Professional Development for Effective Teaching in Higher Education

Proceedings of The 4th International Conference on New Trends in Teaching and Education

Year: 2022

DOI:

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Professional Development for Effective Teaching in Higher Education

Zeynep Kızıltepe , Özlem Salı

ABSTRACT: 

Improved instruction leads to effective student learning, which is one of the key elements for the success of the higher education institutions. Most faculty members have not had a teaching training program; and begin teaching based on their experiences as students in the universities they attended. The aim of the study is to investigate the needs of faculty members in a newly established private university in Istanbul to improve their teaching and learning process. Findings are based on the answers of 200 faculty members aged between 25 and 75. The questions entailed two sets of information: the first the demographic information (title, age, and department), and whether they had been exposed to a teacher training program before; and the second a check list asking them whether they needed information about distance education (teaching methods, measurement and evaluation, student relationships); face to face education (teaching methods, active teaching techniques, critical thinking, classroom discussion, effective techniques for crowded and small classes, differentiation, classroom management); and general information (techniques to cope with stress, learning styles and strategies, syllabus design, to evaluate student learning, student centered learning, increase student motivation, teaching technologies). Results show that the 97% of the respondents had never had a teacher training program before. While measurement and evaluation was the area that they felt they needed to be informed the most, classroom management was the least one. As a result, a professional development program for all the faculty members was highly recommended to the institution.

keywords: measurement and evaluation; instruction; student learning; teaching training program; universities.