Widening our evaluative lenses of formal, facilitated, and spontaneous academic development

Abstract

As conceptions of academic development expand to encompass a more diverse and flexible set of supports, traditional approaches to evaluation, including impact studies of formal programming, become insufficient. A program may appear ineffective when evaluation ignores additional supports that interact to counteract implementation or alternatively satisfy individuals’ needs. Recognizing the inherently interactive nature of academic development within systemically complex social contexts, this paper examines four evaluative lenses (traditional, ecological framework, complexity theory, and developmental) applied to graduate students’ support. By selecting an appropriate evaluation lens, based on local purposes and context, academic developers are better positioned to assess and improve supports provided.

Keywords:

• academic development
• evaluation
• higher education
• informal learning
• program improvement

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Nancy Turner for feedback during the writing process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Teaching assistants refer to graduate students employed to lead tutorials or mark assignments, equivalent to graduate teaching assistants (USA), tutors (Australia, New Zealand), and graduate assistants (UK).

2. 1221 graduate students responded to the survey; however some items had lower response rates (e.g. only 822 responded to the positive experience question).