Designing an inclusive toolkit to empower Early Career Academics in their educational practice

Abstract

Early career academics (ECAs) face substantial pressures in establishing their academic careers, often prioritising research outputs over teaching. While much focus has been placed on supporting ECAs’ research-related development, less attention has been given to enhancing their teaching practices, particularly in supporting student writing. The expertise required to teach and support student writing only compounds the difficulty of this situation, especially if learning development support is not available to students. This presentation reported on the findings of a SEDA-funded project that responded to calls to equip ECAs with the skills needed to foster confidence and self-efficacy across multiple academic activities (Dore and Richards, 2022). The project contributes to ongoing discussions about the role of ECAs in supporting student learning alongside learning development while ensuring their own professional development and wellbeing.

Focusing specifically on writing support within the context of generative AI – a growing challenge in higher education – we have been working on developing a practical toolkit for ECAs to better support students in academic writing while addressing issues of AI integrity. Exploring ECAs’ needs and perspectives through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions has informed our understanding of what such a toolkit might look like and how generalisable and transferable it might be. During the session, we shared our observations, designs and hopes for this toolkit, which aims to assist ECAs in balancing student support with their own wellbeing, thereby protecting them from overwork and enhancing their teaching practice.