Professors have three main functions in universities: research, teaching and service. This study focuses on the teaching function. Effective teaching in higher education enhances students' learning while ineffective teaching can have detrimental impact on students' learning and their attitudes toward learning. In this regard, it is important that professors have the knowledge base for effective teaching, a base which is growing and changing rapidly. This requires that they engage in professional development activities to improve their teaching. Research suggests that professors are reluctant to dedicate time to improve their teaching. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the contextual and personal factors that contribute to a sense of reluctance or motivation for the improvement of teaching. Goal orientation and implicit theory of teaching skills guided this study to explore personal factors. Results revealed that mastery goal orientation and implicit theory of teaching skills are correlated with the time spent on activities for improving teaching and implementing new instructional methods, respectively. Professors' perceptions of barriers against and support for improvement of teaching were also studied. Recommendations forwarded by professors to enhance their engagement in the improvement of teaching including creating a reward system for teaching, designing more efficient teaching improvement opportunities, building communities of learning and practice, allocating funds for the improvement of teaching and considering teaching time release designated for improvement. / Les professeurs de l'université ont trois rôles principaux: faire la recherche, enseigner et rendre des services comme élaborer des programmes d'études. Cette étude porte sur celui de l'enseignement. Puisque l'enseignement inefficace a des impacts nuisibles sur la compréhension des étudiants, il est important que les professeurs sachent comment améliorer leur efficacité de l'enseignement. Il apparaît que les professeurs ne sont pas assez motivés pour s'engager à développer l'enseignement. Les résultats révèlent que ça existe des corrélations entre orientation vers les objectifs, la théorie des implicites compétences de l'enseignement et le temps qui a été mis pour améliorer l'efficacité de l'enseignement et réalisation de nouvelles méthodes pédagogiques, respectivement. Les perceptions des professeurs sur les obstacles existants contre l'amélioration de l'enseignement ont été étudiées aussi. Les professeurs ont été demandés de donner leurs avis sur l'amélioration de l'enseignement. Ces avis comprennent la création d'un système de récompense pour l'enseignement, élaboration des occasions plus efficaces pour l'amélioration de l'enseignement, planification des communautés d'apprentissage et de pratique et désignation de budget pour amélioration de l'enseignement.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.123240 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Sabagh, Zaynab |
| Contributors | Alenoush Saroyan (Internal/Supervisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | French |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | Electronically submitted theses |
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