Ruth Neumann

Teaching and learning in their disciplinary contexts: a conceptual analysis

The growing literature on undergraduate teaching and learning currently lacks an organising framework. This article sets out to provide one, distinguishing between hard pure, soft pure, hard applied and soft applied fields of study, and hence making it possible to highlight generally unremarked similarities and differences between the various research findings. In doing so, it draws extensively on the relevant literature, offering separate analyses of knowledge-related and socially related studies. The former embody curriculum, assessment and cognitive purpose, while the latter encompass group characteristics of teachers, types of teaching method and student learning requirements. The concluding section draws out the main implications for policy and practice related to staff development, computer-based learning, assessment of student learning and quality measures.

Disciplinary Differences and University Teaching

In the past decade the importance and quality of teaching have received increased attention from policy makers as well as from higher educationalists. However, studies of university teaching and learning essentially remain focused on generic aspects, thus belying their complexity and diversity. This is in contrast to the recognition that academics identify most strongly with their discipline. Further, Bechers classic study of Academic Tribes and Territories demonstrated the strong interconnection between disciplinary culture and disciplinary knowledge. This article draws together existing, but largely scattered, research findings on teaching and learning under an established framework of broad disciplinary classifications. In doing so, it examines the nature of teaching, teaching and learning processes, and teaching outcomes across the different disciplines. The picture presented demonstrates scope for future macro, meso and micro level studies to seek explanations for systematic disciplinary differences. It suggests how the results of this research can be used to inform institutional and government policy to make the governance of higher education fairer and more effective.

Doctoral Differences: Professional Doctorates and PhDs Compared.

For more than a decade professional doctorates in Australia have continued to grow and diversify across a broadening array of disciplines. An empirical study of “The Doctoral Education Experience” in Australian universities included an examination of doctoral experiences in departments offering both PhD and professional doctorates. This paper discusses professional doctorates in education, management, law and the creative arts, remarking on similarities and differences found between PhD and professional doctorate programs, providing an insight into practice. Three specific areas are discussed. The first is the recruitment and selection of students, student choice of professional doctorates and perceived career benefits. The second area is the structure and organisation of PhD and professional doctorate programs, including the identification of the research topic. The third area is the perceived status of professional doctorates vis‐à‐vis the PhD. The findings are discussed within the context of government policy on postgraduate education and the emerging literature on professional doctorates. The concluding section of the paper considers the issue of differentiation between the doctorates and possible future developments. Within the context of Australian higher education the main difference could become the capacity to pay: attempts to impose fees in advance for professional doctorates are reinforced by recent government policy on student financing.

Communicating Student Evaluation of Teaching Results: Rating Interpretation Guides (RIGs).

In the past decade student evaluation of teaching has expanded within Australian universities, with the results of evaluations increasingly being used to make judgements about teaching quality, career advancement and the funding of teaching. An important component of any student evaluation of teaching system is, therefore, the communication of rating results in a manner that enables fair and meaningful interpretations and comparisons of results by the wide range of evaluation users. This paper describes the development in one Australian university of Rating Interpretation Guides (RIGs) which take into account the influence of different teaching contexts on ratings and encourage evaluation users to explore ratings in terms of a range of scores rather than focusing on a single mean score. RIGs represent an important innovation in the communication of evaluation results for both formative and summative evaluation purposes. They are designed to enable meaningful interpretations of ratings which in turn will encourage appropriate use of results.

From PhD to initial employment: the doctorate in a knowledge economy

Within universities there is often still an implicit assumption that the doctorate is preparation for an academic career. Yet for over a decade there has been evidence in a number of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries that there are increasing numbers of students undertaking a doctorate and that larger proportions of doctoral graduates are taking up non-academic employment. This article presents findings from a study of Australian doctoral employment destinations for the period 2000–2007. These findings are also discussed in terms of disciplinary and institutional variations. Comparisons are made with European and US studies on employment trends, contributing to a more international picture of doctoral outcomes in terms of employment. The study utilises a public policy framework within the context of the development of knowledge economies, outcomes-based judgements on education and the professionalisation of the doctorate in Australia and other OECD countries.

