IMPACT OF AN INTENSIVE STAFF INDUCTION PROGRAMME ON TEACHER SELF-EFFICACY & APPROACH TO TEACHING

Substantial literature supports the notion that a planned long term approach in the design of staff development programmes is essential to achieve fundamental changes in core teaching practices and academics’ learning compared with “one-shot” workshops. Given that problem-based learning (PBL) is a relatively new approach to teaching and learning, new academics need to be oriented in a structured manner to apply the method confidently in their own classrooms. This study is part of a wider investigation into the impact of a structured foundational staff development programme on new academics in their role as classroom tutors and curriculum designers in active learning environments. In this study, the impact of the intensive five-day induction workshop on new staff’s teaching selfefficacy and approach to teaching was explored. Data were analysed from 31 staff participants who attended the five-day workshop between the months of April and May of 2013. The analysis found a significant and large impact on approach to teaching, but not on self-efficacy. Participants reported decreases in both student-centred and transmissionfocused approaches to teaching. Length of teaching experience did not affect the impact of the workshop. These findings are in line with other research showing that professional development creates an increased awareness in teachers, and that changes in self-efficacy take time.

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