Academic Teaching Staff Research Articles

Insight into the postgraduate certificate in teaching and learning in higher education, challenges, and opportunities

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the postgraduate program in learning and teaching in higher education. The program was designed to introduce the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities to enhance the teaching quality to the higher education academic staff. The research methodology was qualitative, with content analysis, structured observation, and storytelling techniques. The research findings reveal that the program has been designed for the junior staff to engage with the undergraduate students. The program does not consider the senior staff who supervises master’s and PhD students, and they need knowledge about research methodology, thesis and dissertation supervision, and the support system. In conclusion, the program needs to be flexible with more optional or elective courses to specialize or personalize the content and structure for the individual participants.

Revisiting higher education: Identifying the support needs of fractional academic staff teaching online

Fractional, or part-time teachers, commonly referred to as 'tutors,' have long been integral to higher education worldwide. Today as more and more universities are switching their educational modes to online and hybrid teaching and learning, a consequence of post Covid-19, the necessity to hire more online fractional academic staff has become even greater. However, for decades their role is often neglected, and they frequently lack the support required to fulfil their teaching responsibilities effectively. In the context of Malaysia, to date very limited empirical finding is available that investigates the support needs of fractional academic staff teaching online. The study reported in this paper is part of a larger study on higher education professional development among adjunct faculty. Understanding the needs of one of the largest faculties can offer valuable insights for enhancing the quality of online education. The main purpose of the study was to explore the support needs of fractional academic staff teaching online as perceived by the tutors themselves. The study adopted a mixed-method research design, utilizing questionnaire for quantitative approach followed by focus-group discussion as the qualitative approach. To understand if tutors were significantly more interested in one form of support to another, a Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA analysis was used. As for data obtained through focus-group discussion, thematic analysis was applied to identify most important and least important topics. The findings of the study revealed that fractional staff teaching online required four support needs, namely, professional support which included continuous online training programmes and seminars, structured operations and organizations that provide well-defined job descriptions related to their teaching roles, better recognition for their valuable contributions as well as better facilities by providing equitable workspace facilities. This study has crucial implications that suggest a need for a more inclusive and supportive approach to managing and developing fractional academic staff, particularly those involved in online education.

Using concept maps as an assessment task for international taught postgraduate students: Is it a ‘helpful bridge’ or ‘blunt instrument’?

Students on one-year full-time Master’s programmes, particularly those studying in English for the first time, or after a break from studies, can struggle with the demands of an academic essay. This study reports the evaluation of the introduction of the use of concept maps as a learning and assessment tool, designed to support students’ transition into postgraduate taught study at a UK university. The mixed methods case study draws on interviews with students (19), academic teaching staff (9) and secondary analysis of course assessment data from the previous five years. We found that while staff and students reported that concept maps supported learning and helped students overcome barriers, the quantitative analysis showed no significant change in students’ attainment. We discuss possible reasons for this, and ways in which the concept map as assessment task may be developed.

Ambassadors of professional development in teaching and learning in STEM higher education

Abstract In STEM higher education, lecturers need to assist learners in constructing understanding of complex scientific concepts by employing relevant teaching methods, tools, and technologies. A continuous professional development (CPD) of academic teaching staff in teaching and learning is indispensable to keep up with the development of STEM. Using a cascade-like approach in continuous professional development in teaching and learning, where lecturers are involved bottom-up as CPD-Ambassadors, makes it possible to address relevant STEM-specific teaching and learning issues and continuously improve teaching practice. At three international STEM-CPD Summer Schools for CPD-Ambassadors, the CPD-Ambassadors developed fifty CPD-User cases about organising professional development in teaching and learning at their own higher education institutions and promoting the importance of CPD in their local context. The analysis of the CPD-User cases shows that the most frequently addressed teaching competencies and attitudes foster student-centred teaching approaches based on constructivist educational views. A relationship is found with previously defined generally important teaching competences and attitudes for higher STEM education. The results indicate that a cascade-like, discipline oriented continuous professional development approach through CPD-Ambassadors is a promising approach in improving university teaching practice.

