Role In Academic Development Research Articles

CHAPTER 5: Rethinking Support for University Teachers in the Context of a Decolonising Higher Education: The Role of Academic Developers

<b>CHAPTER 5:</b> Rethinking Support for University Teachers in the Context of a Decolonising Higher Education: The Role of Academic Developers

Unveiling mode effects in grade 1 vocabulary assessment: the intriguing influence of test mode

BackgroundVocabulary knowledge plays a pivotal role in academic development, particularly among Grade 1 students. To support students in their academic development, effective assessment instruments in educational settings are crucial. The GraWo (Graz Vocabulary Test) is introduced as a tool designed to evaluate receptive vocabulary in German-speaking countries in print and in digital mode.ObjectivesThis study aims to investigate mode effects in the GraWo among Grade 1 students, comparing vocabulary gains in digital and print versions. Additionally, it explores the influence of student characteristics, such as gender and language status, and examines item-level differences between the two modes in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of test performance.DesignThe research design entails a longitudinal approach, following children (n = 421) from the beginning to the end of Grade 1, varying the test modes (digital or print) only at second measurement (40% receiving the print version), while at first measurement all children worked with the digital version.ResultsBaseline comparisons of test mode groups indicated almost no significant differences. In terms of growth in vocabulary during Grade 1, an ANOVA with repeated measures revealed a main effect for time, indicating increased performance in both groups at second measurement. Moreover, an interaction effect between time and test mode group showed that the print group exhibited higher gains in the vocabulary test compared to the digital group. Further analysis using MNLFA confirmed that the print mode group outperformed the digital group overall and that four items were also individually affected by differences between the digital and print versions.ConclusionThe study emphasizes the need for nuanced investigations into the impact of test mode on student performance and suggests incorporating observational methods to comprehensively understand student interactions with digital and print modes. In acknowledging potential variations in performance, educators and policymakers need to tailor practices to accommodate the demands of hybrid test procedures and to consider the role of digital competence in shaping testing experiences.

Adaptation and validation the integration scale for Indonesian university students: academic and social

Student integration is a student’s ability to integrate into the social and academic systems of the university. Integration of students has been shown to affect how well they do on campus, which helps them finish higher education. The integration scale (IS) measures integration ability that meets the principle of simplicity. The integration scale is formed of 16 items divided into five aspects and two factors. This study aimed to adapt and validate IS instruments for the Indonesian university student population. The research methods complied with the six-step procedures the International Test Commission set out. A total of 309 participants were undergraduate students. They were between 17 and 23 years old (mean=19.42, SD=1.11 years), with 247 females (79.94%) and 62 males (20.06%). The results of the confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a total of 16 items were valid and reliable. Three models that have acceptable fits were confirmed. The results demonstrate that the Indonesian integration scale measures undergraduate student integration with comparable precision to the original scale. This scale can identify students who require academic and social integration assistance and evaluate the institution’s role in academic development.

Rethinking support for university teachers in the context of decolonising higher education: The role of academic developers

The diverse histories of each of the three formerly different higher education institutions that became NorthWest University (NWU) continue to encourage academic developers to think strategically on effective ways to offer responsive academic development support to the students and academic staff. Tasked with a mandate to render academic development support to academic staff, postgraduate, and undergraduate students to achieve equity (not equality) of outcomes, NWU's Faculty Teaching and Learning Support (FTLS) directorate continues to rethink its strategy and approach in fulfilling its mandate long after the merging of the three historically different institutions on 1 January 2004. The directorate understands that there are common, fundamental, and core student academic development and support, and academic professional development needs across the three campuses that should be aligned, yet our engagement has shown repeatedly that such support is always situational and, inadvertently, contextual. Drawing on New Literacy Studies as theoretical lens to advance its argument, this paper used the literature review method to present the rationale for a restructured FTLS work strategy at NWU to respond better to demands for supporting the academic project in the context of decolonising higher education.

READING STRATEGIES USED BY STUDENTS OF DIFFERENT LEVELS OF ENGLISH READING PROFICIENCY

Reading plays a vital role in academic development, particularly when learners have to work over a huge amount of foreign language materials for their own specialist subjects (McDonough &amp; Shaw, 2013). Strengthening English reading ability is necessary for students to promote individual ability in university education. This study was conducted to explore if there were any differences in the use of reading strategies among university students of different levels of self-rated English reading proficiency. 957 students from 6 universities in the North of Vietnam participated in the study. The results of the study through the questionnaire adapted from Oxford’s (2013) Self-Strategic Regulation model (S2R) show that there were significant differences in the use of reading strategies among students of different self-rated levels of English reading proficiency, especially between students of good and poor proficiency. The highest frequencies in the use of each strategy category were in the group of self-rated good readers and the students of the poor group reported the lowest frequencies. The study also reveals individual strategies used the most and the least by each group of students.

