The tradition in educational development is to work within institutions, often grouping people of similar roles from different academic fields for a common purpose, as in the orientation of new lecturers or provision of teaching assistant workshops for graduate students. Furthermore, development activities conventionally focus on one dimension of…

Self-study is a process of examining our beliefs and actions and exploring questions of practice that arise in particular contexts; the provisional answers we formulate present implications for practice. If we approach self-study guided by an ethic of authenticity, it can be an effective approach to the scholarship of teaching and learning, and…

In an increasingly global higher education environment, many universities are taking their educational services overseas. One model of overseas provision is through transnational (offshore) education. Transnational teaching challenges the prevailing understanding of an academic role at every level. Transnational teachers are expected to work in…

This text suggests a way of framing academic work and outlines a design for a preparatory event based on this understanding. It conceives academic work as "practical activity" and potential "praxis" in emergence by focusing on four issues: how can I do this work (tactical stance), what can I accomplish and achieve in it (political), why are my…

This paper describes the use of action learning groups to develop the teaching practice of postgraduate research students (PGRs) who are engaged in teaching and/or supporting the learning of students in their departments. Evaluation of the intervention is described from the academic developer and the participant perspective. From this evaluation…

More than 40 years after its beginnings, academic development stands uncertainly on the threshold of becoming a profession or discipline in its own right. While it remains marginal to the dominant stories of the university, it has become central to the institution's contemporary business. This Research Note describes an enquiry that uses a…

At a time when questions are being asked about the identity and purpose of academic development, this paper seeks to address these questions within the context of one country in which educational development has been actively supported. This study considers a narrative of the complex and contradictory reality of educational development in the…

Since the first postgraduate certificate in higher education teaching and learning was offered in Australia in the late 1970s, similar courses have become a major part of academic development in universities in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. This paper describes the outcomes of a survey designed to determine the key higher…

Seventy-seven new academics--59 at a large, public university in the UK and 18 at a medium-sized, private comprehensive university in the USA--were asked to read an extract of an article on the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and mark the text according to categories of difficulty or dislike. Analysis of the data revealed six main…

Nurse education is characterised by dissonance, ambiguity and uncertainty. Such a context makes demands on the educator's authenticity or sense of self. This paper reports an attempt to provide a space where dissonance, ambiguity and uncertainty could be held, tolerated and examined and where authenticity could be recovered or developed through…

The aim of the study is to deepen our understanding of factors which students experience as important in learning, in order to improve the quality of teaching and curriculum planning. A total of 132 veterinary students participated in the study by answering a questionnaire containing open-ended questions. Most of the comments on factors enhancing…

Interviews and a survey were conducted to assess both the structure and content of mentoring and advising provided to early-career faculty in geography. Results indicated three broad conditions for structuring effective mentoring: (1) regular, proactive meetings; (2) engaging diverse groups of individuals within and outside of a department; and…

Online learning is expanding rapidly today in many Canadian universities. Fuelled by Canada's unprecedented broadband access, online teaching is creating new challenges for faculty and new responsibilities for educational developers. Although there is adequate literature with regard to faculty thinking about course planning in general, there are…

This research study describes the experiences and perceptions of an instructor and an instructional design specialist who collaborated on the design and implementation of a university course using a new course design process. Findings uncovered differences between an informal collaboration process and the adaptation of that process for…

This research note discusses a current project that aims to develop an understanding of influences on the continuing professional development practices of academics (academic development) working in higher education in England. In this piece, the author outlines the research, its theoretical basis and key concerns before concluding by inviting…