Instructions for applicants for teaching and research positions

Applicants for teaching and research positions at the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry are requested to follow the .

As specified in the Regulations of the University of Helsinki, the minimum requirements for teaching skills vary between positions. Teaching skills are assessed on the following scale: excellent, very good, good, satisfactory, passable.

Minimum requirements for different research and teaching positions:

• Full professor: teaching skills as a whole at least good
• Associate professor: teaching skills as a whole at least satisfactory
• Assistant professor: teaching skills as a whole at least satisfactory
• Senior university lecturer and senior clinical instructor: teaching skills as a whole at least good
• University lecturer: teaching skills as a whole at least good
• Clinical instructor: teaching skills as a whole at least satisfactory
• University instructor: teaching skills as a whole at least good

The title of docent:

• Docent: teaching skills as a whole at least good (Universities Act, section 89)

In the assessment of teaching skills (teaching merits), attention will be paid to the following:

1. Teaching experience and development;
2. Pedagogical training and thinking;
3. Ability to use and produce learning materials;
4. Other teaching qualifications; and
5. If deemed necessary, teaching skills as demonstrated in a lecture.

Items 1–4 above will be assessed on the basis of the description of teaching qualifications submitted by the applicant. The description is submitted as requested in the call for applications. 

Teaching skills are assessed according to the .

The lecture to be given as a demonstration of teaching skills should be seen as a learning situation. When evaluating a demonstration of teaching skills, primary attention will be given to the applicant’s ability to steer and enhance the audience’s learning during the lecture.

All teaching demonstrations are open to the public. In recruitment processes the rival candidates, however, may not attend each other’s lectures. The Faculty’s Teaching Skills Committee will attend the lecture for assessment purposes.

A failed lecture cannot be given a second time, unless the failure resulted from a technical (remote demonstration lectures) illness or other such reason. A teaching demonstration lecture related to the application process for the title of docent can be given again.

The topic, level, duration and language of the demonstration of teaching skills

In the case of openly advertised positions, all applicants are provided with the same topic, and the target audience determined for the demonstrations is also the same. Applicants for the title of docent can choose the topic of their teaching demonstration. When planning the demonstration of teaching skills, the applicant should take into consideration that the lecture is an authentic learning situation and address it to the audience present. The topic should be narrowed down appropriately so that the content of the lecture can be discussed in 30 minutes, which is the maximum length of the demonstration of teaching skills. At the beginning of the lecture, the applicant must specify the level of the intended audience (basic-, intermediate- or advanced-level students) and the course or module to which the lecture belongs. The applicant is free to choose the manner and means of delivering the teaching demonstration.

Feedback

After the demonstration of teaching skills, the applicant must leave  and the Teaching Skills Committee will discuss the lecture with the audience (approx. 15 minutes). Then the applicant and the Teaching Skills Committee will meet for a feedback discussion (approx. 15 minutes), which will be taken into consideration in the assessment of the applicant’s teaching skills.

Statement

The Teaching Skills Committee will provide a written statement on the applicant’s teaching qualifications (overall assessment), which will be submitted to the applicant once the position has been filled / at the end of the application process for the title of docent.