A recent Wonkhe and Solutionpath report and a subsequent article from Rachel Maxwell and Steve Briggs have shown just how vital academic support functions are in higher education.
These reports highlight the need for specialised relational skills to connect students and their institutions. The Wonkhe research indicates that academic support functions are increasingly stretched in UK universities. Institutions rely heavily on personal tutors, and hope that timely use of data can fill the gap.
But missing from these discussions was the substantial contribution that learning development can make towards this stretched academic support function. So, what is learning development and how can it support our students and academics?
Hello, is it LD you’re looking for?
Learning development sits in a “third space” between and across academic and professional functions in universities. As a result, its location varies depending on the institution. You may know us as academic skills tutors or similar, and we might be found within departments or faculties, or more centrally in support units or the university library.
The common thread, as defined by our professional association ALDinHE, is that learning developers “work with students in a unique educational bridging role.” We mediate between the knowledge and skills students bring to university and the demands of the world of academia. Our own research (Bickle et al. 2023, Johnson 2023) has shown how this bridging is achieved through a relational space that enables students to achieve outcomes like building agency, while at the same time demystifying the world of academia.
Moves toward widening participation and internationalisation in universities since the 1990s means the student body is increasingly diverse. Students’ educational background, language needs, and familiarity with the subject area can vary hugely.
This means that lecturers telling students to “show criticality” and “use a clear structure” is not always very helpful. Often, for example, students just want to know what an academic means by “critical analysis” in their chemistry, geography, engineering or history assignment. Lecturers know “criticality” or a “good argument” in their discipline when they see it, but it can be tough to articulate to students in relatable terms. This is where learning developers’ expertise comes in. We know that the answers can be quite different in each case. We come into our own because, as Debbie McVitty put it:
Academic support can offer ‘curriculum-adjacent’ spaces for exploring, planning and reflecting that enable students to make sense of their learning experiences.
You’re all I’ve ever wanted
This is exactly what learning development “does”. We have found, however, that a delicate balance needs to be struck in how learning development is situated. That is, learning development works best if it is close enough yet far enough away. Close enough to the discipline to seem relevant; far enough away to maintain the benefits of a third space.
By occupying this space, learning developers have a unique insight into students’ “real” practices of studying (see Sonia Hood). And unlike lecturers, we are not gatekeepers of assessment to students, so can work with them in a more facilitative capacity.
The space is non-judgemental – one where students can ask the (never really) “silly” questions that they need to, without fear or judgment, and increase their confidence and autonomy.
Crucially our research shows that a learning development third space and the subject teaching space do not need to be mutually exclusive. If learning developers are linked to a discipline, our authentic access to students’ experiences and questions allows us to become specialists – not in the discipline itself, but in its academic practices and language, especially in relation to assessment and feedback.
Indeed, our research shows that learning development becomes more effective if situated within subject teaching contexts, than if presented as atomised “skills building” provision. This is true because the academic practices and language a student needs for success are intrinsically tied to their subject discipline. By us teaching within that context, the student benefits not only from receiving a discipline-based perspective, but also by learning how to apply this knowledge and language to their assessments. A discipline-based learning developer is generally seen as relevant, knowledgeable and, crucially, as having a relatable personal identity.
My arms are open wide
So how can institutional stakeholders and learning developers work together to structure this support into the fabric of academic faculties and departments?
We need open channels for dialogue and collaboration with academics and other third space practitioners like librarians. All stakeholders stand to benefit if we have a seat at the table where decisions are made on issues such as curriculum and assessment design, emerging fields such as generative AI, or strategic initiatives to support student progression and attainment.
A substantial part of the solution to the stretched academic support function is staring universities in the face: learning development. When integrated into subject teaching, learning development can function as the vital bridge between students and their host institutions, providing a non-judgemental but still academic space for students to make sense of their studies, with professionals who are distanced from assessing them.
So next time you are on campus, look outside your office, you might just see a learning developer pass outside your door (thanks, Lionel).