Research and Scholarship: Perceptions of Senior Academic Administrators.

This paper reports selected findings from the first stage of a study on the research role within academic work in Australian universities. These findings come from the interview component of the study and discuss the perceptions that senior academic administrators hold on ‘research’ and ‘scholarship’. The analysis of the interviews indicates that ‘research’ covers a wide and varied range of activities across the disciplines found in a university and therefore needs to be defined broadly. However, ‘research’ has three major attributes: new knowledge, enquiry and publication of results and views. ‘Scholarship’ was perceived to be part of the research process, providing the context for good research by adding the element of breadth to the depth of ‘research’. In addition, ‘scholarship’ describes the manner of pursuing a serious, sustained line of enquiry as well as the dissemination process.

Diversity, Doctoral Education and Policy

This paper argues the importance of diversity for research and doctoral education and the key role of policy in encouraging it. It considers the impact of higher education policy on diversity in doctoral education through the three prevailing themes of cost, concentration and relevance, illustrating in each instance both positive and negative influences. It is a time of dynamic change where the role and purposes of doctoral study and the role and production of knowledge in society are changing. Policy plays an important part in leading and shaping this development.

Policy and practice in doctoral education

This article presents findings from a national study on doctoral education undertaken at a time of new government policies on funding of higher education and doctoral research in particular. The article discusses the overall policy developments in Australia and then examines the impact of policy on practice in doctoral education. Particular focus is given to changes in the nature of the research topic, supervision practices and student selection. The findings presented highlight the swift and very powerful effect that government policy can have on core processes of academic work and the student research experience, as well as the differential impact of government policy across disciplines and institutional contexts. The article argues that the introduction of a performance‐based funding model for research students is altering supervision practices, as well as the scale and management of research topics. The article also argues that the reduction of academic staff numbers in research‐intensive universities in the humanities is weakening existing research concentrations, and that in the sciences and engineering a strong risk minimisation approach to research topic and student selection is emerging.

Researching the Teaching-Research Nexus: A Critical Review.

The question of whether or not a nexus exists between the teaching and research roles of academics is often contentious and has been the subject of much research and writing over this century. This paper critically examines a large portion of this body of literature. The first section provides a historical and an organisational perspective on the evolution of the teaching and research roles of academic work. It then reviews the higher education literature which reflects three approaches to examining the teaching-research nexus: personal commentaries and analyses; correlations of measures of teaching effectiveness as measured by student evaluations and measures of research productivity based predominantly on publication counts; and surveys of academics of their work preferences, time spent on teaching and research activities and perceptions of academic rewards. The paper then presents some recent investigations of the teaching-research nexus which have attempted to take different investigative approaches, and concludes by suggesting future research directions.

The ‘invisible’ part‐time research students: a case study of satisfaction and completion

Internationally, the attention being paid by governments to research education is growing in line with the increasing numbers of students undertaking research degrees. With this emphasis on research students it is, however, becoming clear that there is a specific category of research student that has been overlooked to the point that they are ‘invisible’, in both policy and research terms: part‐time students. This article addresses this gap by presenting an analysis of the satisfaction of Australian part‐time research graduates, and a case study of predictors of their completion. The Australian example provides valuable lessons that can impact on the changes and features of research student programs in other countries. Part‐time doctoral students were found to have faster completion times than full‐time doctoral students, in equivalent‐time terms. In terms of satisfaction with their student experience, part‐time research graduates are less satisfied with the infrastructure support provided, and have a less favourable perception of the research climate of their department, than full‐time research students. More specifically, the analyses in the case study highlight the varying issues and demands that are the best predictors of time to completion by mode of study for doctoral students.