From nice to know to “newfound popularity”: academic developers’ perceptions of how COVID-19 has changed their role

Sarah O’Toole, Ide O’Sullivan, Emma O’Brien, Laura Costelloe

Research output: Contribution to journalComment/debate

Abstract

The disruption caused by the pandemic and the rapid transition to online teaching brings into sharp focus the role of academic development within the institution and creates an opportunity to pause and reflect on the impact of the academic developer (AD) role. This reflection on practice explores how the AD role has transitioned through the Covid-19 pandemic with a view to considering future implications for the field. Short auto-ethnographic reflections capture academic developers’ experiences of their role at a time of crisis and their perception of the future of academic development. The data shows a lack of clarity and visibility of the role pre-Covid, with a variety of tasks being assigned without a central focus. This was amplified during the pandemic, with a broadened remit in response to an increased demand for support. While this initial support was reactionary, focusing on teaching online, a renewed and more holistic interest in teaching and learning emerged across institutions, with ADs playing a key role in this evolution.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)207-211
Number of pages5
JournalInternational Journal for Academic Development
Volume27
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Keywords

  • Academic role
  • Covid-19 pandemic
  • emergency remote teaching
  • online teaching

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