisal predicted problem-focused coping and threat appraisal predicted emotion-focused coping. Our findings suggest an association between threat appraisal as well as challenge appraisal and seeking social support. Younger and female workers chose social support more often as a coping style. While working from home, participants were less likely to seek social support. The findings of our EMA study confirm previous research on the relationship between stress appraisal and coping with stress. Participants reported seeking social support less while working from home compared to working at the office, making the work location an aspect that deserves further research.

Challenges in Accessing and Utilizing Information in Digital Resource Platforms by Academic Staff in Selected Public Universities in Kenya.

Digital resource platforms have gained significant recognition as valuable tools for education and research within universities. These platforms enable easy access, sharing and dissemination of information, leveraging the advancements in information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Nonetheless, users of these platforms face challenges in effectively accessing and utilizing these information resources due to complexities in navigation. This issue arises from a mismatch between user expectations and the design of information platforms, which hinders seamless access and utilization of information. This may adversely affect teaching and research output that are core mandates of universities. The purpose of the study was to explore challenges that academic staff experience in accessing and utilizing information in digital resource platforms in the selected public universities in Kenya. The study was based on a pragmatic paradigm where it adopted a mixed method approach. This enabled the research to collect both quantitative and qualitative data that complemented each other in collecting accurate and reliable data. Purposive and census sampling techniques were used to draw respondents from the targeted population. The sample size was 113 respondents comprising 86 academic staff, four university librarians and 23 library staff in charge of digital content. Statistical Packages for Social Sciences was used to analyze quantitative data while thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in form of tables, charts and verbatim reports. The findings showed that academic staff had inadequate digital literacy skills and slow in adopting technology that resulted in ineffective access and under-utilization of e-content. Major challenges faced by academic staff were limited range of digital resource platforms, unattractive visual design, inadequate digital literacy skills and technological dynamism. The study recommended for increased digital resource platforms to facilitate wider access, development of appealing visual design and continuous digital literacy training among users.

Can you feel the change of seasons? Perspectives of academic staff on organizational change

ABSTRACT Research on academic staff experiences with mergers in higher education points out that they often struggle with the change process. Reform appears to go hand in hand with uneasiness and even anxiety, but studies also report mixed results: part of those involved share concerns, others report positive experiences. This study on mergers in Norwegian higher education uses a survey among academic staff, enabling us to compare the experiences of academic staff at merged institutions with staff at institutions that did not merge. We find that academic staff at merged institutions are less positive about developments within their study programmes and research units compared to those not having been part of a merger process. Further fine-grained analyses show that both background characteristics of respondents and discipline play a role as well. Our contribution to the literature on mergers is that attention should be paid to the background characteristics of academic staff, for these factors are important to understand impact.

Building Educational Research Capacity: Challenges and Opportunities from the Perspectives of Faculty Staff of Selected Private Universities in Uganda

This article argues that educational research in Uganda is facing severe glitches, such as low research capacity. Most private universities seem to be more focused on their day-to-day survival than identifying their research-specific needs and engaging in quality research activities. Issues of research capacity-building remain a major concern amid a lack of resources and institutional environments in which academics work. Capacity-building and research engagements would help to strengthen strategic planning and influencing policy. Hence, this study fills this gap. Specifically, it explores the perceptions and experiences of academic staff regarding research capacity-building. The study identifies the challenges that hamper educational research and capacity-building opportunities associated with the development of research capacities as perceived by a sample of staff members in the identified institutions. To achieve this objective, a qualitative research design was adopted using focus group interviews to collect data from a sample of staff. In total, 12 focus group discussions were conducted with between 8–10 persons per group. Rank ordering of responses on specific issues was done during data analysis. The findings showed that the major factors responsible for low research output include capacity-building gaps, lack of financial resources, difficulty in identifying specific calls for abstracts and manuscripts, work overload for faculty staff, limited research writing skills, and bad experiences during previous research engagements, as presented and discussed below. Based on the findings, we make the following recommendations. First, the government should earmark a significant amount in the national budget for research and innovation that institutions in Uganda can easily access, including private academic institutions. Second, institutions should continuously engage their staff regarding research and improve their research capacity through training, workshops and symposiums.

