Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk: Are Career Academics Gatekeepers to Students’ Tacit Knowledge?

Authors

  • Mike David Murray University of Strathclyde
  • Stuart Tennant University of the West of Scotland
  • Alan Forster Heriot-Watt University
  • Nigel Craig Glasgow Caledonian University
  • Alex Copping University of Bath
  • Nick Pilcher Edinburgh Napier University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v5i2.268

Keywords:

placement, transition, identity, learning, academics

Abstract

An opinion piece that argues for  a more balanced portfolio of academic staff within faculty, whereby pracademics are ‘pivotal’ academic staff who can ‘talk the talk and walk the walk’ with students who have industrial placement experience.

Author Biographies

Mike David Murray, University of Strathclyde

Mike Murray is a teaching fellow in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Strathclyde. Mike is interested in the heritage and history of civil engineering and pedagogy. Email: m.d.murray@strath.ac.uk

Stuart Tennant, University of the West of Scotland

Stuart Tennant is a lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland. Research interests address a range of management topics including teams, supply chain management and economic exchange. Professionally, he is SFHEA and MCIOB and a member of the Association of Researchers in Construction Management scientific committee. Email: Stuart.Tennant@uws.ac.uk

Alan Forster, Heriot-Watt University

Alan M. Forster is a research active Associate Professor in building conservation, low carbon design and construction technology at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. He is programme leader for MSc in Building Conservation. Professionally, he is a FHEA, FCIOB, FCABE, and an elected member of the RICS (Scotland) Building surveying Professional group. Email: A.M.Forster@hw.ac.uk

Nigel Craig, Glasgow Caledonian University

Nigel Craig is a senior lecturer and programme leader at Glasgow Caledonian University in the area of Construction Management. His research interests information technology, quality, non-conformance and customer satisfaction. He has contributed to work in journals such as Structural Survey, Engineering Construction and Architectural Management and the Journal of Records Management. Email: Nigel.Craig@gcu.ac.uk

Alex Copping, University of Bath

Alex Copping is an Associate Professor in construction project management at the University of Bath. His research interests revolve around the relationship between project complexity, project management methodologies and the management of resources. He is a SFHEA and a FCIOB. He is a member of the scientific committee for ARCOM, COBRA and SEEDS. Email: a.g.a.copping@bath.ac.uk

Nick Pilcher, Edinburgh Napier University

Nick Pilcher is an FHEA, lecturer and programme leader at Edinburgh Napier University, and helps students write in academic subjects. His research interests are language, education, and qualitative research. He has contributed to work in journals such as Qualitative Research, Teaching in Higher Education, and the Journal of Education and Work. Email: N.Pilcher@napier.ac.uk

References

Anderson, C., & McCune, V. (2013). Fostering meaning: Fostering community. Higher Education, 66(3), 283-296.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-012-9604-6

Andrew, N., Lopes, A., Pereira, F., & Lima, I. (2014). Building communities in higher education: The case of nursing. Teaching in Higher Education, 19(1), 72-77.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2013.859850

Allie, S., Armien, M.N., Burgoyne, N., Case, J.M., Collier-Reed, B.I, … Wolmarans, N. (2009). Learning as acquiring a discursive identity through participation in a community of practice: Improving student learning in engineering education. European Journal of Engineering Education, 34(4), 359-367.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/03043790902989457

Auburn, T. (2007). Identity and placement learning: Student accounts of the transition back to university following a placement year. Studies in Higher Education, 32(1), 117-133.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070601099515

Artess, J., Hooley, T., & Mellors-Bourne, R. (2017). Employability: A review of the literature 2012-2016. Higher Education Academy.

Retrieved from: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/employability-review-literature-2012-2016 [accessed 27 February 2017].

BIS. (2016). Success as a knowledge economy: Teaching excellence, social mobility and student choice.

