Staff-Development Programme

The staff-development programme, also known as the Champions of Discipline programme, is a programme in which all new lecturers of the School of Accountancy are mentored in their teaching. I have been administering this programme since January 2016. When new lecturers start their employment at the university’s School of Accountancy, I present a workshop to them in which I share my experience and teaching style. I also explain the university’s performance-measurement processes, specifically related to lecturing and student feedback. Each lecturer is then assigned a mentor, either me if the new lecturer teaches Management Accounting or another lecturer of the school who teaches in the same field of the new lecturer, for the year. Mentors are there to provide guidance to new lecturers on their teaching style and challenges they face. In this programme, lecturers are exposed to their first informal student evaluation in May of each year. This student feedback provides the lecturers with insight into their teaching style and how students experience them as teachers. With the help of the mentor, the lecturers use the student feedback to identify areas of success and those that need improvement. From here, lecturers work on their teaching style to address areas that need improvement. At the end of the year, lecturers are exposed to a formal student evaluation for performance-measurement purposes. Once lecturers receive an overall impression mark of 75% or more from students, they pass the program. Link to extracts from the Champions of Discipline workshop presentation

Feedback from staff registered for the programme in 2017

Two of the new lecturers in Management Accounting who are registered for the staff development programme in 2017 and whom I currently mentor attended one of my classes at the beginning of 2017 in order to get ideas for their teaching style. The following feedback was received by them:

“When I think about Mr Arthur Bishop as a lecturer, one word immediately comes to mind: enthusiasm. Arthur is truly and sincerely enthusiastic about his subject matter, the students and teaching in general. This passion flows through everything he does – especially into his lectures. He engages the class from beginning to end by applying a variety of techniques. For example: incorporating learning technologies into his material, using interesting real-life class examples and encouraging class participation where possible. Arthur is always well prepared and has a calm, yet confident manner. Students therefore respect and trust in his expertise. His explanations are concise and clear – helping students to grasp even the most difficult concepts. His friendly, warm demeanour also makes him very approachable. Arthur’s dedication to his work is an inspiration for us all.”

By Mrs Lize Zeeman

“The teaching of Arthur Bishop is very informative and learning takes place in a very efficient manner. Arthur brings a very calm, yet passionate feeling to the classroom. Throughout his lectures it’s clear that his lectures are well structured  and that he is in control of the classroom. His use of technology enhances learning, as modern techniques are used to keep the attention of students and enhance the understanding of concepts during teaching/working through questions in class. Value is added by attending lectures instead of solely relying on self-study.”

By Mr Adriaan Lochner

Success rate of the programme – 2016

The following table shows the results of the programme since I took it over in January 2016. It lists an impression mark, which is the average percentage that students rated the respective new lecturer during a formal student feedback session at the end of 2016. Lecturers are part of the programme until they receive an average impression percentage of 75% or more. The top part of the table indicates lecturers who started their employment in 2016, while the bottom part indicates lecturers who started in 2015, but who were still in the programme in 2016 due to not receiving the required 75% at the end of 2015.

I have a passion for this program as it provides me with an opportunity to share my teaching philosophy with others and contribute to a better teaching culture at our university. The success rate of this program is a reflection of the valuable contribution it is making in the School of Accountancy.