Educational development units in the UK - what are they doing five years on?

How much has educational development changed in five years? What is its standing in UK higher education? This paper provides an overview of the current state of educational development in the UK and attempts to identify the changes that have occurred over the last five years. It reports on the responses of 53 heads of educational development units to a questionnaire which was based on a similar survey undertaken in 1995 and reported in this journal. The paper considers some of the major contextual factors which have influenced educational development over this five-year period, and provides an encouraging assessment of the growth in the number of units or departments being established with an educational development role. There is evidence of a steady growth in interest in learning and teaching in higher education in the UK, which has enabled educational development practitioners to achieve a new level of maturity and confidence. It is argued that educational development is fast becoming both an established field of study and a recognized professional role in most institutions of higher education in the UK.