Unpacking (in)formal learning in an academic development programme: a mixed-method social network perspective
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چکیده
The Open University's repository of research publications and other research outputs Unpacking (in)formal learning in an academic development programme: a mixed-method social network perspective Journal Article How to cite: Rienties, Bart and Hosein, Anesa (2015). Unpacking (in)formal learning in an academic development programme: a mixed-method social network perspective. Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online's data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. How and with whom academics develop and maintain formal and informal networks for reflecting on their teaching practice has received limited attention even though academic development programmes have become an almost ubiquitous feature of higher education. The primary goal of this mixed-method study is to unpack how 114 academics in an academic development programme developed internal (within their programme) and external (outside their programme) learning and teaching relations. A secondary goal is to highlight the affordances of social network analysis methods in conjunction with qualitative approaches for academic developers to understand the (in)formal learning processes in their academic development programme. The quantitative results indicate that participants maintained 4.84 relations within their AD programme and 3.17 external ties. The qualitative results indicate that most academics developed a range of emotional, academic and professional support links, which mostly were outside the academic development context. Participants needed an outlet to share their feelings, challenges and frustrations about their teaching and their experiences on the AD programme. These feelings were shared with people they trusted, primarily close friends and colleagues. This study provides a social perspective of the formal and informal relations on academic development, and argues that social network analyses techniques can help academic developers to make these relationships visible.
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