Instructional development for teachers in higher education: impact on teaching approach

Abstract

Although instructional development for teachers has become an important topic in higher education, little is known about the impact it has on daily teaching practice. The lack of systematic programme evaluation is an ongoing concern. In this study we investigate by use of a quasi-experimental design, the impact of an instructional development program for beginning university teachers on their teaching approach. Quantitative pre-test as well as post-test data were assembled from 20 experimental teachers and 20 control teachers. At the post-test qualitative data were gathered too: 17 teachers of the experimental group and 12 teachers of the control group were interviewed. Paired t-tests and analysis of covariance with the pre-test scores as a covariate showed some effect of instructional development on teaching approach. The analysis of the qualitative data sustained this result. Our results reveal the influence of instructional development on teachers' teaching approach being slightly different for teachers belonging to distinct disciplines. Several interpretations and perspectives for further research are discussed.

Challenges in Developing Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems

“…Instructional designers (Stes, Coertjens, & van Petegem, 2010); awareness of aesthetic principles (Yanchar & Gabbitas, 2011); experience in instructional design (van Rooij, 2010); competence in the use of ICT (O'Rourke & Martin, 2011); among others.…”

De cultuur van honoursstudenten en de mogelijke invloed op de reguliere studiecultuur

“…Deze vaststelling sluit aan bij studies die laten zien dat scholing en training van docenten in nieuwe werkwijzen moeizaam aanslaan als deze sterk afwijken van hun individuele waarden en opvattingen (zie o.a. Postareff, Lindblom-Ylänne, & Nevgi 2007;Stes, Coertjens, & Van Petegem 2010). Waarden overstijgen de grenzen van een organisatie en zijn niet eenvoudig te 'managen' (Harris & Ogbanna, 1999).…”

La formation pédagogique des professeurs dans l’enseignement supérieur

“…Dans ce qui suit, nous allons maintenant discuter les trois études empiriques qui ont été réalisées dans le but d'apporter une réponse à ces questions (Stes, Coertjens & Van Petegem, 2010 ;Stes, 2008, Stes, Clement & Van Petegem, 2007.…”

“…Les analyses quantitatives (tests t jumelés et analyse de covariance avec les résultats du pré-test comme covariable) indiquent que le programme de développement pédagogique a eu un impact sur l'approche de l'enseignement des participants, bien que limité (Stes, Coertjens & Van Petegem, 2010). Les indices moyens de tous les enseignants aux échelles qui mesurent une conception de l'enseignement davantage centrée sur les étudiants sont significativement supérieurs au deuxième temps de mesure.…”