This study explored the way in which detailed data about how time is spent on classroom activities, generated by the FILL+ tool (Framework for Interactive Learning in Lectures), can stimulate professional conversations about teaching practices and aid reflection for STEMM lecturers. The lecturers felt that personalised data provided an unbiased…

This paper uses insider research within a Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) framework to examine the lived induction-to-teaching experiences of twelve new academics at a case-study Northern UK university. A CHAT lens foregrounds contradictions as a source for change in the induction-to-teaching process. Data generated through…

In this paper, we describe the underlying mechanisms that both facilitate and limit the formation of successful educational leadership of participants of the 'Senior Fellow Programme': a professional development programme in conjunction with a career track leading up to a teaching-focused full professorship. Based on an analysis of the…

We summarize the experiences and outcomes for 'discipline-based education specialists' involved with a large-scale, 10-year initiative: the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative at the University of British Columbia. A key aspect of the initiative was the hiring of these specialists into academic departments where they held graduate-level…

This study attempts to explore changes in teaching conceptions after a transnational project to introduce new pedagogical methods in Indonesia. The project involved a consortium of European universities as mentors and Indonesian universities as mentees, piloting methods based on a student-centred learning approach. We analysed vignettes from the…

We explored the experiences of and outcomes for students and staff working in partnership on an academic development project aiming to enhance the inclusivity of science curricula across a faculty. Quantitative survey data revealed changes in student and staff perceptions, including increases in sense of belonging for both, perceptions of fairness…

Educational leaders are responsible for educational change, and many scholars have argued that academic developers (ADs) have expertise with the potential to influence educational change. We argue, however, that ADs' influence depends on how educational leaders perceive educational change and position ADs' roles and responsibilities in relation to…

Informal academic conversations constitute a valuable addition to the repertoire of academic development initiatives. This article proposes that a Change Laboratory methodology may enhance the productivity of such conversations. Support for this proposal comes from a detailed analysis of participants' transformation of conversations on individual…

This study focuses on an intentional syllabus redesign prompting faculty in a research-led university to adopt agentic engagement practices for accreditation purposes. To develop this, a syllabus component was designed to align student agency with learning outcomes and assessment via lesson-specific action-oriented statements. Both as course…

Increasing instructional quality in higher education is a key goal of educational development (ED) work, yet demonstrating complex outcomes remains challenging and lacks practical guidance. Evaluating ED services often relies on a reductionist approach characterized by linear assumptions of causal pathways to measure the extent to which…

When stable and reliable practices were disrupted due to the global pandemic, university teachers were forced to promptly adapt. Through Q sorting and deliberative dialogues, this study reports how university teachers shifted their normative values concerning successful future learning environments during the first year of the pandemic. Results…

This reflection centres on how existing tensions in academic development work were magnified and challenged as competing imperatives sought to (re)define the roles of academic developers at a UK university during the pandemic in 2020. In a situation of heightened anxiety amongst all stakeholders, issues relating to professional agency, expertise,…

This reflection uses poetry to illustrate how the COVID-19 pandemic uniquely illuminates the holistic nature of academic development. The virus stripped away the pretence that the success of higher education rests on select parts of the whole. We are all precarious and expendable; we are all integral and important. Each one of us, each part of us,…

This study considers the extent to which a professional development programme for educational leaders in a research-intensive university contributes to participants' adaptive expertise in the domain of leading educational change. We evaluated the programme by asking participants to execute an authentic task at the beginning and end of the…

Institutional approaches to curriculum development often privilege outcome over process. This paper explores the use of an adapted Change Academy approach, originally developed for teams from different institutions, to supporting teams from different disciplines within the same institution. The approach was evaluated through analysis of the…