Observing new university professors in class: initial results of the effects of intensive training on teaching practices

Abstract

Some studies have shown that professors who benefited from teaching training modified certain of their practices. Our research aims to measure certain effects of teacher training on new university professors’ practices, and to answer the following question: does intensive training have observable effects on teaching practices? To do so, we observed twelve Québec and French professors, six who received such training and six who did not. Our initial results suggest that short-term training has little effect on practices observed in the classroom, and that integration of evaluation, knowledge transfer and the development of a reflective capacity are the least observed acts.