The application of S2R strategies in English reading comprehension by university students in Vietnam

Reading plays a vital role in academic development, particularly when learners have to work over a huge amount of foreign language materials for their own specialist subjects (McDonough & Shaw, 2013). Strengthening English reading ability is necessary for students to promote individual ability in university education. One of the most important factors affecting students’ English reading proficiency is their use of reading strategies. This study is taken to explore how Vietnamese university students applied Self-strategic regulation (S2R) strategies in their English reading comprehension. 963 students from 6 universities in the North of Vietnam participated in the study. The results of the study through questionnaire and semi-structure interviews show that the participants used reading strategies at medium level of frequency (M=2.9) when they read general English materials. Cognitive strategies were reported being used the most frequently, followed by Affective strategies, Socio-cultural Interactive and Metastrategies. Of the six most frequently used strategies five fell into the category of Cognitive strategies. All the five least commonly used strategies were of medium and low usage falling into Metastrategy subscale. From the research results some pedagogical recommendations were also proposed to educational administrators, English teachers, students, and English textbook writers as well.

Wise academic development: learning from the ‘failure’ experiences of retired academic developers

ABSTRACTInformed by Constructive Developmental Theory and the Threshold Concepts Framework, we interviewed retired academic developers from four continents and asked them to describe their processes of learning from perceived failures and how they see the role of academic developers in supporting academics through failures. Findings regarding participants’ definitions of failure, ways of making sense of and learning from failure, and recommendations for supporting academic colleagues’ learning from failure are shared through tables, quotations, and poetry. Findings show that ‘wise academic development’ embraces curiosity about failure, integrates the (sometimes) transformative nature of failure, shares the load of sense-making, and cultivates connectedness.

The role of academic developers in embedding high-impact undergraduate research and inquiry in mainstream higher education: twenty years’ reflection

The focus of this article is on the role of academic developers in supporting and influencing undergraduate research and inquiry, a high-impact activity. We examine the levels at which academic developers can influence undergraduate research and inquiry practices by distinguishing between staff and student practices; disciplinary and departmental practices and policies; institutional practices and policies; and national and international practices and policies. Drawing on our experiences over the last 20 years, we discuss the widening of academic development practice and consider who are the academic developers when it comes to embedding undergraduate research and inquiry in mainstream higher education.

Exploring the Effect of Morphological Instruction on Vocabulary Learning among Iranian EFL Learners

Vocabulary knowledge plays a crucial role in academic development and therefore scholastic success (National Reading Panel, 2000). Also, students' vocabulary knowledge expands through a variety of ways. One of the most practicable strategies in vocabulary learning supported by many researchers is using affix knowledge. The purpose of present study is to investigate the effect of morphological instructions on vocabulary learning among Iranian secondary school students. Participants in this study were sixty Iranian secondary school students who were assigned to control group (30) and experimental group (30). A pre-test and post-test comprising two vocabulary tests measuring students’ morphemic analysis of general English words were administered. The data were analyzed using the Independent Sample T-test to determine if there were improvements made in the two measures within each group, and subsequently whether the magnitude of improvement between the two groups were significant. The results indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group in the process of guessing the meanings of complex words depending on the morphological analysis. Furthermore, the results did not show significant differences between Morphological Relatedness Strategy and Morphological Structure Strategy in terms of students' achievements.

The role of academic developers in transforming Bologna regulations to a national and institutional context

Academic developers (ADs) often participate in the implementation of programmes or reforms in higher education. Sometimes they agree with these and sometimes they disagree. This paper discusses possible agentic positions during a genuine policy implementation – the National Qualification Framework at a Norwegian university. Through reflexive interpretation, and by applying concepts from ‘discursive institutionalism’ the process of implementation from the national level to university departments is described and analysed. The actions and arguments of the ADs involved in the process are presented and their educational rationale is described. The ADs’ agency is discussed through educational and political science concepts and in light of power and of a tension between two competing world views: professional accountability and professional responsibility.

8. Strategic Approaches to Academic Development: Relationship to Learning and Teaching

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.

The fragmented route to a whole institution approach to integrating learning development. Reporting on a work in progress

This paper considers the pathway to changing institutional approaches to learning development, in particular the introduction of integrated learning development. A piecemeal, fragmented approach is described in relation to a whole institution approach. The role of academic development and links to learning development are considered. One initiative within the overall project is explained in detail to give a flavour of the project and to explain the role of individual initiatives in creating opportunities for learning development and in contributing to a process of change.

Academic development and educational developers: perspectives from different European higher education contexts

This paper reports research in five European universities, in four countries between 2004 and 2008. The research explored and compared institutional contexts for academic development and the interpretations and reflections of a number of academic developers on the organizational position and role of academic development, and of ‘developers'. A nuanced notion of ‘service’, commitment to scholarship, (inter)disciplinary flexibility, a strong ethos of learner‐centredness and care for and support of both students and academics come to the fore across national and institutional boundaries. Evident, too, is the idea of a diversified profession in development, emergence and consolidation. Cet article rend compte d'une recherche ayant été entreprise au sein de cinq universités européennes, dans quatre pays, entre les années 2004 et 2008. La recherche a exploré et comparé les contextes institutionnels de développement pédagogique ainsi que les interprétations et réflexions de conseillers pédagogiques au sujet de la position organisationnelle et du rôle du développement pédagogique, de même que des ‘conseillers’ eux‐mêmes. La notion nuancée de ‘service’, l'engagement à l'égard d'une démarche érudite (commitment to scholarship), la flexibilité (inter)disciplinaire, une forte éthique de centration sur l'apprenant ainsi qu'un souci et un soutien à l'égard des étudiants et des universitaires se dégagent de la recherche, indépendamment des frontières nationales et institutionnelles. L'idée d'une profession diversifiée en développement, en émergence et en consolidation se dégage aussi de la recherche.