The impact of a university teaching development programme on student approaches to studying and learning experience: evidence from Chile

In this paper, we analyse the impact of teacher participation in a University Teaching Diploma on student approaches to studying and learning experience. A quasi-experimental and multilevel design was employed. University teachers answered the Approaches to Teaching Inventory and students completed the Course Experience Questionnaire and the Study Process Questionnaire. In addition, contextual variables were included for both teachers and students. The total sample included 44 teachers and 686 students. Of these, 25 university teachers had completed the University Teaching Diploma and 19 had not; 373 students were in courses with a diploma teacher and 313 in courses were not. Results show that those university teachers who have completed the programme have, in their courses, students who were more likely to declare having adopted a deep approach to studying than those teachers who have not participated in the diploma. At the same time, no significant impact was found on the student learning experience. For practical purposes, this investigation provides evidence for the value of teaching development programmes in promoting deeper approaches to studying. For research purposes, it proposes the use of multilevel models to evaluate the impact of university teaching diplomas.