Abstract

This research sets out to explore the development of new university teachers working in a post 1992 UK university. The research is based on data which were collected through questionnaires and in-depth interviews with 8 university teachers from a wide variety of subject disciplines. All the respondents had recently completed a one year mandatory teaching course. This research evaluates the relative significance of four key phenomena: subject discipline, departmental cultures, conceptions of good teaching and the experience of the teacher training course, on their development as teachers. There is in the UK and internationally a growing interest in the development of university teachers in terms of their teaching skills but the process of development is a contested area and the available literature is inconclusive and contradictory. The findings of this small scale study are consistent with other larger national and international studies in suggesting that well planned and effectively delivered training can have a very positive impact on the development of new university teachers’ teaching and learning regimes.