Lorraine Godden

Widening our evaluative lenses of formal, facilitated, and spontaneous academic development

As conceptions of academic development expand to encompass a more diverse and flexible set of supports, traditional approaches to evaluation, including impact studies of formal programming, become insufficient. A program may appear ineffective when evaluation ignores additional supports that interact to counteract implementation or alternatively satisfy individuals’ needs. Recognizing the inherently interactive nature of academic development within systemically complex social contexts, this paper examines four evaluative lenses (traditional, ecological framework, complexity theory, and developmental) applied to graduate students’ support. By selecting an appropriate evaluation lens, based on local purposes and context, academic developers are better positioned to assess and improve supports provided.

Collaborative application of the Adaptive Mentorship© model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe a qualitative action research study into the collective experiences of establishing a mentoring culture within a research triad consisting of a university professor together with a doctoral student and a masters level student who served as research assistants (RAs). This paper documents a process of ongoing reflection, which was used to gain insight about the personal selves, the professional selves, the role of being a RA, and concepts, ideas, and frameworks that might be useful in fulfilling the work inside and outside of the collaborative research project. Design/methodology/approach – A Faculty of Education within a Canadian university provided the context for the study. A large-scale, pan-Canadian document analysis research project served as the context for mentorship activities. The Adaptive Mentorship© model (Ralph and Walker, 2010) was the tool used to document and analyze experiences of working on the research project. Completion of individual m...

The design and evaluation of a master of science program in anatomical sciences at Queen's University Canada: Design and Evaluation of a Master's Program

The purpose of this study was to describe the design and evolution of a unique and successful Master of Science program in anatomical sciences at one Canadian post‐secondary institution and to evaluate its long‐term impact on student learning. This program prepares students to teach anatomy and design curricula in the anatomical sciences and is structured around three pillars of competency—content (disciplinary knowledge and transferable skills), pedagogy, and inquiry. Graduates of the program from the last ten years were surveyed, to better understand the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind they have adopted and implemented since completion. Interest was taken in identifying aspects of the program that students found particularly beneficial and areas that needed to be further developed. Based on the findings, this program has been a highly valuable experience for the graduates especially in helping them develop transferable skills, and grow as individuals. The hope is that other institutions that have similar programs in place or are considering developing them would benefit from this description of the program design and the sharing of the lessons learned.