Lecturers' satisfaction with short courses to improve their profession competence

Abstract

Abstract: It cannot be denied that the development of a university is largely contributed by the quality of the teaching staff. With the rapid development of society nowadays, lecturers need to improve their own capacity in professional knowledge, skills, expertise, etc. to meet the dramatic changes in education. There are some ways lecturers often use to courses usually take place in a short time. The aim of these courses is to help them improve their knowledge and skills, which is hoped to bring great effect in teaching. However, how is the satisfaction of lecturers after short courses? The research was conducted on 15 lecturers from 15 different universities, who had attended at least one short course inside or outside their universities on fostering professional competence. The method of in-depth interview was used to clarify their satisfaction in terms of (1) teachers' style, (2) learning content, (3) teaching method, (4) examinations and assessments. Results showed that the majority of lecturers were satisfied with the courses they had attended. Nevertheless, satisfaction varied among courses, of which outside-university courses got higher judgment. Learning content was the aspect that lectures are the most satisfied with in their courses.