Teaching training in higher education: its relationship with institutional assessment

Abstract

This article discusses the impact of the Continuing Education Program of an institution in the South of Brazil, UNIVALI, on teacher’s practices, identifying whether there is any relationship between these practices and continuing education. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this research. The data collection instruments were: a) average number of hours that the teachers spent in the Continuing Education Program; b) average scores in the Institutional Assessment, which assesses teaching practice; and c) the subjects taught by the teachers. Data were collected in the period 2011-1 to 2017-1. Data were analyzed for 69 teachers, out of approximately one thousand teachers of the institution. The selection criteria was that the teacher must have participated in the training in all the semesters during this time period, and have received an assessment score by the students during those same semesters. The main theoretical background used to discuss the data was based on Nóvoa (2000), Sá et al.(2017), and Franco (2016), among other authors. In the results, we see that the level of participation of the teachers in the Continuing Education Program has increased. Although the number of training hours required by the institution has decreased over the years, the adhesion of teachers to the program has increased. We identified that 100% of the teachers had increased the number of hours spent on pedagogical topics. Concerning the institutional assessment, the scores for teaching practice attributed by the students ranged from 8.3 to 8.7. Of the 69 teachers who made up this sample, only three scored below 7 and above 6. In other words, 95.66% scored more than 7. None of the teachers scored below 6.