Does Accredited Professional Development for Academics Improve Teaching and Learning in Higher Education?

The authors are part of a team delivering accredited programmes in teaching at tertiary level, and have collaborated to examine the impact of their work and that of the team over more than ten years in this area: whether accredited professional development programmes for academics have improved teaching—and students' learning—in higher education. A review of the literature is presented, along with new research undertaken in their home institution. The authors' findings from both the literature and their most recent research indicates a range of benefits for higher education in providing and supporting accredited programmes for educators. However, they have also identified methodological issues in measuring these benefits and impact overall. The chapter discusses this work and connects it with the broader themes of this book. The authors emphasise the importance of effective teaching in the midst of the many complex changes influencing higher education at this time.

Download Full-text

Does Accredited Professional Development for Academics Improve Teaching and Learning in Higher Education?

Professional Development and Workplace Learning ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-8632-8.ch101 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 1847-1866

Author(s):

Claire McAvinia ◽

Roisin Donnelly ◽

Orla Hanratty ◽

Jen Harvey

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Professional Development ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Tertiary Level ◽

Review Of The Literature ◽

Methodological Issues ◽

Home Institution ◽

The Many ◽

New Research ◽

The Impact

Download Full-text

Interdisciplinary Pedagogies in Higher Education

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198733522.013.45 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Debora DeZure

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Problem Solving ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Interdisciplinary Learning ◽

Professional Students ◽

Online Tools ◽

Interdisciplinary Problem Solving ◽

The Many ◽

Impact Of Technology ◽

The Impact

“Interdisciplinary Pedagogies in Higher Education” explores the increasing integration of goals for interdisciplinary learning in American higher education. The chapter begins with working definitions of interdisciplinary learning and the many factors that have led to its proliferation. It then reviews the elaboration of new methods to teach and to assess interdisciplinary learning, emerging models of interdisciplinary problem-solving, and practice-oriented resources and online tools to assist undergraduate, graduate, and professional students and their instructors with interdisciplinary problem-solving and communications in cross-disciplinary and interprofessional contexts. The chapter concludes with the impact of technology, for example, e-portfolios and other digital and technology-enabled tools, and evidence of an emerging body of scholarship of teaching and learning focused on interdisciplinary learning.

Download Full-text

Institutional Accreditation and the Professionalisation of Teaching in the HE Sector

10.5772/intechopen.99805 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lucy Spowart ◽

Rebecca Turner

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Professional Development ◽

Survey Data ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Professional Standards ◽

Institutional Accreditation ◽

League Tables ◽

The Uk ◽

The Impact

Institutional accreditation is an integral part of moves to professionalise teaching and learning in higher education (HE). Despite this growing trend, there is a paucity of literature which examines the benefits and challenges of institutional accreditation. In this chapter we draw on survey data collected in 2020 from 55 HE institutions globally which are accredited by Advance HE to award Fellowships. These teaching Fellowships are aligned to the UK Professional Standards Framework for Teaching and Supporting Learning (UKPSF). Findings show that institutional accreditation supports the career development of teaching-focused academics and impacts on teaching and learning in a number of ways. These impacts include providing an external benchmark, raising the profile and quality of teaching and encouraging teaching-related professional development, including engagement with scholarship in teaching and learning. Accreditation was also found to align with neoliberal agendas of quality, league tables and marketization. The perennial issue of how to evaluate the impact on student learning is something respondents continue to grapple with. Finally, these data demonstrate there is a clear need to develop a more systematic and embedded approach to evaluation that captures the outcomes of teaching-related professional development.

Download Full-text

The Use of Multimedia and its Impact on Bangladeshi EFL Learners at Tertiary Level

International Journal of Language Education ◽

10.26858/ijole.v4i2.12150 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 150

Author(s):

Farzana Sharmin Pamela Islam

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Academic Writing ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

English Language ◽

Capital City ◽

Tertiary Level ◽

Language Classroom ◽

The Difference ◽

The Government ◽

The Impact

As 21st century is the era of modern technologies with different aspects, it offers us to make the best use of them. After tape recorder and overhead projector (OHP), multimedia has become an important part of language classroom facilities for its unique and effective application in delivering and learning lesson. Although in many parts of Bangladesh, a South Asian developing country, where English enjoys the status of a foreign language, the use of multimedia in teaching and learning is viewed as a matter of luxury. However, nowadays the usefulness and the necessity of it are well recognized by the academics as well as the government. The study aims to focus on the difference between a traditional classroom void of multimedia and multimedia equipped classrooms at university level by explaining how multimedia support the students with enhanced opportunity to interact with diverse texts that give them more in-depth comprehension of the subject. It also focuses on audio-visual advantage of multimedia on the students’ English language learning. The study has followed a qualitative method to get an in-depth understanding of the impact of using multimedia in an English language classroom at tertiary level. For this purpose, the data have been collected from two different sources. Firstly, from students’ written response to an open ended question as to their comparative experience of learning lessons with and without multimedia facilities; and secondly, through observation of English language classes at a private university of Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. The discussion of the study is limited to the use of multimedia in English language classroom using cartoons, images and music with a view to enhance students’ skills in academic writing, critical analysis of image and critical appreciation of music. For this purpose, cartoons in English language, images from Google and music from You Tube have got focused discussion in this paper.

