Almost one million zlotys for new activities of the Center for Innovative Teaching | Gdańsk University of Technology

 "Teaching Excellence at universities" is a project of MES, the aim of which is to support organizational changes and increase the competences of staff in the higher education system.

The project will contribute to the implementation of reforms at universities in the field of management of the didactic process, education quality management, as well as the development of teaching, teaching and research staff or staff supporting the teaching process.

– We are very happy that MES assessed our application so positively and we received the full amount of funding for which we applied – says prof. Joanna Mytnik, director of the Center for Innovative Teaching and project manager – Thanks to this, we will be able to support the development of teaching competences of our academic teachers even more effectively, offering them various support tailored to their needs.

The project focuses on the implementation of three main tasks. The first is the development of a certification system for academic teachers, which will be implemented at the university in the 2023/2024 academic year.

– Such a system is a big challenge for us. You need to wisely design the entire network of teacher development paths, giving them both a number of opportunities to expand their knowledge and skills in areas of interest to them and make sure that each such route ensures that they acquire a set of competences in the chosen path, including the basics of teaching methodology, regardless of the path chosen. The system of rewarding and appreciating teachers as well as ensuring their well-being is also very important. We would like the certification system to be implemented from the academic year 2023/2024 – emphasizes prof. Mytnik.

The second task is a wide range of training courses for lecturers, which will be conducted on three levels of advancement. There are plans to implement 62 workshop trainings in 24 topics focusing on 7 areas: teaching methodology, neuroscientific foundations of learning, new technologies, communication, working with a multicultural group, teacher's tool workshop and teacher well-being.

Registration for the training will open on 26 September. Lecturers who will take part in training at the highest, master level, will have the opportunity to participate in five-day study trips to leading European universities in order to establish cooperation with a mentor, observe the effects of implementing the selected method, exchange experiences, and then implement these effects at Gdańsk Tech. In addition to classroom training, e-learning courses on the most important topics will be designed and implemented.

Thanks to the POWER co-financing, a program to support first-year students of all faculties of Gdańsk Tech in learning physics is being prepared, which will be conducted by doctoral students. The program includes 3 levels of support:

• tutorials (available online on the youtube channel of the Center for Innovative Teaching),
• streamed group training (taking place in the classroom),
• individual consultations.

Additionally, educational, interactive and multimedia support materials will be created, as well as an e-learning course available for all students on a permanent basis.