Compounding the impact of teaching development programs in China and Hong Kong SAR: using the Professional Standards Framework to deepen learning and improve teaching self-efficacy

ABSTRACT

Globalisation and massification are creating significant expansion in the higher education sector in Asia and forcing institutions to professionalise their teaching. Merely implementing academic development, however, does not ensure improvement in teaching quality. We report an action research project, which demonstrated that the combination of teaching development through Teaching Advantage Global, alongside professional recognition through fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, significantly improved the teaching self-efficacy of academics in China and Hong Kong SAR. The results of this research demonstrate that professional development and recognition can support and evidence sector-wide strategic change.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic development
• action research
• professional standards framework (PSF)
• Teaching Advantage Global
• teaching self-efficacy

Disclosure statement

Professor Abby Cathcart is a Global Strategic Advisor (Australasia) and Accreditor for the Higher Education Academy. Associate Professor Dominique Greer is an Accreditor for the Higher Education Academy.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this work was provided by Trade and Investment Queensland [TIQ; 50%; Project No. 17], QUT (25%) and Advance HE (20%).

Notes on contributors

Dominique A. Greer

Dominique A. Greer is an Associate Professor of Marketing in the School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations, QUT Business School, Australia. She received an Australian Award for University Teaching and an International Education Association of Australia Best Practice Award for her doctoral teaching training program Teaching Advantage. Associate Professor Greer is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an international accreditor for Advance HE.

Abby Cathcart

Abby Cathcart is the Director of the QUT Academy of Learning and Teaching in Australia. Abby is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, an award-winning educator, and Advance HE’s Global Strategic Advisor (Australasia). She works with institutions in China, Australia, and Thailand in promoting teaching quality, enhancing the student experience, and developing professional recognition pathways for educators.

Georgia C. Swalwell

Georgia C. Swalwell is a Research Assistant in the School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations, QUT Business School, Australia. Georgia works as a sessional academic and guest lecturer in economics, advertising, and marketing. She completed her Master of Business (Research) in social marketing and specialises in experimental research and quantitative analysis.