Search results

The purpose of this paper is to bring together the findings of two studies investigating the value of academic libraries to teaching and research staff in higher education institutions. The Working Together (WT) project was an international study, funded by SAGE Publishing, investigating the value of academic libraries for teaching and research staff in the USA, UK and Scandinavia. The Raising Academic Impact (RAI) project was an initiative of the University of Nottingham (UoN) aimed at increasing the impact of academic librarians in departments across the university by assessing perception and awareness of current library services and future needs of academic staff.

The WT project was conducted during Spring 2012, comprising a series of eight case studies and an online survey exploring the case study experiences and findings within their wider regional and academic context. One was conducted at the UoN, and included the RAI project. The RAI project was originally a four-phase initiative conducted by academic librarians at the UoN. The first phase, which is reported in this paper, consisted of a survey of teaching and research staff, distributed in summer 2012, investigating awareness, uptake and value of existing services, as well as demand for new library services.

Determining the value of academic libraries is a challenging task as very little evidence (beyond the anecdotal) is collected. Perceptions of library value vary greatly between what librarians think the value of their library is to academic staff and how academic staff actually value their library. Information literacy and study skills teaching are greatly valued by academic staff. Despite current efforts, research support is still limited, owing to a cultural barrier hampering greater collaboration between libraries and academic staff in this area. Communication and marketing are keys to increase the value of academic libraries to teaching and research staff.

This paper presents the key findings from the two studies in parallel. It is anticipated that these discoveries will be of interest to the wider library community to help libraries develop services which are closely linked to the needs of teaching and academic staff.

Teaching and unit evaluations surveys are used to assess the quality of teaching and the quality of the unit of study. An analysis of teaching and unit evaluation survey practices in Australian universities suggests significant changes. One key change discussed in the paper is the shift from voluntary to mandatory use of surveys with the results used to assess and reward academic staff performance. The change in the direction is largely driven by the introduction of performance‐based funding as part of quality assurance arrangements. The paper aims to outline the current trends and changes and the implications in the future such as increased scrutiny of teaching and intrusion to academic autonomy.

The paper is based on the analysis of current teaching and unit evaluation practices across the Australian university sector. The paper presents the case of an Australian university that has introduced performance‐based reward using various measures to assess and reward academic staff such as the outcome of student satisfaction surveys. The analysis of external quality audit findings related to teacher and unit evaluations is also presented.

The findings suggest a shift in trend from the use of voluntary to mandatory tools to assess and reward quality teaching. The case of an Australian university outlined in the paper and the approach taken by seven other universities is largely driven by performance‐based funding. One of the key concerns for many in higher education is the intrusion of academic autonomy with increased focus on outcomes and less emphasis on resources needed to produce excellence in learning and teaching and research. The increased reliance on student happiness as a measure of educational quality raises the questions on whether high student satisfaction would strengthen academic rigour and student attainment of learning outcomes and generic skills which are seen as key factors in graduate exit standards.

The renewal of quality assurance and performance‐based funding using student satisfaction as a measure of educational quality will result in increased use of student voice to assess learning and teaching outcomes. Such direction will increase the accountability on academics to improve student experience and the measures will be used to assess academic staff performance.

The paper outlines the trends and changes in the teacher and unit evaluations in Australian universities and its implications in the future. The paper also provides a case of an Australian university that has recently made teacher and unit evaluations compulsory with the results used in academic staff annual performance review and linking reward with performance outcomes.

Little attention has been given to the preparedness of academic staff for their role as research trainers or supervisors. In addition, limited work has been done on this topic in developing countries such as the Philippines. The Philippines is an important case, as it is a national priority to develop university research and improve research training practices, and there is a graduate skill deficit (in terms of critical thinking, academic writing, and data analysis skills). The purpose of this paper is to identify the challenges confronting the government and universities that relate to academic staff development, research supervision, and staff and student support, involving 53 government and university executives and academics from the Philippines.

The survey involved the participation of selected government and university executives, including the zonal research centre directors, via interviews; and survey of academic staff via a questionnaire.

Results indicate that the most critical challenges for government and universities in the Philippines relate to effectively meeting the dual demands of teaching and research, building a critical mass of researchers, and developing excellent research skills and competences among staff and students.

The paper is the first to study research training and supervision in Philippine universities, providing a case for the Philippines internationally, which is less featured in research.

This paper aims to provide an introductory overview and selected annotated bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy across all library types.

It introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2014.

It provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

This article addresses the experience of academic developers and academic staff during the transition of assessment practices in an English-speaking international university campus in South East Asia. The project examined in the study was born out of the institutional strategy focused on producing graduates ready for employment.

