Teaching, Learning and Research in Higher Education Teaching, Learning and Research in Higher Education off ers a combination of crit- ical perspectives and practical advice that is ideally suited for individuals interested in enhancing their practice through analysis and critique. The aim is to promote a critical understanding of ones own practices: to foster personal and professional formation through a refl exive engagement with ones environment and circum- stances. At a practical level this means continuously thinking about how to adjust practice rather than following a formulaic approach derived from any particular educational theory. Teaching, Learning and Research in Higher Education argues that academics can fi nd space for their own agency in the midst of institutional policies and practices that serve to frame, as well as delimit and constrain, what counts as good academic work in teaching and research. This text bridges a gap between those books that provide a high-level analysis of contemporary higher education, the more practical texts on how to be a good teacher in higher education and those texts which aim to improve teaching through a better understanding of the learning process. Topical chapters include: Framing TeacherLearner Relationships, Learning Groups, Teaching for Diversity, Assessment, Promoting Workplace-Oriented Learning, Learning in the Digital Age and Teaching and Research. A must-have resource for higher education professions, academic developers, pro- fessionals and anyone looking to improve their teaching and learning practices, Teaching, Learning and Research in Higher Education is also appropriate for con- tinuing and professional development courses in the UK and teaching and learn- ing courses in the US. Mark Tennant is Professor of Education and Dean of the University Graduate School, University of Technology, Sydney. Cathi McMullen is Senior Lecturer in the School of Marketing and Management at Charles Sturt University, Australia. Dan Kaczynski is Professor in the Educational Leadership department at Central Michigan University. Teaching, Learning and Research in Higher Education A Critical Approach Mark Tennant, Cathi McMullen and Dan Kaczynski First published 2010 by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor and in M. Tennant (2005) Transforming selves. Journal of Transformative Education, 3(2), 102115. Finally, some material from Chapter 10 Post- graduate Research Education appears in Boud, D. and Tennant, M. (2006) Putting doctoral education to work: Challenges to academic practice. xiiPreface Higher Education Research and Development, 25(3), 309322; Tennant, M. (2009) Regulatory regimes in doctoral education. In D. Boud and A. Lee (Eds.), Changing practices of doctoral education. London: Routledge, 226235; and in Tennant, M. and Roberts, S. (2007) Agreeing to supervise. In C. Denholm and T. Evans (Eds.), Supervising doctorates downunder: Keys to eff ective supervision in Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne: ACER Press, 2027. All teacher interviews (Carolyn, David, John, Joy and Sandra) are taken from McMullen, C. (2008) Developing and sustaining university teaching expertise in times of change: A narrative study with award winning uni- versity teachers. Doctoral dissertation, University of Technology, Sydney. Finally we would like to acknowledge all those who have enriched our working lives as academics in higher education. Mark Tennant Cathi McMullen Dan Kaczynski Prefacexiii CHAPTER1 Introduction The overarching argument of this book is that academics can fi nd space for their own agency in the midst of system-wide and institutional policies and practices that serve to frame, as well as delimit and constrain, what counts as good academic work in teaching and research. We argue that academics can develop a sense of agency through a refl exive engage- ment with the circumstances in which they fi nd themselves. How do the various systemic, institutional and personal circumstances present them- selves? What do they say about who you should be as an academic? Is there a single uniform voice on how to be? Arguably, such questions are necessary starting points for developing a critical understanding of your own developing practices and how you position yourself as a worker in contemporary academic life. And so we commence with an exploration of some of the forces and trends at play in higher education in the past few decades. It is possible to characterise these trends in a variety of ways, but there are some key features that lie at their heart: the growth of participation in higher education worldwide, the increasing diversity of the student population, the transforming eff ect of information and communication technologies, the demand from stakeholders that education be relevant to working life, the growing global