The measurement and impact of university teacher development programs

Abstract

Teacher development programs have been part of the English speaking higher education landscape for over 40 years. There is now general agreement that teacher development pro grams have a positive impact on teachers and students, yet the extent and longevity of their impact on the culture of the discipline and the institutions are less well researched and evi denced. There is clearly a need for ongoing and rigorous research on the impact of teacher development programs that looks deeper and beyond the teachers who participate in the programs. The focus of this paper is to draw on the English research and literature to iden tify the impact and effectiveness of teacher development programs and activities and propose a framework for the systematic measurement and collection of information on the effective ness of these programs. It is argued that these measures and indicators need to move from the research paradigm to the evaluation paradigm so that they can inform ongoing and future teacher development programs and enhancement. Programs from the planning stage should be designed to build an evidence base that will enable researchers and practitioners to ask more complex questions on where and on whom the programs have an impact, and why they have impact.

A framework for the evaluation of educational development programs in higher education in Chile

“…These indicators have been designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a specific programs" practices and processes. These also identify any changes or outcomes (Chalmers & Gardiner, 2015). Together, they provide a "comprehensive picture of the quality of teaching and learning activities" (Chalmers & Gardiner, 2015).…”

“…The CeDID Evaluation Framework drew on Guskey"s five-level model, which identifies where educational development programs can demonstrate impact (Chalmers & Gardiner, 2015). These are 1) Teachers" reaction to the development program; 2) Conceptual changes in teachers" thinking; 3) Behavioural changes in the way teachers use the knowledge, skills and techniques learners; 4) Changes in organisational culture, practices, and support and; 5) Changes in student learning, engagement, perception, study approaches.…”

“…Over a period of four years, CeDID extended Chalmers" work (Chalmers & Gardiner, 2015) to ensure that it applied to all CeDID"s educational development activities and disciplines (Turra & Moya, 2016).…”

Exploring interdisciplinary academic development: the Change Laboratory as an approach to team-based practice

“…Research has shown that students often experience interdisciplinary programmes as fragmented due to a lack of coherence and poor module sequencing (Hatzakis, Lycett, & Serrano, 2007;O'Neill, Donnelly, & Fitzmaurice, 2014). Although many HE institutions have responded by implementing a wide range of academic development 1 activities aimed at improving teaching and learning quality, the majority of these initiatives have focused on the development of the individual teacher (Chalmers & Gardiner, 2015;Gibbs, 2013). Nonetheless, research indicates that teaching practice is also influenced by both local academic cultures and disciplinary differences, where the departmental context is generally considered to be of greater significance (Heinrich, 2017;Knight & Trowler, 2000;Trowler, Saunders, & Bamber, 2012).…”

The Critical Role of Universities in Impacting Upon English Education in Japan

“…Therefore, it is critical to train and equip teaching staff with pedagogical theory and the practical aspects of teaching, as these have direct influence on their students" achievements. A number of researchers have highlighted the need for pedagogical skills for teaching staff in higher educational institutions (e.g., Chalmers & Gardiner, 2015;Hirsto, Lampinen & Syrjakari, 2013;Robinson & Hope, n.d.), but this has not been debated extensively in Japan.…”