Concerns about the quality of teaching and learning in higher education have given rise to teacher development programs and centers around the world. This book investigates the challenges and complexities of creating instructional development programs for present and future academics.

Using case studies from a variety of countries, including Estonia, Singapore, the United States, and the United Kingdom, it examines issues that are important for higher education researchers as well as for higher education managers.

The book introduces different responses from around the world to the need to improve teaching in higher education, demonstrates many different ways success may be understood, and investigates what factors may influence the results of instructional development. Contributors use these factors, as well as those found in the related literature, to explain program success through theoretical frameworks. This book also provides input for higher-education managers by pointing out how the local context and both institutional and national policy-making may help or hinder the effective preparation of professors for their teaching responsibilities.

Contents

1. What We Know and Fail to Know About the Impact of Teacher Development Gabriela Pleschová and Eszter Simon Part One: Training for What? Instructional Development for Graduate Students 2. Preparing Doctoral Students for a Teaching Career: The Case of an International University with a History of Regional Engagement Joanna Renc-Roe and Tatiana Yarkova 3. Graduate Student Teacher Training Courses, Job Placement, and Teaching Awards in the United States John Ishiyama, Alexandra Cole, Angela D. Nichols, Kerstin Hamann and Kimberly Mealy 4. The Impact of Training on Teacher Effectiveness: Canadian Practices and Policies Christopher Knapper Part Two: Using Program Assessments to Improve Program Design 5. Mentorship in Teacher Training: A Preliminary Review of a Professional Development Programme for Tertiaers in Singapore Huang Hoon Chng and Alan Soong Swee Kit 6. Combining International Experience with the Local Context: Designing and Improving Instructional Development in a Post-Soviet Setting Mari Karm, Marvi Remmik and Anu Haamer 7. Institutional Factors in Re-Designing an Accredited Continuing Professional Development Course in Northern Ireland Vicky Davies and Sarah Maguire Part Three: Top-Down Determinants of Success in Instructional Development Programs 8. The Emerging European Higher Education Area: Implications for Instructional Development Kathleen M. Quinlan and Erkki Berndtson 9. Teacher Development Programmes: National Policies Enabling Local Impact in Ireland Jennifer Murphy 10. The Influence of the Research Philosophy and Pedagogical Management Decisions of the University of Helsinki on University Teaching: A Longitudinal Study Anne Nevgi 11. The Impact of UK University Teaching Programmes on Lecturers’ Assessment Practice: A Case for Pedagogical Action Research Lin S...