The professionalisation of academics as teachers in higher education

This position paper is an outcome of the European Science Foundation’s Exploratory Workshop ‘The Impact of Training for Teachers in Higher Education’ held 18–20 March 2010 in Bratislava with the participation of 20 international academics engaged in both teacher training and researching teaching and learning in higher education. One of the conclusions of the workshop was that directing attention to teaching in higher education is critical for the future of European higher education. Accordingly, this paper calls the attention of policy makers in Europe to the pressing need to improve the quality of teaching in higher education and makes recommendations at the European, national and institutional levels to achieve this

Teacher training for political science PhD students in Europe: determinants of a tool for enhanced teaching in higher education

In this paper we examine the state of teacher training for political science PhD candidates in the European Union and make a comparison with the situation in the United States. We investigate the determinants of supply and demand of teacher training. On the supply side, we suggest that research orientation and quality assurance are factors that might enhance institutional willingness to provide training. On the demand side, we examine the influence of gender, career plans, year of study, and career status on student motivation to undergo teacher training. We find that about half of EU institutions offering PhD programs also provide some form of teacher training; this closely follows American trends. We also uncover that while research orientation has a significant positive effect on the willingness of universities to provide training in pedagogy, quality assurance does not. Of the four factors we put forward as potential influences on student demand for teacher training, only future plans have a significant effect. We argue that similarities in the situation of teacher training in the United States and the European Union make transatlantic dialogue in graduate education worthwhile. Moreover, the positive impact of teacher training on the quality of teaching and learning as well as the positive valuation of training by more than two-thirds of PhD students in our sample makes us conclude that teacher training should be more widely available

Calling Brussels: Revisiting an online interview assignment

In order for students to have a first-hand experience with field research, I introduced a practical component to one of my introductory courses to the European Union (EU). Teams of two to three students are interviewing EU policy and legal experts. In semi-structured narrative video-interviews students are invited to learn more about the position of their interviewee in the organization, the interviewee’s career background, the policy topics the interviewee works on and her or his daily work routines. Students share and discus their findings and experiences with their peers so that they also learn something from the interviews that they had not conducted themselves. The assignment helps students apply foundational qualitative research skills, get a better idea of the organization and of the people who bring it all to life. It creates a memorable experience by completing an activity that students originally find challenging

Teacher Training for Political Science PhD Students in Europe Determinants of a Tool for Enhanced Teaching in Higher Education

In this paper we examine the state of teacher training for political science PhD candidates in the European Union and make a comparison with the situation in the United States. We investigate the determinants of supply and demand of teacher training. On the supply side, we suggest that research orientation and quality assurance are factors that might enhance institutional willingness to provide training. On the demand side, we examine the influence of gender, career plans, year of study, and career status on student motivation to undergo teacher training. We find that about half of EU institutions offering PhD programs also provide some form of teacher training; this closely follows American trends. We also uncover that while research orientation has a significant positive effect on the willingness of universities to provide training in pedagogy, quality assurance does not. Of the four factors we put forward as potential influences on student demand for teacher training, only future plans have a significant effect. We argue that similarities in the situation of teacher training in the United States and the European Union make transatlantic dialogue in graduate education worthwhile. Moreover, the positive impact of teacher training on the quality of teaching and learning as well as the positive valuation of training by more than two-thirds of PhD students in our sample makes us conclude that teacher training should be more widely available