ABSTRACT

This article critically investigates the impact of a program of professional learning for education-focused academics (EFAs) in an Australian university, focused on developing their education research capability. The ‘Higher Education Research’ (HER) program employed a three-pronged strategy: skills development workshops; sustained small group mentoring; and a small-scale education research study. The aim of the program was to support the university to improve the quality of education by fostering the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). The program was completed by two cohorts of EFAs, in 2014 and 2017. The design of the program was informed by literature showing the value of SoTL in developing the quality of university teaching and the importance of collaborative peer learning structures in supporting SoTL activities. Using Engeström’s activity theory and Lave and Wenger’s conception of peripheral participation in communities of practice, the study analysed quantitative and qualitative data collected immediately after the HER program and focus group interview data collected at least two years later, to examine the impact over time of the HER program on the participants’ careers and identities. This article focuses on five major themes that emerged from the data: struggle – personal-professional struggles experienced by academics in negotiating a shift from their cognate discipline to education as a discipline; identity – changes in identity that academics experienced through participating in the HER program; social relations – factors that contributed to the social experience of learning and developing as a researcher in a complex socio-cultural context; leadership – ways in which the HER program helped participants to develop as leaders; and criticality in educational practice – ways in which academics came to see their work as university educators in more critical terms. The article concludes with recommendations for cross-faculty programs that build higher education educators’ skills and knowledge through researching teaching and learning.

摘要

本文批判性地调查了一所澳大利亚大学以教育为重点的学者 (EFA) 的专业学习计划的影响，重点是培养他们的教育研究能力。“高等教育研究”（HER）计划采用三管齐下的策略：技能发展研讨会；持续的小组指导；和小规模的教育研究。该计划的目的是支持大学通过培养教学奖学金 (SoTL) 来提高教育质量。该计划由 2014 年和 2017 年的两批 EFA 完成。该计划的设计参考了文献，这些文献显示了 SoTL 在提高大学教学质量方面的价值，以及协作同伴学习结构在支持 SoTL 活动中的重要性。使用 Engeström 的活动理论和 Lave 和 Wenger 的外围参与实践社区的概念，该研究分析了 HER 计划后立即收集的定量和定性数据以及至少两年后收集的焦点小组访谈数据，以检查随时间推移的影响关于参与者职业和身份的 HER 计划。本文重点关注从数据中得出的五个主要主题： 斗争——学者在协商从同源学科向教育作为学科的转变过程中所经历的个人-职业斗争；身份——学者通过参与 HER 项目经历的身份变化；社会关系——有助于在复杂的社会文化背景下作为研究人员学习和发展的社会经验的因素；领导力——HER 计划帮助参与者成长为领导者的方式；和教育实践中的批判性——学者们以更批判的眼光看待他们作为大学教育工作者的工作的方式。文章最后提出了跨学院课程的建议，这些课程通过研究教学和学习来培养高等教育教育工作者的技能和知识。