Educating the educators--do university lecturers require training in educational practice?

Universities are coming under increasing pressure to improve their quality and accountability, both in research and in teaching. However whilst there has always been a formal training programme in research, teaching in higher education has generally been carried out by an 'untrained profession'. To accede to the demands of their university, teachers may do two things, either improve their teaching or help students to improve their learning. In order to do either they must have an adequate understanding of educational principles.