ABSTRACT
Australia has 42 universities. In 2015/16, 30 of 40 universities reviewed provided one or more days of teaching induction for their staff, while 10 did not. Twenty-six of the 30 teaching induction program directors were surveyed and 24 of those were interviewed to provide a snapshot of professional development for new teaching staff in Australian universities. The key findings of that research showed that almost two thirds of universities did not pay sessional staff to attend a teaching induction program; just over half the programs included peer observation of teaching; only one in five programs offered mentoring opportunities; three quarters of programs included assessment; and approximately a third of programs provided credit towards an award course. We conclude that all universities need to provide new teaching staff with a longer teaching induction program, which will support them to develop student-centred, scholarly behaviours and attitudes.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Professor Natalie Brown (University of Tasmania), Ms Tracy Frayne (University of Western Australia), Associate Professor Kogi Naidoo (Charles Sturt University), and Professor Beatrice Tucker (Curtin University), for the work that they did in interviewing program directors for this study.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Kym Fraser
Kym Fraser is Adjunct Associate Professor at Swinburne University of Technology, Learning Transformations, Melbourne, Australia.
Yoni Ryan
Yoni Ryan is Adjunct Professor in Higher Education at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia.
Susan Bolt
Susan Bolt is Head of Academic Development at the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Peter Copeman
Peter Copeman is Senior Teaching Fellow in the Teaching and Learning Directorate at the University of Canberra, Australia.
Caroline Cottman
Caroline Cottman is a Senior Academic Developer in the Centre for Support and Advancement of Learning and Teaching, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia.
Marie B. Fisher
Marie B. Fisher is a Senior Leadership academic at the Australian Catholic University, Canberra, Australia
Julie Fleming
Julie Fleming is the Associate Dean Scholarship and Technology at Central Queensland University, Australia.
Ann Luzeckyj
Ann Luzeckyj is a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching, Flinders University, Australia.