Assessment of teaching skills

The Teaching Skills Evaluation committee at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine assesses the applicant's teaching skills when necessary. It may be required by the Search Committee. Also all applicants for docentship are required that.

Evaluation is based on the evaluation matrix for evaluation of teaching skills.

The overall grade of assessment is based on evaluation of the following:

1. Experience in teaching and evaluation as well as the development of one's own teaching

2. Pedagogical training and pedagogical thinking

3. The ability to use and produce learning material

4. Other teaching merits

5. Demonstration of teaching skills

Items 1- 4 are assessed based on the applicant's academic portfolio / researcher's CV and its possible enclosures. This must be noted already at the time of applying and preparing the application documents.

The applicant must describe his/her teaching qualifications in the academic portfolio / researcher's CV in such a way that they can be evaluated according to items 1 through 4 of the matrix. The recommended maximum scope of the academic portfolio is seven (7) pages. Consequently, the portfolio provides a summary of the facts, and any required details can be included as enclosures. The date and scope (preferably as ECTS credits) as well as the organiser of the completed training and given teaching must be indicated. Any supervised theses and participation in the supervision of postgraduate students as well as produced learning material must be itemised. Concrete examples of collected feedback and its application must be provided. The target group of any published learning material must be indicated.

For the demonstration of teaching skills (item 5), the applicant is usually given the topic by the Search Committee. An applicant for docentship can decide the topic, but it needs to be related to the field of research of the docentship applied for. The demonstration should not consist of only the applicant's own research.

The duration of the demonstration is 30 minutes, 10 of which must be reserved for discussion and questions from the audience. The target audience should be defined at the beginning of the lecture (such as undergraduate students of a particular year).

Demonstration of teaching skills is public. However, applicants applying for the same position cannot attend to each other's demonstration. Demonstration of teaching skills is given just before the meeting of the Teaching Skills Evaluation committee.

As specified in the Regulations of the University of Helsinki, the minimum requirements for teaching skills vary between different research and teaching positions as follows:

  • 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, teaching demonstration at least good
  • Clinical instructor: teaching skills as a whole at least satisfactory, teaching demonstration at least satisfactory
  • University instructor: teaching skills as a whole at least good, teaching demonstration at least good
  • Docent: teaching skills as a whole at least good (Universities Act, section 89)

In case the organization of the teaching is jeopardized and it is a short-term substitute in question, it is possible to deviate from the minimum requirements mentioned above in the positions of university lecturer and university instructor. In short term substitutions teachings skills can also be assessed by the appointment committee or similar, if necessary.

More information: HR Specialist Heidi M. Kauppinen, heidi.m.kauppinen(at)helsinki.fi