Relationship between academic teaching staff' mental health literacy levels and beliefs toward mental illness

ObjectiveThe study aimed to determine the relationship between academic teaching staff' mental health literacy levels and beliefs toward mental illness. MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted with 357 academic teaching staff working at a state university in Turkey between July 2021 and February 2022. ResultsSignificant predictors of academic teaching staff' beliefs toward mental illness were mental health literacy, department, receiving mental health literacy education, seeking psychiatric help before, having a family member with a mental disorder, willingness to work with someone with a mental disorder, experience with a student with a mental disorder in professional life, and thoughts that students with a mental disorder should continue education. ConclusionMental health literacy is an important variable in reducing academic teaching staff' negative beliefs toward mental illness. Therefore, training programs can be planned to increase the mental health literacy levels of academic teaching staff and change their negative beliefs toward mental illness.

When pharmacy and theater collide: How diversity can develop inclusive communication skills

BackgroundEffective communication with patients and colleagues is key to a pharmacist's ability to provide effective person-centered care. Neurodivergent patients face many barriers when interacting with health professionals; increased awareness and understanding are therefore paramount to the pharmacist's role. This paper describes an innovative teaching partnership between a school of pharmacy and an inclusive theater company which aims to develop awareness and skills of undergraduate pharmacy students in relation to communicating with patients with autism and/or learning disabilities. Educational activityForum theater and role-plays were used to complement existing communication skills teaching in Years two and four of the undergraduate MPharm (Master of Pharmacy) program. The sessions were designed and delivered in partnership between academic teaching staff and a theater company of neurodivergent actors. An online evaluation form was used to obtain student feedback on these sessions (two Likert-style questions and three open format questions). Critical analysis of the educational activityOf the 241 students who attended a session in 2021, 70 (29%) provided feedback. Feedback was positive, with 99% of respondents finding the session useful. Students spoke about how they found the sessions supportive and enlightening, helping them to reflect on their own communication skills. As a result, the teaching has been developed and now expanded through all years of the undergraduate program. While conscious of challenges such as funding and finding the right partner, the authors recommend this rewarding initiative to fellow academics.

Developing and Implementing an Educational Program for Academic Teaching Staff about Digital Hologram Technology as an Active Learning Strategy

Developing and Implementing an Educational Program for Academic Teaching Staff about Digital Hologram Technology as an Active Learning Strategy

Perceptions of Open Educational Resources by Teaching Staff in Higher Education in Ireland

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of Emergency Remote Learning on the perceptions of Open Educational Resources. This was achieved by comparing the perspectives of academic teaching staff in this research with those documented in pre-COVID-19 studies. A total of 105 participants from 16 institutions in Ireland were surveyed using a combination of quantitative and qualitative questions. The findings indicate that the shift to Emergency Remote Learning has not significantly diminished the perceived barriers to Open Educational Resources. Instead, it has brought forward fresh concerns about the implications of Open Education on conventional teaching methods. Although a national policy would grant individual institutions the autonomy to devise courses in line with their mission and strategy, the outcomes of this study highlight the need for practical assistance, training, and guidance at an institutional level.

Evaluating an institutional response to Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI): Applying Kotter’s change model and sharing lessons learned for educational development

Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, there has been a dawning understanding in the higher education sector of ways Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools can challenge the traditional roles of academic teaching staff (e.g., Chan & Tsi, 2023) and support learning by students. For example, Mike Sharples in Sabzalieva and Valentini (2023) identifies ten roles that ChatGPT can play which would all support student learners. Media and sector concern has focused on whether GenAI use by students would disrupt the integrity of degrees and awards and there is a good deal of debate on how to adapt assessment, learning outcomes and curricula to reflect and reward unique human competences associated with a discipline or subject and embrace students’ use of GenAI. Educational development colleagues have been at the vanguard of leading higher education provider reactions and responses to the widespread availability and capabilities of GenAI. This case study reflects on a year of action to lead teaching staff and students as well as institutional policy and practice through a series of steps to enable rapid, proportionate and robust change. We apply Kotter’s (1996) eight stage change model to reflect on the activities, achievements and challenges to date. We do not purport to have finished but rather can see, one year in, that increasingly activity is more embedded into structures, routines, the practice of others, and our work as educational developers. We reflect forward too on the ways we will act next to ‘make change stick’ and on our own personal, professional journeys as educational change leaders, all of whom were new appointments in the educational development centre. We chart how we have been able to innovate and to lead complex educational change at pace.

