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

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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.

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Notes

  1. For this scale, one respondent of the experimental group did not fill out the items, and is therefore not included in the ANCOVA. This brings the number of experimental and control teachers to 19 and 20, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Education and Information Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Ann Stes, Liesje Coertjens & Peter Van Petegem

  2. Centre of Excellence in Higher Education (ECHO), University of Antwerp, Venusstraat 35, 2000, Antwerp, Belgium

    Ann Stes

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  1. Ann Stes
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  2. Liesje Coertjens
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  3. Peter Van Petegem
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Correspondence to Ann Stes.

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Stes, A., Coertjens, L. & Van Petegem, P. Instructional development for teachers in higher education: impact on teaching approach. High Educ 60, 187–204 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-009-9294-x

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