A staff development programme for newly appointed academics in the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State

[摘要] English: In this research project, an in-depth study was conducted with a view to developing aformal, outcomes-based staff development programme aimed at orientating, developingand supporting the newly appointed academic staff member in the Faculty of HealthSciences (FoHS), University of the Free State (UFS).The training and development of academic staff members have not yet been researchedin the FoHS setting and it is believed that by offering newly appointed staff membersappropriate, scientifically founded, outcomes-based staff development opportunities,they might be integrated in the educational culture of the faculty with more ease, andbecome better equipped health sciences educators.The overall goal of the study was to provide quality training to newly appointed academicstaff members in the FoHS, UFS, with a view to improving the overall quality of teachinglearning,educational research and administrative competence; to ensure continued highlevelacademic activities in departments, schools, the faculty and the university and, mostimportant, to enhance the learning success of the students who ultimately, as health careprofessionals exiting our institution, will offer a skilful and valuable service to theircommunities.The overall research question which was pursued was: What should an outcomes-basedstaff development programme, which complies with adult education principles, andis aimed at newly appointed academic staff members in Health Sciences, entail?This study included components of both qualitative and quantitative research. Thepurpose of the literature study was to contextualise and conceptualise staff developmentfor newly appointed academics. A qualitative phenomenological research design, makinguse of focus group interviews, was used to determine how a cohort of newly appointedacademics, who attended the course for newly appointed lecturers in the FoHS, UFS, during the previous three years (2011-2013), had experienced the course. Findings of thequestionnaire survey were used to inform the content of the envisaged staff developmentprogramme for newly appointed academic staff in the FoHS, UFS.In terms of the focus group interview findings, respondents overall expressed positiveexperiences, but room for improvement in the existing course for newly appointedlecturers was identified. The findings of these interviews were used to makeimprovements to the 2014 and 2015 courses for newly appointed lecturers offered by theDHSE in the FoHS, UFS.The results of the questionnaire survey gave an indication when the newly appointedacademics should be exposed to certain roles. These results also were used to determinethe timeframe and additional topics to be included in the final programme.Findings from the literature study and the questionnaire survey were used to identifyneeds of the FoHS, UFS academics and competencies of an academic in health sciences,which in turn were used to develop a three-phase staff development programme. Eachphase in the programme consists of several units with unique outcomes and learningactivities which consider the adult learner.A contribution is made and new knowledge is added to both the fields of staffdevelopment and health sciences education. By exploring the experiences of newlyappointed academics and describing responses of both newly appointed and moreexperienced academic staff members at the FoHS, UFS, a faculty-specific staffdevelopment programme was developed. The research approach followed ensuredquality, trustworthiness, reliability and validity in the research. The developedprogramme ensures a basis for follow-up research in terms of implementation andevaluation of this programme, as well as related future research.

[发布机构] University of the Free State