Perceptions of academic staff and students of senior high school in implementing game-based exercises in physical education classes—a research protocol for a qualitative descriptive study

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on both physical activity and fitness as several pursuits and activities have been restricted. Coupled with this, increased food intake and sedentary lifestyles...

The influence of ethical leadership on teaching performance in public higher learning institutions

Employee performance is often problematic in the competition of organizations in a globalization and industrialization era. The purpose of this research is to investigate how ethical leadership influences teaching effectiveness in Tanzania's Public Higher Learning Institutions. The study focuses on how academic staff teaching performance is affected by role clarification and integrity. The study's target population includes 4,863 academic staff members at public HLIs in Tanzania, and 350 respondents were chosen from this group using a stratified simple random selection technique. Employees at public HLIs are bound to an ethical code of conduct and ethical values, and they are required to perform better so that the entire community can obtain high-quality educational services. Employee performance, on the other hand, is mediocre. A lack of required resources, inadequate leadership, low employee motivation, role ambiguity, and a lack of ethical guidance cause unsatisfactory performance; nevertheless, it is uncertain how much ethical leadership influences employee performance in teaching. The information was acquired by a self-administered questionnaire with closed-ended questions, and it was statistically examined through regression analysis. The findings show that role clarification and integrity have a positive impact on employees' performance in teaching in HLIs. HLI's leadership should take the lead in fostering ethical leadership among its employees by complying with laws and regulations (ethics codes).

Organizational Culture, Work Ethics and Spouse Relations as Determinants of Colleges of Education Academic Staff Job Effectiveness in South-West, Nigeria

The job effectiveness of employees has received significant attention in workplace studies. This is due to the general recognition that this variable can be a major determinant of an organizational working system. The fact that job effectiveness among academic staff in the College of Education may have an impact on institutional quality performance necessitates that closer attention be paid to factors such as organizational culture, work ethics, and spouse relations as potent variables that could influence job effectiveness. This study therefore examined organisational culture, work ethics, and spouse relations as determinants of job effectiveness of academic staff in Colleges of Education in South West, Nigeria. It also looked at the moderating influence of gender, age, and academic qualification on the predictive powers of the independent variables on academic staff job effectiveness. This study adopted a survey research design of ex-post facto type. A sample of 1,146 married academic staff was selected through the multistage sampling technique from a population of 2,898 academic staff in Colleges of Education in South-West, Nigeria. Three research questions and eight hypotheses were answered and tested respectively to guide the study. Four validated instruments were used for data collection; LJEQ (?=0.82), OCQ (?=0.75), LWERS (?=0.78), and WPAT (?=0.78). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, Multiple Regression Analysis, t-test, and analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed, among other things, that to some extent, the level of academic staff job effectiveness was very high in Colleges of Education. The finding further showed that organizational culture, work ethics, and spouse relations significantly predicted academic staff job effectiveness in Colleges of Education (F(3, 1017) = 58.672, p < .05). It was recommended among others that the management of colleges should continuously carry out regular appraisals to determine the level of job effectiveness of the staff and invest in capacity development through training and retreats to align staff with organizational culture and work ethics of the institution.

