Assistant Professor Programme
The Assistant Professor programme has been offered at RU since 1993 and forms the backbone of UniPæd's activities. Søren Dupont is the general manager and coordinator of UniPæd.
The current assistant professor training is mandatory and its duration is up to 220 hours. The object of the programme is to provide assistant professors and postdocs with the opportunity to develop their own teacher roles and, through this process, develop their skills to critically reflect on learning processes and didactic conditions.
The programme consists of an introductory seminar, which is expected to be completed prior to participating in the rest of the assistant professor training courses, and a course at the department where the individual assistant professors and postdocs are based. The latter is an academic-pedagogical guidance and intervention process, where the individual assistant professor is assigned an assistant professor supervisor from the department where the assistant professor is employed. In this way, the pedagogical qualification can be closely linked to the academic field and the specific traditions and conditions within which the assistant professor will be researching and teaching. The department can set aside hours for the assistant professor supervisor and for the assistant professor.
UniPæd requires full participation in the courses (assistant professors).
UniPæd is currently conducting the following mandatory courses for assistant professors and postdocs, although it should be stressed that all academic staff are welcome to attend UniPæd's courses. UniPæd recommends the following progression:
1. Introduction to the assistant professor programme
The course provides an introduction to the assistant professor programme, its content, intentions and the relationship between the individual elements of the programme. The practical dimensions of the course are introduced, including the relationship between the assistant professor supervisor and the assistant professor, the various assignments in the programme, expectations and responsibilities, and the assistant professor's final assignment (portfolio). The course is comprised of one full day and one half day.
2. Portfolio
Since it was established in 1972, RU has organized its education programmes around problem-oriented, group project work in conjunction with other forms of tuition. An increased focus on the quality of teaching at universities has led to new requirements for higher standards in the education programmes and especially for the teachers. The teaching portfolio is a tool for documentation and reflection on the individual teacher's personal work with teaching and pedagogical development, and as such it can be used for both career enhancement and as quality assurance for the standard of teaching. The course is spread over 3 days.
3. Collegial intervision
Collegial intervision is a method whereby you develop your teaching and/or supervision practice. You define your work areas and the focus points where you wish to have observed and to work with in the intervision.
The method is based on a view of learning where practice is seen as action filled with knowledge, concepts, values and personal experience, i.e. as competent actions. The competence that makes up an integral part of actions, contains the individual's practical specialist theory and this can become the basis for new knowledge and new practices through action-reflection. In other words, you can become a better teacher in exactly the places where you find teaching challenging.
23 hours over two semesters are allocated for participation in a collegial intervision process. The 23 hours cover the entire course of seminar days, observation of others' teaching and subsequent intervision discussions. You can use your competency development hours on collegial intervision.
4. Project supervision
The course will focus on how to provide project supervision and teach project work in practice. The course will present and discuss the phases, issues and roles involved in project supervision. Based on typical group problems, possible approaches and strategies are outlined from a supervision perspective. The connection between portfolio and project supervision is discussed. The course is comprised of 1 full day and 2 half days days, supplemented with exercises between the second and third course day.
5. Course Pedagogy
The course focuses on the interaction between course objectives, content and teaching tools. How can university courses be arranged and use teaching techniques based on a personal style. The course also introduces various learning approaches and their discusses their relevance for course planning. The relationship between course teaching and portfolio is outlined.
The course lasts one full day and two half days, supplemented with exercises between the second and third days.
6. ICT and teaching
The course identifies and constructs a design for the development of ICT pedagogical skills for teachers, taking account of their qualifications, learning needs and learning preferences. The purpose of the course is that the assistant professors, through active participation, shall obtain an overview of the field, that they achieve competency in parts of the area and can critically process, put into perspective and debate the value of ICT. The activities are used to provide inspiration and motivation for ICT-based learning, so that ICT can be included in interaction with presence activities in a form of 'blended learning'. The course is a 2-day course.