ABSTRACT
Academic development’s urge to make an impact may be connected with general pressures on universities to evidence outcomes that have socio-economic value and build social capital (Lee and McWilliam, 2008; Gosling, 2009). How great are the expectations about transforming learning and teaching that can fairly be placed on AD, within this context? Academic development has high visibility at present, thanks to recent national governments’ higher education funding initiatives. In the UK, for example, the Higher Education Funding Council is concerned to assess ‘the impact of a national policy to enhance teaching quality and status’ (Gosling, 2004, p. 136). In Australia, the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (2007), now the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, seeks ‘high impact’ through funded AD projects that support or maximise strategic change. The ‘significant impact on higher education in Hong Kong’ of the University Grants Commission’s teaching quality agenda has been noted by Law and colleagues (2007).
