Supporting lecturers to demystify learning in a science faculty

Abstract

[EN] Pedagogical competence is not always part of the skills set of science educators at a research intensive university. The Academic Developer (AD) in this faculty aims at empowering lecturers to obtain such competence by using the Pedagogical Competence Model and support them to even share their work in the public domain through publications. The project is informed by data collected during peer reviews done by the AD. Peer reviews are compulsory for probation candidates (newly appointed) as well as staff applying for promotion. A total of 58 reviews were conducted and followed up by an online questionnaire (n=26) to establish the effect of the feedback they received on their practice. Subsequently interventions were planned aligned to the perceived needs for development. The project is still in progress, but preliminary results indicate greater job satisfaction and improved student learning.