University Lecturers’ Experiences of and Reflections on the Development of Their Pedagogical Competency

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we investigate university lecturers’ experiences of and reflections on the development of their pedagogical competency during a 9-month university pedagogical course. The effects of long-term university pedagogical training are considered through experienced pedagogical competency by analysing university lecturers’ evaluations of and reflections on their pedagogical competence areas during the course. Data was gathered from 31 participants using a self-evaluation questionnaire and reflective writings, and analysed using a mixed-methods approach. The results show that the participants experienced significant development in their pedagogical competency. However, it became evident that the concept and practice of reflection is not clear, especially in different disciplines. In addition to the number of credits of the training, the design, and the long timeframe of the pedagogical training, the context in which the training is put into practice, as well as the social aspect of reflection, need to be taken into consideration.

KEYWORDS:

• University teacher training
• pedagogical competency
• reflection
• scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL)

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank our colleagues, Maire Syrjäkari, Kirsi Kettula, and Jenni Koponen for co-teaching this course and for their support during this study, and Vuokko Tierney on whose original work the self-evaluation questionnaire used in the course and in this study was based.