Fostering student-centered learning with design thinking in higher education

In this reflective article, we describe our experiences using Design Thinking (DT) to increase student participation and challenge the standard roles and ways of working in Higher Education. We put together a design team of students, academic teaching staff, and educational developers. The intentional mix of perspectives facilitates critical discussions about teaching and learning, and the shared responsibilities associated with developing, implementing, and engaging in it. We describe a framework for using DT in Higher Education, which particularly takes advantage of DT’s “user-centered approach” and “bias towards action”. Additionally, we present a practical example from within our project, Students’ University, and discuss its potential in contributing to a more student-centered teaching and learning environment. We conclude by offering a brief summary of the opportunities, challenges, and potential transformations achievable through the application of DT in Higher Education.

Academic teaching staff and their conflicting constructions of international students in UK higher education classrooms

ABSTRACT International students have been commonly constructed by researchers and practitioners using multiple conflicting narratives. For instance, discourses in both research and practice often frame international students as benefits or resources for developing intercultural learning experiences, while simultaneously portraying them as lower quality students who are deficient in academic skills. In this study, we investigate whether academic staff who teach international students have internalised these common and conflicting discourses from the literature and how these constructions ultimately influence their teaching practices. Through interviews with 45 academic staff across disciplines, we highlight the ways staff juxtapose dual constructions of international students as both ‘benefit’ and ‘burden’. Our findings indicate that staff working conditions, including high workloads and massification, lend themselves to problematic ‘othering’ of international students through homogenisation and deficit narratives.

Jordanian State Universities Developmental Centers for Building the Competences of the Academic and Administrative University Teaching Staff

Jordanian State Universities Developmental Centers for Building the Competences of the Academic and Administrative University Teaching Staff

Student Evaluations of Teaching: Understanding Limitations and Advocating for a Gold Standard for Measuring Teaching Effectiveness

The arbitrator’s decision in Ryerson University v Ryerson Faculty Association [2018] CanLII 58446 (ON LA) rejected use of Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs) for academic confirmation and promotion purposes. SETs provide largely quantitative data in response to pre-determined institutional, generic questions using a Likert scale applicable to all teaching modes. SETs may be efficient, but commonly low response rates mean the data is often statistically invalid. Studies of SETs suggest gender, age, race, and other biases are widespread, and they discourage teaching innovation because academics fear student backlash in SET scores. Consequently, SETs are of little value to academics for their professional development, confirmation or promotion, or as evidence for teaching grant or awards processes. The continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on traditional models of teaching has forced many changes in teaching, learning and pedagogy, often with a temporary suspension of SETs to allow teachers to innovate without negative impact on professional development measures. This presents a unique opportunity for us to revisit how the effectiveness of teaching and learning is measured. Academic teaching staff still need evidence of teaching effectiveness, as do sessional staff looking for continued employment and/or a career in academia. This paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of SETs; seeks to equip law academics to advocate for other measures of teaching effectiveness that better reflect their contribution to student learning; and to pave the way for law discipline and institutional level changes that support a gold standard in measuring teaching effectiveness beyond reliance on SETs, for the benefit of teachers in law and other disciplines.

Using the DREAM Methodology for Course Assessment in the Field of ICT-Enabled Education for Sustainability.

This study explores the application of the DREAM methodology for course assessment in three South East Asian universities aiming to embed sustainability and sustainable development goals (SDGs) in multiple academic disciplines enabled by information and communication technologies (ICTs). A mixing of content and thematic analysis was used, which aligns with the underpinning philosophy of the Diagnosing, Reviewing/Reflecting, Explaining, Assessing, Managing (DREAM) methodology. The DREAM methodology integrates five processes, starting from diagnosing, to reviewing/reflecting, explaining, assessing, and, finally, managing. Results show that merging semantic and latent themes has contributed to uncovering what messages students' narratives convey and provided a space for focusing both on the surface and explicit meanings of the data as well as on theory building and policy making. They also show the effectiveness of the DREAM methodology in constructing new knowledge and generating meaningful interpretations and suggestions to teacher educators and other academic teaching staff, as well as higher education institutions' policymakers and planners.

