Purpose -The complexities and challenges inherent in research often require collaborative rather than solitary or team-based forms of working. This paper seeks to open new perspectives onto the nature of collaborative research and onto strategies for developing the capacity of researchers to engage in it. Design/methodology/approach -The paper outlines a speculative model of collaborative working in higher education that is rooted in critical realist perspectives, using it to ground a conceptual analysis of a stage model of expertise for collaborative working taken from the researcher development framework (RDF) developed in the UK by the organisation Vitae. Findings -The paper highlights the contribution that theory can make to the practice of researcher development, drawing out the relevance of personal engagement, professional dialogue and collaborative vehicles to support shared practice in pursuit of mutual goals. In this way, it identifies gaps within the stage model that pertain to relational, disciplinary, situational and other elements. The paper articulates insights for the development of the capacity of researchers for collaborative working that prioritise dialogue that is situated within given contexts for research. The analysis draws out implications for the development of collaborative capacity of such notions as corporate agency and collaborative reach. Originality/value -This paper articulates a novel approach to conceptualising capacity for collaborative research and offers a theoretical critique of a given descriptor taken from Vitae's RDF. As such it assists in developing the scholarly basis for the field of researcher development.
The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has yet to fully enter the mainstream of life in higher education. In this case study, we consider a specific network focused on the reform of engineering education. The network involves global collaboration within the discipline of Engineering and is based around curricular activity that affects entire departments or groups of staff. We suggest that SoTL should pay greater attention to collaboration that addresses substantive disciplinary purposes, further embodying these purposes through spaces, motivations and capacities for action in the disciplinary and departmental setting. We frame our argument around a theoretical model of collaborative working in higher education and go on to offer a synoptic overview of ways to articulate common purpose around teaching and learning at large. Our account highlights potential drivers for such collaborative activity in other settings. In this way, we offer a means for others to develop the collective commitments, structures and understanding needed to mainstream SoTL within specific disciplinary or departmental settings. IntroductionIt has been argued that the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) remains on the margins of life in universities. Boshier (2009) claims the marginalisation of SoTL arises from such factors as conceptual confusion around the term SoTL, operational challenges and delays in impact. As a result, he suggests that SoTL advocates face difficulties in convincing colleagues that such scholarship represents a good use of time and resources. Kreber (2007) further argues that the development of SoTL as an 'authentic practice' relies on reward for it being carried out within the discipline and for it to be undertaken in the interest of students. Brew (2010), meanwhile, suggests that the literature tends to view SoTL as 'a set of activities of particular kinds' (p. 107) rather than as a way that academic practice is approached. This is evident, for instance, in relation to Boyer's (1990) four types of scholarship, which have been interpreted as separate domains of academic work. She suggests that a focus on specific forms of academic work is increasingly hard to sustain in a higher education environment that is characterised by inexhaustible demands and by a high degree of uncertainty as to how best to proceed.
This paper examines key issues in lecturer development programmes (LDPs) in Scottish higher education institutions, within the context of the national standards established recently for those who teach in UK higher education (HE). Many of the LDPs were developed in response to the Dearing Committee recommendations that university lecturers should receive training in teaching and learning and that this should be delivered through accredited programmes. The paper presents four different programme models that emerged within the sector in terms of programme structure and delivery, participant support, and institutional factors, and explains the wide variety of provision in terms of cultural factors and the nature of the national framework for HE teacher development. The paper will be of interest to those who are involved in the policy and practice of lecturer development, in the challenges posed in the implementation of LDPs, and the future of such initiatives. Although the research was carried out in Scotland, consultation with educational developers in England revealed similar trends there. Given similar lecturer development initiatives in other countries (eg Sweden, Norway and Australia), the application of the research goes beyond the geographical area described.
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