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Using the rights contained in the Freedom of Information Act, we collected data on the teaching undertaken by staff at 52 UK universities. In contrast to workload modelling, our data reveals the extent of the variation in contact hours by institution, subject, and seniority. We provide for the first time an accurate measure of the teaching undertaken by staff on different contract types. One of our findings is that few universities employ full-time Teaching-only staff. It is some of the most prestigious universities that are leading the way in promoting this specialisation, with important implications for teaching and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on research exploring the academic workload and performance practices of Australian universities. This research has identified a suite of activities associated with teaching, research and service, each with an associated time value (allocation). This led to the development of the academic workload estimation tool (AWET). In 2020, to validate the findings, we contacted academics willing to participate further and conducted interviews. We used the AWET to estimate workload for each individual for the previous year and compared it to the workload allocated according to their institutional workload model. Discrepancies were then discussed to ascertain to what extent the AWET was able to capture their work. In general, the participants thought the AWET provided a more realistic estimate of their actual work and highlighted how much is underestimated or unaccounted for by the workload models used within their institutions. It also showed how academic performance policies, focussed primarily on research output, disadvantaged many individuals because they ignored or minimised many scholarly, teaching and service-related tasks inherent in the academic role. Overall, the findings showed the AWET was a useful tool to discuss academic work and assisted them to better capture the complexity and extent of what they did. We offer the AWET as a validated approach for academics to estimate their workload in a holistic and transparent manner. We suggest its implementation institution-wide, along with an aligned performance policy, will facilitate negotiation of reasonable performance expectations. This will rebuild trust in the processes and improve a university's effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive reorganization, reduction of staff, and budget cuts has taken place across the educational landscape in recent years. But data from all across indicates a worrisome rise in stress at work for those working in private higher education institutions (Academic and Support Staff). Researchers at Tamil Nadu's private universities are starting off by looking at the long-term repercussions of workplace stress. In the second phase, 372 academic and support personnel from 15 universities were surveyed about 12 occupational stress variables. Stress levels of private university staff were examined using the Stress Screening Tool (SET) and a factual questionnaire. Stressors at the university included workload, control, work relationships, and pay and perks. Survey respondents reported more physical and psychological disease and less confidence in management than the worldwide norm. All of the biographical characteristics studied were shown to have a statistically significant effect on occupational stress levels. Employee health problems were less affected by work-related stress because to organizational commitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores peer review through the lens of internal feedback. It investigates the internal feedback that students generate when they compare their work with the work of peers and with comments received from peers. Inner feedback was made explicit by having students write an account of what they were learning from making these different comparisons. This allowed evaluation of the extent to which students' self-generated feedback comments would match the feedback comments a teacher might provide, and exploration of other variables hypothesized to influence inner feedback generation. Analysis revealed that students' self-generated feedback became more elaborate from one comparison to the next and that this, and multiple simultaneous comparisons, resulted in students' generating feedback that not only matched the teacher's feedback but surpassed it in powerful and productive ways. Comparisons against received peer comments added little to the feedback students had already generated from comparisons against peer works. The implications are that having students make explicit the internal feedback they generate not only helps them build their metacognitive knowledge and self-regulatory abilities but can also decrease teacher workload in providing comments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High teacher attrition rates are an international problem. This study explores what former teachers pinpoint as their main exit reasons from teaching. Interviews were conducted with twenty-one former teachers in Flanders (Belgium) about push and pull factors. Our findings show that teachers mainly relate their exit to characteristics of the profession. For novices, the characteristics of the profession resulting in attrition are job insecurity and an exceeding workload, while the decisive factor for experienced teachers is the professions' flat career structure. Moreover, the school context reinforces career doubts, especially for novices who experience issues with class management and feel demoralised. • Teachers mainly relate their exit to characteristics of the teacher profession. • Novices stress job insecurity and an exceeding work load. • Experienced teachers attribute their exit to the flat career structure. • The school context can reinforce teachers' doubts to exit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]