Professional development initiatives for university teachers: Variables that influence the transfer of learning to the workplace

Abstract

Universities seek innovation by designing and implementing professional development initiatives (PDI) for their teachers. Here it is expected that teachers will apply their learning to the workplace. However, such transfer does not always occur. To address this problem, we analyse the PDI design process of 12 universities in terms of how they consider the main variables influencing transfer: intervention design, work environment, and characteristics of the learner. Qualitative data from 16 interviews suggest that programme designers tend to focus mainly on variables related to the intervention design and work environment, but struggle to address the needs of the teacher. These findings can help universities realign their focus, by emphasising teacher-centred PDI to improve the transfer of learning.

Keywords:

• Professional development initiatives
• higher education
• teacher-centred professional development
• faculty development
• transfer of learning