One-Time Pedagogical Events to Teach Academics Instructional Models and the Effect on Students’ Perceptions of Teaching Effectiveness

Different types of pedagogical programs for academics are implemented worldwide. Out of these types, one-time pedagogical events were presented as having a medium effect size when aiming to develop academics’ pedagogical skills. Also, the academics’ ability to organize the course was strongly associated with students’ achievement. In this study, we investigated whether using instructional models as training content in one-time pedagogical events aimed to improve academics’ ability to organize the course could improve their teaching behavior as perceived by their students. Three instructional models (Gagné’s instructional model, an adapted version of Gagné’s instructional model, and Engelmann’s Direct instructional model) were taught in three one-time events, and we used the academics’ current practice as a baseline for comparisons. Twelve academics involved in one-time pedagogical events used their new skills in 47 classes and were evaluated by 1226 students. As compared with the academics’ current practices, learning instructional models by attending one-time pedagogical events led to improved evaluations from their students. These effects were moderated by class size and students’ academic year.