UHPED6000 Teaching and Learning in Professional Education-Introduction for Academic Staff Course description

The course in teaching and learning in professional education at OsloMet is designed to meet the minimum requirements in basic university pedagogical competence for academic staff at higher education institutions, as stipulated in Norwegian national legislation regulating appointment and promotion to teaching and research posts. Over the course of the semester, participants will acquire basic skills in planning, enactment, evaluation and development of teaching and supervision (basic competence for teaching and supervision in higher education).

The course aims to provide a professions-based perspective on teaching and learning in higher education and to maintain a high degree of practical relevance for participants’ professional backgrounds and teaching practice. The course emphasizes theoretical and research-based knowledge, while also focusing on the practical aspects of teaching, learning and assessment. It is assumed that participants are highly competent in the respective subjects that they teach.

The course schedule consists of a series of four two-day seminars and a final one-day seminar. Additionally, the course consists of self-study, assignments, peer mentoring and project work.

The seminars combine lectures, literature presentations, discussions and participants’ presentations. The course requires active participation from participants in shaping the course content and proceedings. Projects and assignments between sessions will be closely connected to the participants’ own teaching contexts. Course participants will receive feedback from the course leaders on their final project and documentation of their pedagogical competence (teaching statement). Course participants will also participate in a peer mentoring process involving observation of and feedback to each other’ teaching.

The course is primarily aimed at academic staff with teaching responsibilities at OsloMet who lack basic university pedagogical competence. Recently employed staff and others required to obtain basic university pedagogical competence are prioritized. It is a prerequisite that participants have teaching responsibilities while completing the course. It is desirable that applicants have at least one semester of teaching experience when applying for this course.

The student will have the following knowledge, skills and general competence upon successful completion of the course:

Knowledge

The student

• can select, justify and evaluate approaches to teaching, learning and assessment on the basis of advanced knowledge of their own fields of expertise, basic university pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of the educational requirements of higher education
• has advanced knowledge of knowledge about their own professional education’s unique characteristics, as well as fundamental knowledge about the professions, professional education and professionalization in general
• has advanced knowledge about students’ learning in higher education and connections between teaching, learning and assessment
• has advanced knowledge about R&D-based education and the connection between professional education and professional practice

Skills

The student is able to

• Critically analyze their own teaching and students’ learning efforts and outcomes, and contribute to the further development of educational quality in their own educational communities
• Employ a variety of student-active teaching activities
• Critically analyze and improve their own teaching and contribute to the development of educational quality in collaboration with their colleagues

General competence

The student is able to

• employ research-based knowledge about teaching, learning and assessment relevant to their own teaching
• continuously develop their university pedagogical competence on their own as well as through collegial collaboration
• demonstrate university pedagogical competence
• identify students as a resource in teaching and learning

Content

The course has the following four components:

1. Students’ learning – theoretical perspectives and practical approaches.
2. Teaching in higher education. The teacher role. R&D-based teaching. Different teaching situations. Differences and similarities between educational programs.
3. Assessment, academic standards, student evaluation of education, peer assessment.
4. Knowledge about the professions, professional education, professionalization. Course Design in higher education.

Assignments

To take the exam, obligatory assignments and participation need to be approved. The course has assignments related to each of the five seminars. The assignments are to be completed and uploaded within given deadlines. They form the basis of essential parts of the work during the seminars. For more detailed information about the individual assignments, please see the Canvas course site.

To pass this course, participants must have attended at least 75% of the seminars, as well as having documented their basic pedagogical competence through assignments, peer mentoring and project work resulting in a final project report. Absence does not exempt participants from completing the seminar’s corresponding assignments. In the case of a participant being absent from a whole course session (and thus from a course component), work with the corresponding component must be explicitly documented in the form of a written assignment where a research question relevant to the component’s subject is to be discussed in light of the course literature.

The course combines theoretical studies, practical exercises and reflection. Participants are expected to give presentations on the course’s themes, related to the course literature and/or their own experiences. Participants will contribute to their own and each other’s learning through preparation, active participation in course sessions and peer feedback.

Peer mentoring of teaching

All participants will be assigned to a peer mentoring group of 4-5 participants, in which they will observe and provide feedback to each other’s teaching sessions. At the end of the semester, the groups will report on their experiences from the peer mentoring process in a brief paper.

Assessment

The final assessment consists of two parts to be uploaded in the form of two documents or a digital blog.

1. Educational portfolio, which documents your educational profile and your university pedagogical competence.
2. Project report. The report should exhibit educational competence by presenting and analyzing challenges related to teaching, learning and assessment in higher education. The project report can be submitted individually or in groups.

More information about the educational portfolio and the project report is provided on the Canvas course site.

Deadline: One week after the last seminar.

Aids allowed in exams and assessments: All.

New/postponed examination

The students’ rights and duties in the event of new/postponed examination are described in the Regulations relating to studies and examinations at OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University.

àStudentens rettigheter og plikter ved ny/utsatt eksamen framgår av forskrift om studier og eksamen ved OsloMet – storbyuniversitetet.

Right to appeal

Students may appeal their grade and formal errors in accordance with Lov om universiteter og høyskoler and Regulations relating to studies and examinations at OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University.

Grading scale

Passed/failed

Examiners

The exam will be assessed by two internal examiners. The project report and the portfolio will be graded as passed or failed. In order to pass the exam, all obligatory assignments must be completed.

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