Discipline-Specific Compared to Generic Training of Teachers in Higher Education

A recurrent theme arising in the higher education sector is the suitability and effectiveness of generic versus discipline-specific training of university teachers, who are often recruited based on their disciplinary specialties to become teachers in higher education. We compared two groups of participants who had undergone training using a generic post-graduate certificate in higher education (PGCertGeneric) versus a discipline-specific course in veterinary education (PGCertVetEd). The study was conducted using a survey that allowed comparison of participants who completed PGCertGeneric (n=21) with PGCertVetEd (n=22). Results indicated that participants from both PGCertGeneric and PGCertVetEd considered teaching to be satisfying and important to their careers, valued the teaching observation component of the course, and identified similar training needs. However, the participants of the PGCertVetEd felt that the course made them better teachers, valued the relevance of the components taught, understood course design better, were encouraged to do further courses/reading in teaching and learning, changed their teaching as a result of the course, and were less stressed about teaching as compared to the PGCertGeneric participants (p<.05). It is likely that the PGCertVetEd, which was designed and developed by veterinarians with a wider understanding of the veterinary sector, helped the participants perceive the training course as suited to their needs

Rendering an Account: An Open-State Archive in Postgraduate Supervision

The paper begins with a brief account of the transformation of research degree studies under the pressures of global capitalism and neo-liberal governmentality. A parallel transformation is occurring in the conduct of research through the use of information and communication technologies. Yet the potential of ICTs to shape practices of surveillance or to produce new student-supervisor relations and enhance the processes of developing the dissertation has received almost no critical attention. As doctoral supervisor and student, we then describe the features and uses of a web-based open state archive of the student's work-in-progress, developed by the student and accessible to his supervisor. Our intention was to encourage more open conversations between data and theorising, student and supervisor, and ultimately between the student and professional community. However, we recognise that relations of accountability, as these have developed within a contemporary "audit revolution" (Power, 1994, 1997) in universities, create particular "lines of visibility" (Munro, 1996). Thus while the open-state archive may help to redefine in less managerial terms notions of quality, transparency, flexibility and accountability, it might also make possible greater supervisory surveillance. How should we think about the panoptical potential of this archive? We argue that the diverse kinds of interactional patterns and pedagogical intervention it encourages help to create shifting subjectivities. Moreover, the archive itself is multiple, in bringing together an array of diverse materials that can be read in various ways, by following multiple paths. It therefore constitutes a collage, which we identify as a mode of cognition and of accounting distinct from but related to argument and narrative. As a more "open" text (Iser, 1978) it has an indeterminacy which may render it less open to abuse for the technologies of managerial accountability

Market intelligence for informing crop-breeding decisions by CGIAR and NARES

Crop breeding by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), in partnership with national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) and privately owned seed companies, forms the backbone of the research and development (R&D) effort needed to ensure future food security in developing regions. Over the past decades, varieties derived from CGIAR germplasm have helped provide food for hundreds of millions living in harsh and vulnerable environments. However, the capacity to deliver increased benefits from crop breeding will depend on effective strategies to address the stubbornly slow rate of uptake of improved varieties. Meeting the challengewill require, among other inputs, deeper insights on the evolving preferences and requirements of farmers, processors and consumers. In short, breeding will need to be led more by demand. Key to the success of demand-led breeding will be the availability of reliable and timely intelligence on the current and future preferences and requirements of farmers, processors and consumers. Although ‘market intelligence’ has existed in various forms in CGIAR’s social science research agenda, an opportunity exists for increased relevance based on shared approaches and tools and new partnerships, both within CGIAR and between CGIAR and its partners. Beginning in 2022, a coordinated effort through the CGIAR Initiative on Market Intelligence looks to build cross-functional and transdisciplinary teams to provide market intelligence in support of crop breeding and seed-system development

Breeding schemes: what are they, how to formalize them, and how to improve them?

Open Access Journal; Published online: 21 Jan 2022Formalized breeding schemes are a key component of breeding program design and a gateway to conducting plant breeding as a quantitative process. Unfortunately, breeding schemes are rarely defined, expressed in a quantifiable format, or stored in a database. Furthermore, the continuous review and improvement of breeding schemes is not routinely conducted in many breeding programs. Given the rapid development of novel breeding methodologies, it is important to adopt a philosophy of continuous improvement regarding breeding scheme design. Here, we discuss terms and definitions that are relevant to formalizing breeding pipelines, market segments and breeding schemes, and we present a software tool, Breeding Pipeline Manager, that can be used to formalize and continuously improve breeding schemes. In addition, we detail the use of continuous improvement methods and tools such as genetic simulation through a case study in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Cassava east-Africa pipeline. We successfully deploy these tools and methods to optimize the program size as well as allocation of resources to the number of parents used, number of crosses made, and number of progeny produced. We propose a structured approach to improve breeding schemes which will help to sustain the rates of response to selection and help to deliver better products to farmers and consumers

The teaching–research gestalt: the development of a discipline-based scale

This paper reports the development and empirical testing of a model of the factors that influence the teaching–research nexus. No prior work has attempted to create a measurement model of the nexus. The conceptual model is derived from 19 propositions grouped into four sets of factors relating to: rewards, researchers, curriculum, and students. The propositions are operationalised by 61 scale-items and empirically recomposed by a factor analysis on data obtained from 247 UK accounting academics. We demonstrate that, in the discipline of accounting, there are six factors that describe the positive effects of relations between academic research and teaching. We also identify five factors that militate against productive relations between the two. This double-edged sword we term the teaching–research gestalt: although faculty research can be beneficial to teaching and vice versa, there can also be negative effects. The relationship between academic research and teaching therefore requires judicious management.<br/