Perceptions of higher education staff to professional development programs

Abstract

This paper describes perceptions of tertiary education staff to teaching and research workshops in North-Central Nigeria. Participants (N=133) from federal, state, public, and private universities and polytechnics, comprising of academic staff and technologists spread across faculties and colleges took part in this evaluation study. A convergent parallel mixed methods research design was adopted, and a questionnaire consisting of 16 close-ended and 6 open-ended questions was administered. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive analysis (quantitative) and thematic analysis (qualitative). Findings revealed that academic staff and technologists perceived professional development programs as a developmental tool needed to enhance their skills and were generally satisfied when given the opportunity to attend. Furthermore, this study provides suggestions made by participants that should be considered while organizing future workshops for tertiary education institutions. This paper concludes that more  professional development opportunities should be provided for tertiary education staff especially on teaching methodologies and research.

Keywords: Workshop, Academic staff, Professional development, Teaching, Research