ABSTRACT
During the last decade, governments in most developed countries have aimed to increase the numbers of university graduates and to improve the quality of university education as means to maintain or to increase countries' growth and competitiveness. Yet, while educational expansion and structural changes, in particular relating to the Bologna Process (Reinalda and Kulesza 2006) have brought about improvements for students, they have not necessarily done so for faculty members who are in charge of teaching. Many professors are worried that institutional requirements brought about by the Bologna Process, such as paying greater attention to learners' needs, offering more flexible learning paths, or varied assessment techniques, will consume much of their time and thus negatively affect their research (Reichert and Tauch 2005, 38). Accordingly, many faculty members consider teaching enhancement courses as one of many bureaucratic demands on their time ( Gibbs 1989, 58–59). At the same time, the characteristics of the teaching faculties are changing as graduate teaching assistants and doctoral students are increasingly being employed to teach. Indeed, many of them will replace the current “baby boom” generation of scholars, who will retire in coming years.
