Groningen, Netherlands

Train the Trainer: Building Effective Professional Development for University Teachers

In the past decade, more and more universities started to invest in educational quality by training their teachers. Many of these trainings correctly focus on student-centred learning. However, in our own practice and in research about professional development of university teachers we see that this is often a bridge too far, as in the experience of the teacher should be taken into account. The needs of university teachers seem to be on different levels than what is often taught and should be taken into account when designing training activities.

In this course we will discuss the current state of affairs of research on professional development of university teachers and what this means for training of these teachers. Throughout the week participants will work on the actual design of their own professional development activity, through the following topics and activities:

- Academic development – focusing on the professional development of didactic staff
- Needs analysis of university teachers in your institution
- Professional development programmes
- Designing with impact - focusing on principles to take into account when designing professional development activities.
- Analyze and select effective training skills.
- Evaluation, to research whether the aims of professional development activities were achieved.

Working methods will be group discussions, individual reflection, presentations and design activities. This culminates into a final design product/assignment of your development activity.

Course leader

Rick Huizinga & Irene Douwes-Van Ark

Target group

This summer school is designed for Educational developers, Teaching and Learning Staff, Educational Support Staff, Teacher Trainers of University Teachers. Participants should be involved in teacher training of University Teachers, and have foundational knowledge on effective teaching in universities.

Course aim

After this course you will be able to:

1. Describe how academic teachers develop.

2. Select professional development activities based on the needs of teachers in your institution.

3. Design a professional development activity specifically for your own institution

4. Apply effective training skills for your own context.

5. Evaluate a professional development activity

Credits info

2 EC
Preparation: 10 hours
Lectures: 36 hours
Presentation: 4 hours
Final Design/assignment: 8 hours

Upon successful completion of the programme, the Summer School offers a Certificate of Attendance that mentions the workload of 58 hours (28 hours corresponds to 1 ECTS so in this case, 2 ECTS). Students can apply for recognition of these credits to the relevant authorities in their home institutions, therefore the final decision on awarding credits is at the discretion of their home institutions. We will be happy to provide any necessary information that might be requested in addition to the certificate of attendance.

Fee info

EUR 1000: Participation fee which includes lunches and refreshments