Critical information literacy at the crossroads

In this article, the authors explore whether academic libraries are truly capable of implementing a critical information literacy (CIL) praxis and if there are inherent threats to critical librarianship when incorporating CIL into the curriculum. The survey instrument in this study gathered data from 92 academic library instructors based within the United States. The study identified that 41% of question respondents had received negative comments or criticisms about including CIL in their library curriculum through various formats: online modules, one-shot instruction, course-embedded units, and credit-bearing courses. In addition, 29% of question respondents felt that pushback from academic teaching staff, other librarians/administration, and students threatened the integrity of CIL. This research helps to illustrate the fragility of CIL and how librarians have faced pushback when critical content is incorporated into the information literacy (IL) curriculum.

The (dis)continuities of digital transformation in flexible assessment practice: Educator perspectives on what matters most

The swift proliferation of digital learning technologies has meant that university educators have had to adapt to the demands of changing patterns of work and student learning, with the enactment of academic practice occurring across a wide range of inter-connected, digital, and physical environments. This paper captures digital change work undertaken by teaching staff on seven different undergraduate programmes at a post-92 university in the North-East of England that has prioritised and supported the design and implementation of flexible assessment arrangements. This strategic work has encouraged teaching staff to rethink how the significant resources devoted to assessment might be reconfigured (even reimagined) to support student learning across different modes of delivery. Focus has necessarily shifted onto the interplay between teaching practices and processes of digital transformation and notions of accessibility, flexibility and students partnering with faculty in real-time to provide authentic assessment solutions.Drawing on the experiences of academic teaching staff in Chemical Engineering, Interior Design, Business Management, Policing, Social Work, Education Studies, and Paramedics the paper draws out key insights, challenges, and opportunities for practice innovations, before discussing the pressing considerations for developing and implementing attempts at flexible assessment design. The paper adopts an explicit ‘practice focus’ to negate and challenge the common place view of digital tools and technologies as a separate domain in assessment design. The primary challenge, it will be argued, is one of understanding and adapting a wider repertoire of approaches and practices in assessment to encompass new and multiple contexts that are no longer experienced as separate, virtual, or otherwise in students’ learning experiences. In response, a post-digital perspective is adopted as a means of framing how teaching staff might make judgements, not about assessment in general, but about the flexibility in and of combinations and configurations of diverse practice elements that make up the student assessment experience.Keywords: flexibility; flexible assessment; assessment; post-digital; digital transformationPart of the Special Issue Teaching practices in times of digital transformation <https://doi.org/10.21428/8c225f6e.ac86609b>

The prevalence of low back pain and risk factors in academic teaching staff at King Abdulaziz University Jeddah:\\ A cross-sectional study.

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorder symptoms affecting adults' health in the workplace including academic settings. To estimate the prevalence of LBP among academic teaching staff at King Abdulaziz University, as well as to identify its socio-demographic and work-related risk factors. A cross-sectional study design was used to estimate the prevalence of LBP and the risk factors in 123 academic teaching staff members at King Abdulaziz University. Data on LBP history and disability using Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), work-related and socio-demographic characteristics of study participants were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The prevalence of low back pain data was analyzed using frequency and percentage descriptive statistics, and Chi-square was used to identify group differences. A total of 123 academic teaching staff with a mean age of 37.5 years old of whom 79 (64.2%) were females and 44 (35.8%) were males completed a self-administrative questionnaire. Using a self-rating scale, approximately a quarter of academic teaching staff had moderate disability 25.2%; 4.9% had a severe disability; only one subject 0.8% was crippled. There has been a significant relationship between the number of years of experience and the extent of low back disability (P < 0.05). The Chi-square test revealed 56.3% of takes part with 11-15 years of experience have moderate disability relative to those with 0-5 years of experience (11.1%). There was a trend towards significance among academic teaching staff for the effect of the faculty stream on low back disability (P = 0.077, Chi-square test revealed teaching staff in the medical stream had the highest percentage of participates with minimal disability (78.7%) whereas in the scientific stream had the lowest percentage of minimal disability (52%). The findings of this study have shown that there is a major problem of low back pain among academic staff at King Abdulaziz University and that the situation in other higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia is changing.