摘要：Continuing professional development is currently high on the agenda for UK Higher Education. A small number of studies have been undertaken with mixed disciplinary groups of academic and other HE staff to ascertain the different activities undertaken to develop teaching practice. The aim of this small-scale research was to complement these studies by looking at the experiences of academics from a single discipline, Earth Science, across 31 different institutions in the UK. Responses from 192 academics indicated that CPD takes a wide variety of forms; discussions with colleagues was the most frequently-cited form of CPD undertaken. The main barrier was perceived to be lack of time or the need to focus on research in most institutions. It is suggested that challenges for HEIs in integrating CPD include: the valuing and monitoring of both formal and informal CPD activities; exploring synergies between professional development for teaching and for research; and supporting collaboration and communication between educational developers and academic staff, between disciplines, and across institutions. CPD needs to be considered as a normal part of professional life for all academic staff; it needs to be self-directed and planned within the relevant context.
