Innovating professional development in higher education: an analysis of practices

This study focuses on innovative ways of improving teaching in higher education via professional development (PD) practices. The premise is that appropriate and innovative PD would improve academics' capacity to use new pedagogical models for teaching, while at the same time contributing to career progress. The study is based on a series of case studies that highlight innovative practices in PD of academics, and on a literature review which provides examples of current states of play in different European contexts.

In particular, the study aimed to answer the following questions: (1) How do innovative PD practices address the obstacles to academics' participation? (2) How have higher education institutions (HEIs) been supporting academics in innovative teaching practices? And how can they best do that? (3) How could academics' training in digital technologies and pedagogical practices become a part of their career progression paths? Do successful models already exist? (4) What actions by Member States (MS) would help academics achieve the necessary skills to implement innovative teaching practices? In this report an analysis of the data addressing the questions above is provided, as well as policy recommendations to help HE institutions, Member States and the European Commission (EC) tackle the growing need for training and PD in higher education.

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