UK Higher Education staff experiences of moral injury during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jonathan Shay argued that social, relational, and institutional contexts were central to understanding moral injury and conceptualised moral injury as a normative response to the betrayal of an individual's understanding of what is right by a more senior/authoritative "other". Using the conceptual lens of moral injury, this paper investigates academic staff experiences of HE during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores the rapid transition back to face-to-face teaching that took place in autumn 2020. To collect data, we used an online survey that opened in January 2021 and ran until the end of March 2021. A total of 663 complete questionnaires were received across the survey period. The questionnaire was comprised of ten topic-related questions, each of which included follow-up sub-questions and also invited participants to write in additional information. The majority of participants felt that during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, they had acted in ways that put their own health and wellbeing at risk. Of those who had acted in ways that put their health and wellbeing at risk, they believed that their senior management were the most responsible for them acting in such ways, followed by the UK government. Qualitative data showed a systemic absence of leadership in the sector during the time, a sense of betrayal of staff and students by senior management and the government, and feelings of compulsion to act in ways which put lives at risk. On the basis of these results, we argue that there could be synergies between the situation facing healthcare staff and academics during the pandemic. Many of the experiences of HE academic staff during the pandemic reported to us in this research are resonant with the concepts of betrayal and moral injury and resulted in affective responses which we understand here in relation to feelings of guilt, shame, and anger, leading ultimately to poor mental health and wellbeing. This paper discusses implications for the HE sector going forward.

Discrimination and Exclusion in Higher Education Is Reflected in Multiple Autoethnographies

A synthesis review of 17 autoethnographic (AE) studies revealed experiences of 33 academic staff and graduate students in higher education, the majority of whom are women. These papers, from more than six countries, were found through a Google Scholar search. Most authors identified as marginalised and outsiders in their higher education contexts, whether because of gender, ethnicity, race, or intersectionality. Analysis of tacit and explicit themes in the papers resulted in creation of eight final superordinate themes. The themes represent experiences of fear and insecurity whereby personal vulnerability was exacerbated by lack of cultural and gender awareness in higher education, including obvious examples of White ignorance. Institutional diversity was claimed, but this contrasted with authors’ experiences of exclusionary behaviour. Authors reported endemic racism and sexism, but that it was helpful when institutions provided support for these challenges. AE gives power, volume, and space to rarely heard minority voices. AE synthesis offers an overview of collective experience of similar phenomena or contexts. Such meta-studies are not common in the research literature, and this article provides both evidence of lived experiences of academic staff in 21st century higher education, and a purposeful guide to synthesizing AE research.

Female academic staff experiences during Covid-19-19

Female academic staff experiences during Covid-19-19

Experience of academic staff in mentoring programs

Abstract Mentoring programs developed at universities are an effective method of supporting student development. The participation in these programs brings them many benefits. These benefits include increased prestige in the community, gaining new experiences and achieving defined goals in the case of universities. It is essential to improve the mentoring programs implemented at universities. This article presents the results of research carried out within the framework of the BEGIN project implemented and funded under the Erasmusplus program. The aim of the research was to identify academic staff's experiences of participating in formal and informal mentoring programs. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted with respondents from Italy, Poland and Germany. A purposive selection method was used. The research provided clues with a practical dimension on how to implement mentoring programs, usefulness from the student's point of view, effectiveness and efficiency, and how to measure the impact of the program on students.

A comparison of face-to-face and fully online problem-based learning: Student results and staff experiences, 2014-2020.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-directed pedagogy that promotes critical thinking, self-directed learning and communication skills essential for health promotion students and practitioners. This paper reports on student results, student evaluation and staff experience of PBL in the face-to-face and fully online environment in an undergraduate health sciences unit in an Australian university. A single time-point study using quantitative and qualitative administrative student data (2014-2020) and narrative reflection from teaching academics (n=5) was undertaken. Descriptive, independent t test and bivariate analyses for student results data were conducted; an inductive approach was used to analyse qualitative data and create codes. Student sample (n=472) consisted face-to-face (n=358, 75.8%) and online (n=114, 24.2%) enrolments. Final Unit Mark was significantly higher for fully online students compared with face-to-face students in 2018 (P= .007) and 2019 (P= .001). Final Unit Achievement was significantly higher for fully online students compared with face-to-face students in 2018 (P= .017) and 2019 (P= .043). Three themes emerged: The PBL approach; Evolution of PBLs; Student skills and competencies. PBL allows students to learn through facilitated problem solving and strong collaborative skills. The face-to-face and fully online PBLs improved the student and academic staff experience, while supporting the development of critical thinking and self-directed research. Further, it supported students to develop their core health promotion competencies; and enhanced the online student learning experience. SO WHAT?: Vital for contemporary, global graduates, the fully online PBL approach allows students to build critical academic and professional skills utilising current information technology relevant for collaborative professional practice.

‘Mirror, mirror on the wall’: reflecting on, and refracting through, academic development in a pandemic year

ABSTRACT Using a creative and playful fairy-tale storyboard approach this paper explores the impact of the pandemic, the move to online and blended learning, and the role academic development can have in the future of learning and teaching. We refract academic staff experiences of teaching during the pandemic through our own experiences as academic developers during this time. We conclude that a balancing act is required to sustain the influence gained in the pandemic whilst retaining the signature pedagogy of playfulness that underpins our work.