Amani Bell

Building community in academic settings: the importance of flexibility in a structured mentoring program

Academic mentoring is increasingly being used by many universities as a tool to enhance the quality of research‐led teaching, promote cross‐faculty collaboration and encourage a mentoring culture and community. This article reports on a pilot project established to investigate the benefits of building flexibility into a structured academic mentoring program at the University of Sydney. Twenty‐six academics from the Faculty of Business and Economics and the Faculty of Education and Social Work participated in the program. The mentors ranged in position from lecturer to professor and the mentees from associate lecturer to senior lecturer. Flexible arrangements were shown to be important in a variety of ways, from the pairing of mentor with mentee, to focussing on issues of work survival and life balance, research outcomes and career advancement. The project highlighted the lower number of male academics involved in formal mentoring, which merits further exploration. All participants reported positive outcomes, although refinement of the pairing process was recommended. A variety of unanticipated outcomes was reported by mentees.

Students’ perceptions of the usefulness of marking guides, grade descriptors and annotated exemplars

Grade descriptors, marking guides and exemplars are generally accepted to have a positive impact in assisting students’ understanding of assessment task requirements and standards, but little is known about how students use such resources. This paper provides insight into the perceptions of first-year students of the usefulness of grade descriptors, marking criteria and annotated exemplars. Of the 119 students who provided their reflections on the resources, 87% found the resources to be useful. Students’ responses about the usefulness of the resources revealed two main standpoints: those (1) seeking precise guidance and (2) happy with ‘an idea’ of standards. A thematic analysis identified 10 subthemes which were related to these standpoints. There was a strong relationship between students seeking precise guidance and requests for even more exemplars, while those happy with only an ‘idea’ of standards felt the resources largely gave them what they needed and assisted their learning. We discuss some implications of these findings.

Supporting the reflective practice of tutors: what do tutors reflect on?

Effective self-reflection is a key component of excellent teaching. We describe the types of self-reflection identified in tutors’ reflective statements following a peer observation of teaching exercise. We used an adapted version of the categories developed by Grushka, McLeod and Reynolds in 2005 to code text from 20 written statements as technical (26% of comments), practical (36% of comments) and critical (33% of comments). Tutors also wrote about the affective aspects of the exercise and the majority of such comments were positive. Most tutors reflected in a holistic way about their teaching, noting the importance of getting the technical aspects right while also being concerned about pedagogical matters and issues beyond the classroom. The exercise was an effective way to prompt tutors to reflect on their teaching and helped tutors articulate and formalise their learning from the peer observation activity. Suggestions for further exploration of the reflective practice of tutors are provided.

How tutors understand and engage with reflective practices

Interviews with six tutors revealed the ways in which they thought about reflection, and what forms of reflective practice were part of their teaching. The tutors saw a variety of benefits of reflection, including improving their teaching. There was a focus on reflecting before and after teaching, but few examples of reflection while teaching. Reflection was triggered by negative events and by positive feedback. Reflection on teaching was mainly an individual process; however some tutors engaged in proximal, informal discussions about their teaching. Implications for practice, such as how to support reflection-in-action, are considered.

Learning by observing a peer’s teaching situation

This article reports on a study of academics who observed their colleagues’ teaching at a large research-intensive university in Australia. These academics had completed peer observation as part of a foundations programme designed for those new to teaching or new to the university. Survey responses and interview transcripts form the basis of an investigation of academics’ experience of observation, and whether the experience led academics to change their teaching practice. The results provide evidence for reconsidering how academics learn about teaching from observing peers. There is support for the premise that academics learn from observing teaching, an approach distinct from those more common in higher education, such as being observed, or observing with the aim of providing feedback for colleagues. Recommendations for those interested in developing the teaching of academics through peer observation are discussed.

Students as ambassadors and researchers of assessment renewal: puzzling over the practices of university and academic life

Abstract Engaging students as partners in learning, teaching, and curriculum renewal is driven by different agendas, and takes multiple forms. Although the research is clear on the ethical necessity of student participation in these efforts, the institutional challenges remain ongoing and writ large. This article offers an account of an innovative students-as-partners initiative at the University of Sydney, in which six undergraduates were engaged as student ambassadors to participate in and research the institution’s learning and teaching conference – the Sydney Teaching Colloquium. While students have regularly been sought out as contributors to, and representatives of, the student voice, the initiative marked a significant departure from the university’s tendency to rely on student feedback surveys and committee representation as its main institutionalised forms of student voice. Over four months, these student ambassadors worked with the central academic development unit to plan, execute, research, and evaluate a programme of activity designed to enhance authentic student participation in curriculum renewal. This article – conceived and co-written with these students – is in part, their reflective account of what they learned about universities: how they are organised and enact assessment curriculum change designed to improve student learning. Their reflections remind us that in order for them to feel genuinely engaged as partners, more needs to be done to help students learn about how and why academics and universities operate as they do.

Peer observation of teaching: the case for learning just by watching

Peer observation and peer review of teaching are much lauded in academic and educational development circles. They refer to a process where academics have their teaching observed by a colleague and...

Transformative and troublesome: reflective blogging for professional learning about university teaching

ABSTRACT The complexities of being an academic mean that there is often no time or space to reflect on teaching, and on academic life in general. In this study, four academics set up a private blog to share reflections on teaching. While initial commitment to the reflective blogging process was good, over time this declined. After 9 months of intermittent communication, we decided to wrap up the project and examine the experience. A qualitative analysis of the group’s reflective posts and related emails revealed themes related to emotions, space and time in academic experience. We discuss why the blog space did not work as anticipated, and how such ‘troublesome’ spaces may, paradoxically, be viewed as transformative.

Supporting peer observation of teaching: Collegiality, conversations, and autonomy

Abstract Little is known about how university leaders approach the complex task of supporting peer observation of teaching in their Faculties. This paper explores the experiences of four Associate Deans of Learning and Teaching at a research-intensive university in Australia. Interviews revealed three different approaches to supporting peer observation of teaching: a focus on the benefits of observing; a focus on collegiality and conversations between teaching staff; and a focus on autonomy of choice for teaching staff. These approaches are likely the result of disciplinary differences, personal experiences and institutional pressures. It is clear that Associate Deans who are leading peer observation of teaching balance the needs and agency of their staff against institutional and cultural factors. Recommendations for further research and practical implications for leadership are discussed.

The potential of student narratives to enhance quality in higher education

Abstract University policies are increasingly developed with reference to students’ learning experiences, with a focus on the concept of the ‘student voice’. Yet the ‘student voice’ is difficult to define and emphasis is often placed on numerical performance indicators. A diverse student population has wide-ranging educational experiences, which may not be easily captured within the broad categories provided by traditional survey tools, which can drown out the rich, varied and gradual processes of individual development. There is no single tool that can be used to measure students’ experiences. This paper draws on findings from four narrative inquiry studies, carried out in the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, to illustrate how a narrative approach could be used to complement performance indicators. This provides a richer context for educators’ understanding of students’ experiences and for supporting and setting institutional agendas.