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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.

BackgroundPalliative care often requires inter-professional collaboration, offering opportunities to learn from each other. General practitioners often collaborate with specialized palliative home care teams. This study seeks to identify what, how and from whom health care professionals learn during this collaboration.MethodsCross-sectional survey in Belgium. All palliative home care teams were invited to participate. General practitioners (n = 267) and palliative care nurses (n = 73) filled in questionnaires.ResultsGeneral practitioners (GPs) and palliative care nurses learned on all palliative care aspects. Different learning activities were used. Participants learned from all others involved in patient care. The professionals’ discipline influences the content, the way of learning and who learns from whom. Multiple linear regression shows significant but limited association of gender with amount of learning by GPs (M < F; p = 0.042; Adj R2 = 0.07) and nurses (M > F; p = 0.019; Adj R2 = 0.01).ConclusionsThis study is the first to reveal what, how and from whom learning occurs during collaboration in palliative care. Training professionals in sharing expertise during practice and in detecting and adequately responding to others’ learning needs, could optimize this way of learning.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-014-0501-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) is used to examine students’ study approaches in higher education. The questionnaire assumes to measure two factors: a deep and a surface study approach. Analyses into the validity and reliability of the original English R-SPQ-2F yielded positive results. In this study, we examined the degree to which these positive results can also be found for the Dutch version that we developed. By comparing our results with the results of earlier studies in different cultures, we conclude cross-cultural sensitivity is an important point to be borne in mind when using the R-SPQ-2F. Our research supports the validity and reliability of our Dutch version of the R-SPQ-2F.

Long-term influences of educational development initiatives for novice faculty members are seldom studied in a systematic way. In this exploratory study the long-term individual and institutional impact of a novice faculty training programme at the University of Antwerp (Belgium) was evaluated, using a written survey with open questions. The results revealed that 2 years after finishing the programme the respondents still referred to the programme as a means of explaining changes in their day-to-day teaching practice. No firm relationship could be established between the strength of individual impact and the extent to which respondents also felt inclined to change things at the institutional level. The data suggests that the long-term impact of the programme depends mainly on contextual elements. The article further discusses implications for the design of faculty training as well as perspectives for further research.Onderzoek naar de invloed op lange termijn van onderwijskundige professionalisering voor beginnende docenten is schaars. Dit artikel bespreekt de resultaten van een exploratieve studie over de lange termijn invloed van een opleiding voor beginnende docenten aan de universiteit van Antwerpen (België). Met behulp van een schriftelijke vragenlijst met open vragen werd de invloed van de opleiding op individueel en institutioneel niveau nagegaan. De resultaten tonen aan dat de respondenten twee jaar na datum nog steeds naar de opleiding verwijzen wanneer zij veranderingen in hun dagelijkse onderwijspraktijk duiden. Vastgesteld werd dat docenten die getuigen van sterke veranderingen in hun onderwijsopvattingen, ook meer omvattende veranderingen in hun praktijk beschrijven. Er werd geen verband gevonden tussen de sterkte van de veranderingen op individueel niveau en de mate waarin docenten zich geroepen voelden om veranderingen op institutioneel niveau teweeg te brengen. De resultaten laten vermoeden dat de lange termijn invloed van de opleiding vooral afhangt van contextfactoren. Het artikel gaat in op de implicaties van de bevindingen voor het ontwerp van onderwijskundige professionalisering en op de uitdagingen voor verder onderzoek.L'influence à long terme des initiatives de développement pédagogique destinées aux enseignants universitaires en début de carrière est rarement étudiée de façon systématique. Dans le cadre de cette étude exploratoire, l'impact à long terme et pour l'institution d'un programme de formation pour les nouveaux enseignants donné à l'Université d'Anvers (Belgique) a été évalué à l'aide d'un questionnaire écrit comportant des questions

Primary care professionals' WPL is multifaceted. Existing social constructivist and social cognitivist learning theories form a framework from which to interpret these findings. Primary care policy makers and managers should ensure that professionals have access to protected time, earmarked for learning. Time is required for reflection, to learn new ways of interaction and to develop new habits within clinical practice.

The purpose of this paper is to gain more insight into the relationship between teachers' approaches to teaching on the one hand, and the characteristics of context and teacher demographics on the other. Data were collected from 50 teaching staff at the University of Antwerp and from three sources: a Dutch translation of the Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI), information given by the participants, and information obtained through the personnel department of the university. Only the conceptual change/student-focused scale of the ATI had good reliability and was used for further analysis. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed no relationship between teachers' approaches to teaching and the context variables of expert level of students, teaching discipline and the number of students in the classroom. Neither was a relationship found between the teachers' conceptual change/student-focused approach and the teacher characteristics of gender, academic status, teaching experience, age and intention to participate in teacher training. Several interpretations of these data and perspectives for further research are discussed.