Discourses of novice lecturers: a study of their teaching

The training of novice teaching staff in order to enable them to carry out their functions adequately in university classrooms still requires considerable improvement. In this research paper, and in an attempt to define a model for the development of professional training in Higher Education, attention is paid to the perspectives and judgments of novice university staff. The subjects of the research were a cohort of assistant lecturers at the University of Alicante (Spain). The research focuses specifically on the expression of their problems, difficulties, dilemmas and decisions related to their course plans and classroom contexts. The methodology applied here integrates processes of qualitative interpretation supported by the AQUAD Seis data processing program, and quantitative approximations in the presentation of results. These results make clear the need to integrate novices into the teaching community in order to reduce the fears they experience on starting their academic careers. It is also clear that the university community as a whole profits from ideas provided by novice staff