Retrieved from: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523396/bis-16-265- success-as-a-knowledge-economy.pdf [accessed 27 February 2017]

Case, J., & Jawitz, J. (2004). Using situated cognition theory in researching student experience of the workplace. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 41(5), 415-431.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.20013

Christensen, S. H., & Erno-Kjolhede, E. (2011). Academic drift in Danish professional engineering education. Myth or reality? Opportunity or threat? European Journal of Engineering Education, 36(3), 285-299.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2011.585225

Craig, N., Tennant, S., Murray, M., Forster, A., & Pilcher N. (2016). The role of experienced practitioners in engineering education: The end of an era? ISEE 6th International Symposium for Engineering Education, The University of Sheffield, July, 14-15th 2016, pp 271-278.

Retrieved from: http://isee2016.group.shef.ac.uk/docs/presentations/Paper%2034.%20%20Nigel%20Craig.pdf [accessed 17 May 2017].

Engineering Council. (2014). UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence, 3rd Edition,http://www.engc.org.uk/engcdocuments/internet/Website/UK-SPEC%20third%20edition%20(1).pdf [accessed 27 February 2017].

Farnsworth, V., Kleanthous, I., & Wenger-Trayner, E. (2016). Communities of practice as a social theory of learning: A conversation with Etienne Wenger. British Journal of Educational Studies, 64(2), 139-160.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2015.1133799

Gibbs, G., Knapper, C., & Piccinin, S. (2009). Department leadership of teaching in research-intensive environments: Final report. Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.

Retrieved from: https://www.lfhe.ac.uk/filemanager/root/site_assets/research_resources/research/series_1/S1-17%20Gibbs%20-%20Departmental%20Leadership%20-%20Final.pdf [accessed 27 February 2017].

Higher Education Academy. (2015). Frameworks for student engagement through partnership. Higher Education Academy.

Retrieved from: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/downloads/student-enagagement-through-partnership-new.pdf [accessed 27 February 2017].

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge university press.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815355

Lowden, K., Hall, S., Elliot, D., & Lewin, J. (2011). Employers’ perceptions of the employability skills of new graduates. The Edge Foundation. Retrieved from: http://www.edge.co.uk/media/63412/employability_skills_as_pdf_-_final_online_version.pdf [accessed 27 February 2017].

McNay, I. (1995). From the collegial academy to the corporate enterprise: The changing culture of universities. In T. Schuller (Ed.), The changing university? Buckingham: SRHE & Open University Press.

National Student Survey. (2017). National Student Survey 2017 - Core Questionnaire.

Retrieved from: http://www.thestudentsurvey.com/content/NSS2017_Core_Questionnaire.pdf [accessed 27 February 2017].

Neves, J., & Hillman, N. (2016). The 2016 student academic experience survey. Higher Education Academy.

Retrieved from: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/student_academic_experience_survey_2016_hea-hepi_final_version_07_june_16_ws.pdf [accessed 27 February 2017].

Pang, P. (2015). Learning to work during work placement: Negotiating access to work and participation through ‘origination’ and establishing a ‘legitimate presence’. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 67(4), 543-557.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2015.1076501

Pegg, A., Waldock, J., Hendy-Isaac, S., & Lawton, R. (2012). Pedagogy for employability. Higher Education Academy.

Retrieved from: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/pedagogy_for_employability_update_2012.pdf [accessed 27 February 2017].

Pilcher, N., Forster, A.M., Tennant, S., Murray, M.D., & Craig, N. (2017, ) Problematizing the ‘career academic’ in UK construction and engineering education: Does the system want what the system gets? The European Journal of Engineering Education. Published online 3 April 2017, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2017.1306487

Ramsden, P. (1998). Learning to lead in higher education. London: Routledge.

Skills Development Scotland. (2017). Graduate level apprenticeships.

Retrieved from: https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/what-we-do/our-products/graduate-level-apprenticeships/ [accessed 27 February 2017].

Tennant, S., Murray, M., Forster, A., & Pilcher, N. (2015). Hunt the shadow not the substance: The rise of the career academic in construction education and some implications for teaching standards and student learning. Teaching in Higher Education. 20(7), 723-737.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2015.1070342

University of Bath (2017). Teaching fellow-fixed term, architecture and civil engineering.

Retrieved from: https://www.bath.ac.uk/jobs/Vacancy.aspx?ref=CT4670 [accessed 27 February 2017].

Downloads

Published

2017-03-01

Issue

Section

Opinion Piece