The evolving role of academic development in improving effective teaching: Reflections on teaching during COVID 19 lockdown.

Abstract: The opportunities and challenges of online teaching due to COVID-19 pandemic point out to the importance of academic development for effective teaching. A review of the literature shows that academic’s role covers three broad areas, namely teaching, research and service. Hence, we propose that academic development is a necessity and leads to enhancing effective teaching. We examine the proposition through literature review and reflective practice from a teachers’ perspective. As a result, we identified four themes: academic development, effective teaching, developing effective teaching, and university support. An area of interest that emerged is the use of non-formal support structures by university academics in the context of online teaching due to COVD-19. Finally, we propose a conceptual framework and discuss the implications for continuous academic development.

Keywords: Academic development; scholarship of teaching and learning; effective teaching