Our processes and initiatives in this area
When recruiting researchers for principal positions (assistant professorship, associate professorship, professorship), we always evaluate the applicants' teaching qualifications. We do this on the basis of a standardised questionnaire and individual teaching portfolios.
At several of Health's departments, applicants must complete a teaching or communication assignment in connection with job interviews.
The head of department is responsible for ensuring competency development of teaching staff. Among other things, we expect assistant professors to take the university teacher training course. The university teacher training course or similar is a prerequisite for being employed in an associate professorship.
Competency development of Health's fixed-term teaching staff differs slightly from department to department:
At Health, deputy heads of department for education are key players in terms of supporting the pedagogical and didactic development of teaching staff. The deputy heads of department are members of the Forum for Education at Health. In this forum, among other things, we discuss and decide what initiatives we need to take to support the the development of pedagogical and didactic competencies of teaching staff. The deputy head of department is also part of the department management team and can thus support the head of department in ensuring relevant competency development of individuals and at organisational level.
Deputy heads of department for education and directors of studies at Health participate in management courses – including those offered by Universities Denmark.
The Centre for Educational Development (CED) is represented in the Forum for Education at Health. Among other things, the centre offers: competency development for university teaching staff. A representative in the Forum for Education gives us close coordination between the current need for competency development and the types and capacity of CED's activities.
We place particular emphasis on upgrading the skills of teaching staff required to ensure student-activating forms of instruction on courses.
When developing new academic regulations at Health, we hold workshops with different themes. These may be themes such as “feedback” and “designing courses that promote student-activating forms of instruction”.
For a number of years, Health has prioritised resources to increase the use of digital tools (educational IT) in teaching.
The majority of departments at Health have organised their teaching in teams with a course coordinator as the academic coordinator. This organisation supports a professional community around teaching and thereby also the potential for robust pedagogical and didactic knowledge in day-to-day teaching.
