Anatolian Journal of Education - No.1 - U. S. Professional Development Experiences with Faculty and Undergraduate Students in Kosovo

Oct 15, 2026

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Qualitative case study presents research-based professional development of pedagogical strategies to 44 university professors and 33 undergraduate students across two Eastern European universities in Kosovo. A two-day pedagogical workshop was conducted at each site, with planning informed by pre-workshop questionnaires and followed by post-workshop surveys, participation discussions, follow-up interviews, and researcher reflections. Workshop content targeted student engagement, questioning strategies, formative reflective assessment, and representing to learn, yielding positive learning perceptions and implementation of new teaching practices.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Literature Review

Professional Development

Anatolian Journal of Education No.1 e-ISSN: 2547-9652 April 2021 ● Vol. 6, [www.e-aje.net](www.e-aje.net)[ ](www.e-aje.net)pp. 1-16 U. S. Professional Development Experiences with Faculty and Undergraduate Students in Kosovo Sally R. Beisser Prof., Distinguished Professor, Corresponding author, Drake University, USA, [sally.beisser@drake.edu](sally.beisser@drake.edu) Jennifer Thoma Asst. Professor, Drake University, USA, [jennifer.thoma@drake.edu](jennifer.thoma@drake.edu) In this qualitative case study, professional development of pedagogical strategies was In this qualitative case study, professional development of pedagogical strategies was presented to 44 university professors and 33 undergraduate students representing two Eastern European universities. This study was part of an international partnership between one U.S. Midwest private university and two partnership universities in Kosovo. Researchers conducted a two-day pedagogical workshop in each university setting. Participants in one university represented the Faculty of Medicine, Education, and Language professors. The other university group included English Language and Literature undergraduate majors. Using survey research methods of questionnaires and interviews, data were collected using a pre-workshop questionnaire to inform the workshop content, post-workshop survey, and participation discussion, follow up interviews, and researcher reflections. Researchers presented a series of workshops on best practices in student engagement, questioning strategies, formative reflective assessment, and representing to learn in each university setting. Results revealed participants from both universities were a) positive about learning new pedagogical strategies and b) implementing new teaching practices as a result of the workshop interventions. These findings suggest building positive professional partnerships for professional development results in valuable changes to professional practice. Future research should focus on long-term benefits of such partnerships, specifically on how workshops may continue to inform professional practice. Keywords: professional development, student engagement, questioning, assessment strategies INTRODUCTION Ongoing, high quality professional development and educator training are required to ensure that instructors have the tools they need to deliver the most effective practices for their students. Successful educator training institutions have several common features (Darling-Hammond, 1999) that include a common vision of good teaching; well-defined standards of academic practice; rigorous core curriculum; use of problem-based methods; supervised clinical experiences; and strong relationships with students. Determining effective outcomes from professional development has been proven difficult (Hattie, 2009) . Most teachers can take workshop training back to the classroom when training includes presentation of theory, demonstration of new strategy, initial practice in workshop, and prompt feedback about their efforts (Showers, Joyce, & Bennett, 1987) . Citation: Beisser, S. R., & Thoma, J. (2021) . U.S. Professional Development Experiences with Faculty and Undergraduate Students in Kosovo. Anatolian Journal of Education, 6(1), 1-16. [https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2021.611a](https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2021.611a) 2 U. S. Professional Development Experiences with Faculty … Additionally, professional training that occurs across countries requires special considerations. Collaboration for international professional development should include educators’ voices and collaboration between different social, cultural, and teaching institutions. Providing quality professional development requires several vital features, including engagement and active learning, coherence with school standards and goals, and content focus (Desimone, Poerter, Garet, Yoon, & Birman, 2002) . In this study, two U.S. researchers provided resea

FAQs

What was the focus of the professional development in this study?

The study focused on professional development of pedagogical strategies through workshops aimed at student engagement, questioning strategies, formative reflective assessment, and related practices.

How were data and workshop content collected?

Researchers used a pre-workshop questionnaire, then gathered data through post-workshop surveys, participation discussions, follow-up interviews, and researcher reflections.

What outcomes did participants report after the workshops?

Participants from both universities were positive about learning new pedagogical strategies and implemented new teaching practices as a result of the workshop interventions.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Dipper