Download Full-text

An assessment of the interplay between literacy and digital Technology in Higher Education

Education and Information Technologies ◽

10.1007/s10639-021-10451-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Shahrokh Nikou ◽

Milla Aavakare

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Digital Literacy ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Digital Technologies ◽

Literacy Skills ◽

Intention To Use ◽

University Staff ◽

Willingness To Use ◽

The Impact

AbstractDigital technologies fundamentally transform teaching and learning in higher education environments, with the pace of technological change exacerbating the challenge. Due to the current pandemic situation, higher education environments are all now forced to move away from traditional teaching and learning structures that are simply no longer adaptable to the challenges of rapidly changing educational environments. This research develops a conceptual model and employs Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using Partial least Squares (PLS) to examine the impact of information and digital literacy on 249 Finnish university staff and students’ intention to use digital technologies. The findings show the complex interrelationship between literacy skills and digital technologies among university staff and students. The results illustrate that information literacy has a direct and significant impact on intention to use; while, unlike our expectation, digital literacy does not have a direct impact on the intention to use. However, its effect is mediated through performance expectancy and effort expectancy. The authors suggest that to understand the changes that are taking place in higher education environment, more attention needs to be paid to redefining policies and strategies in order to enhance individuals’ willingness to use digital technologies within higher education environments.

Download Full-text

Priorities for reorienting traditional institutions of higher education toward online teaching and learning: Thinking beyond the COVID-19 experience

E-Learning and Digital Media ◽

10.1177/20427530211038834 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 204275302110388

Author(s):

Talha A Sharadgah ◽

Rami A Sa’di

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Distance Learning ◽

Online Teaching ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Institutions Of Higher Education ◽

Review Of The Literature ◽

Research Papers ◽

Exclusion Criteria ◽

Online Teaching And Learning ◽

Traditional Institutions

The purpose of this study is to suggest priorities for reorienting traditional institutions of higher education (IHE) toward online teaching and learning beyond the COVID-19 experience. This research applied the qualitative research method. Data collection sources included both a systematic literature review relating to how COVID-19 informed online distance learning across the globe and an analysis of circulars germane to the pandemic that were issued by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Saudi Arabia and by Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University (PSAU). Guided by those two types of data, that is, review of the literature in general and the MOE and PSAU circulars in particular, and also illuminated by their own experiences of online teaching during the lockdown, the researchers were able to put forward those priorities. For the systematic review of the literature, five steps were performed: (1) identifying search terms and developing and applying a search strategy; (2) screening the obtained research papers, removing duplicates and papers outside the focal point, and establishing inclusion/exclusion criteria; (3) assessing the research papers against the inclusion/exclusion criteria; (4) data extraction; and (5) data synthesis. Although this article does not suggest traditional IHE should go entirely digital, it highlights the need for IHE to ensure access to online learning content, develop more partnerships with community, develop online self-study skills, get students to shift from passive to active learning, and a need to reconsider current e-assessment. Additionally, the study emphasizes the need to provide additional support for faculty members, how university buildings should be gradually reopened, controlling factors influencing online learning outcomes, and addressing the issue of dropouts in IHE. Finally, the study underlines the need to add further emphasis to the importance of integrating blended learning in the university curriculum and navigating toward developing global distance learning programs.

Download Full-text

Covid-19: Interdisciplinary Explorations of Impacts on Higher Education

10.52779/9781991201195 ◽

2021 ◽

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

South African ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Academic Disciplines ◽

Research And Innovation ◽

Innovation Activities ◽

African Higher Education ◽

Production Knowledge ◽

South African Higher Education ◽

The Impact

Premised on the disruption and lessons learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic, and in meticulous response to the impact of the pandemic on higher education – especially in South Africa – this collection of chapters spotlights the effects, consequences, and ramifications of an unprecedented pandemic in the areas of knowledge production, knowledge transfer and innovation. With the pandemic, the traditional way of teaching and learning was completely upended. It is within this context that this book presents interdisciplinary perspectives that focus on what the impact of Covid-19 implies for higher education institutions. Contributors have critically reflected from within their specific academic disciplines in their attempt to proffer solutions to the disruptions brought to the South African higher education space. Academics and education leaders have particularly responded to the objective of this book by focusing on how the academia could tackle the Covid-19 motivated disruption and resuscitate teaching, research, and innovation activities in South African higher education, and the whole of Africa by extension.

Download Full-text

Exploring new learning paradigms in ODL: A reflection on the paper of Barber, Donnelly and Rizvi (2013): “An avalanche is coming: Higher education and the revolution ahead”.

The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning ◽

10.19173/irrodl.v16i4.1952 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Tom H Brown

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Learning Strategies ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Learning Opportunities ◽

Learning Theories ◽

Learning Approaches ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Teaching And Learning Strategies ◽

The Impact ◽

The Revolution

<p class="Paragraph1"><span lang="EN-US">The paper of Barber, Donnelly & Rizvi (2013): “An avalanche is coming: Higher education and the revolution ahead” addresses some significant issues in higher education and poses some challenging questions to ODL (Open and Distance Learning) administrators, policy makers and of course to ODL faculty in general. Barber et al.’s paper does not specifically address the area of teaching and learning theories, strategies and methodologies per se. In this paper I would therefore like to reflect on the impact that the contemporary changes and challenges that Barber et al. describes, have on teaching and learning approaches and paradigms. In doing so I draw on earlier work about future learning paradigms and navigationism (Brown, 2006). We need a fresh approach and new skills to survive the revolution ahead. We need to rethink our teaching and learning strategies to be able to provide meaningful learning opportunities in the future that lies ahead.</span></p>

Download Full-text