A case study from a Business discipline highlights key factors in curricula change from the academic perspective.

This study focuses on what it meant for the academic teaching and academic development teams to work together to bridge the broadly strategic with the local practical implementation. Potential implications for others embarking on academic development within large-scale strategic projects are also provided.

This paper offers a discussion of the symbiotic relationship between management, academic staff and academic developers (Roxå and Mårtensson, 2008) generated by the transition to authentic assessment as a key element in the development of student employability.

In this paper, we describe the recent approaches taken by Loughborough University to provide a quality‐based system for the effective deployment of computer‐assisted assessment (CAA). Specific attention is given to the development of the interdependent roles of two support services. The central CAA unit focuses mainly on providing and improving a quality delivery system, ensuring that the quality threshold is exceeded, and monitors future directions in the field of CAA. The Engineering Teaching and Learning Support Centre (Eng. TLSC) was set up to provide learning and teaching support for engineering academic staff, which includes the development of software and learning technology through provision of free time for the implementation of small projects. We examine the interaction and the synergy of these two services in achieving quality implementation into the curriculum.

The purpose of the paper is to determine the perspectives of diversification of educational services in the conditions of industry 4.0 on the basis of artificial intelligence (AI) training, determine the consequences of this process for academic and teaching staff and to develop recommendations for its practical implementation.

The methods of horizontal, trends and regression analysis are used for studying social consequences of digital modernization of the markets of higher education (for academic and teaching staff). The research is performed by the example of modern Russia on the basis of the statistical data of Federal State Statistics Service and the International Telecommunication Union. The timeframe of the research covers academic years 2000/2001-2018/2019.

It is determined that digital modernization of the sphere of higher education stimulates the reduction of the universities’ need for academic and teaching staff and growth of their unemployment. However, further digital modernization of economy on the basis of breakthrough technologies of industry 4.0 will lead to creation of a new type of educational services that are provided within entrepreneurship of universities – AI training of business. This will ensure development of university entrepreneurship (and reduction of dependence of universities on state financing), as well as growth of the employment opportunities for experts (academic and teaching staff) in the sphere of AI, which will not depend on the number of students, but will be connected to demand for AI training from digital business.

The role of AI training in the structure of production business processes of a university in the conditions of industry 4.0 is determined. The necessity for state stimulation of development of digital business in the modern economic systems is substantiated. It is shown that government has to pay close attention to the issues of support in the sphere of AI and mass distribution of their results. Because of this, it will be possible to control social risks in the sphere of higher education.

This chapter starts by interrogating the notion of teaching excellence. It then moves on to discussing some of the data sources currently used in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to monitor and measure the quality of teaching. What do these sources actually reveal about teaching excellence and how might we make better use of them? From large-scale national censuses like the National Student Survey (NSS) to institutional data sets such as teaching observations, the contribution that each source makes to our understanding of the quality of HE teaching is underexplored and contested. It is argued that there is a need for more transparent debate across HEIs and the sector as a whole about the benefits and limitations of such data as well as greater acknowledgement of the role of collaboration over competition. The chapter concludes that teaching excellence is a marketised misconception of the complex reality of the reciprocal relationship between teaching and learning. Contrary to policy rhetoric and far from encouraging an environment of collegial improvement, it introduces an unhelpful ethos of contrived competition into what is essentially an interdependent relationship underpinned by collective collaboration. It is by focusing attention on the latter where the real gains and insights are likely to be made.

This chapter takes an implementation case study approach to inform project planners, senior academics, and academic developers about the design and implementation of a professional development (PD) program that prepared 700 faculty in an Australian university to reimagine their teaching practice. The catalyst for this transformation was the move from traditional classrooms to next generation learning spaces (NGLS) in the newly constructed and purpose-built environment of RMIT University’s Swanston Academic Building (SAB). The study identifies the challenges and change management issues faced by the project team, faculty, and other stakeholders.

Default teaching styles for many tertiary teachers can replicate the “best” and “worst” practices from their own student experience. As actors in their own classrooms tertiary teachers autonomously create learning environments that they consider appropriate to communicate the content, context, and culture of their particular discipline. The design and implementation of the PD and transition plan took into account the needs and perceptions of staff from each discipline area, the affordances of the new learning spaces, and their associated technologies.

This chapter contributes to a growing body of knowledge about the experience of academic and teaching staff during transition from traditional to NGLS, providing a description of the process undertaken in one university, the outcomes achieved, and the lessons learnt.