Determining opinions of research assistants in faculty of education about the faculty development programme

Abstract

In Turkey, the rapid increase in the number of universities has caused an increase in the need for academic members. This situation has caused not only more workload of academic members in terms of student and course numbers, but also a decrease in the quality of education. In order to get over the problems caused by the lack of academic member in higher education, it was necessary to meet the need for qualified academic members rapidly. For this reason, varying programs have been developed and implemented for developing academic members, one of which is the Faculty Development Programme (FDP). In this study, it is aimed to determine opinions of research assistants continuing their post-graduate education within the scope of the FDP about the program and the changes done in it is procedures and principles. The phenomenological design being one of the qualitative approaches was used. The participants of the study, chosen by convenience sampling, were 18 research assistants continuing their postgraduate education within the scope of the FDP and working at a university in Ankara. The data gathered via focus group interviews were analyzed by deductive content analysis. In order to conduct a reliable and valid study, the data collection tool and data analysis techniques were described in detailed under the method section. In addition, while reporting results, themes mentioned were stressed with direct quotations. In order to increase the consistency of the study, two researcher worked during the data analysis process. Results of the study showed that participants preferred the FDP due to its easy application process, objective evaluation process and giving opportunity for graduate education at prestigious universities. In addition, it was seen that the FDP research assistants have problems in terms of acceptance and belongingness both at home and host universities. Finally, some of the participants considered changes in the procedures and principles of the program positive whereas some others negative.