The Centre boasts solid multidisciplinary research knowledge on university-level teaching and learning as well as research-based education and development expertise.
The Centre for University Teaching and Learning models, creates and implements practices for collaboration within cutting-edge research and the development of research-based development of teaching. Collaboration practices take shape through the Centre’s internal work arrangements, cutting-edge research and within research-based teaching and its systematic development. The Centre’s collaboration practices are bold and agile and take into consideration its various stakeholders at the University of Helsinki. The Centre’s collaboration practices recognise, appreciate and make versatile use of various kinds of expertise. The Centre’s collaboration practices broadly support and promote sustainability and responsibility.
Antero Salminen is absent 8/2023-8/2024.
We contribute extensively to the research-based development of teaching and participate in teaching development projects across faculties and degree programmes. Our key duties include the provision of pedagogical training to teaching and research staff. We are also responsible for coordinating and supervising many development projects and activities based on the University’s strategic plan (incl. those related to student feedback, the quality of teaching and studying, and the enhancement of sustainability expertise) both within and outside the Centre for University Teaching and Learning. Our other main duty is research. Accordingly, we conduct research on learning and teaching, as well as wellbeing and sustainability expertise within these contexts, using multiple methods. Our research topics include the studying processes of students, the teaching processes of teachers, academic emotions, student and teacher wellbeing, student motivation, and student progress. We also supervise doctoral and other theses on university teaching and learning.
The HumPeda team of the Centre for University Teaching and Learning (HYPE) is comprised of Senior Lecturers in University Pedagogy Henrika Anttila and Tarja Tuononen. We provide pedagogical support for degree programmes and participate in the research-based development of teaching. We organise pedagogical clinics and training events on topical issues for teachers at the City Centre Campus and teach courses in university pedagogy.
We actively conduct research related to learning and teaching. Our research topics include academic emotions, doctoral education, multilingualism and language ideologies in education, and the teaching of linguistically asymmetric groups as well as the learning and teaching of generic skills and the transfer to working life.
Additional information on us and topical issues related to university pedagogy.
You can contact us by email at humpeda-tiimi@helsinki.fi.
At Viikki Campus, we study learning and teaching in the field of life science, providing research-based instruction in university pedagogy. The research into university pedagogy carried out at Viikki is based on a number of central research traditions in educational sciences, such as the assessment of learning and its development, the development of expertise, the conceptual shift and student wellbeing. Key research projects include the CELLS project, focusing on the development of expertise in life sciences, and the WELLS project, focusing on the promotion of student wellbeing. In our research and development of teaching, we utilise multi-method approaches such as virtual learning environments and psychophysiological measurements.
Link to the Viikki Campus team pages (in Finnish only): Viikkipeda – university pedagogical lecturers at the Viikki Campus (helsinki.fi)
We organise pedagogical courses for teachers on the campus. We also organise on-call pedagogy meetings every other Friday to provide support to teachers and researchers as well as to discuss various themes. Among our central duties is cooperation with the degree programme directors, vice-deans for academic affairs and other teachers on the campus.
We support the degree programmes of the Faculty of Medicine in the development of research-based teaching and provide pedagogical training on the Meilahti Campus. Together with the degree programmes, members of the Teachers’ Academy on the campus as well as e-learning specialists, we organise topical pedagogical events and the annual Teaching Day. We contribute to the research-based development and deployment of active learning methods, digital learning environments, mobile learning and electronic assessment on the campus. We conduct research cooperation with instructors and students of the Faculty and supervise doctoral theses and other theses on topics related to teaching and learning, such as digital learning and electronic assessment, teachers digital skills, engaging learning methods, the development of clinical instruction, interaction skills and student wellbeing. We are active participants in Finnish and international organisations focused on medical education (e.g., AMEE and AMEF) and in seminars and conferences, such as the EARLI Conference.
Further information on pedagogical events is available on the MediPeda website (in Finnish only).
Further information on the research conducted by doctoral students at Meilahti Campus is available at the HPE Research Group website.
The SciencePeda team operating at Kumpula Campus studies learning and teaching extensively within the context of university education and provides instruction in university pedagogy. We support the staff of the Faculty of Science in their pedagogical development as well as the Faculty and the degree programmes in education planning and development projects related to teaching. We cooperate with the Faculty’s vice-dean for teaching, the head of academic affairs as well as the degree programmes and counselling psychologists. Our team also includes an e-learning coordinator. In addition to training in university pedagogy, we organise pedagogical events and short training sessions at the Faculty, such as digital pedagogical pop-up sessions once a month. We study, for example, learning assessment, the digitalisation of teaching, student wellbeing, global competences and cross-disciplinary integration.
Further information is available in the SciencEd blog.
We are responsible for the Faculties of Law, Social Sciences, Educational Sciences as well as the Swedish School of Social Science. We conduct multimethodological research on teaching and learning related to these fields of science. Our research topics include approaches to learning, the progress of studies, the assessment of skills, the development of expertise, critical thinking and pedagogical management. We are engaged in strong research cooperation with the other peda teams of the Centre for University Teaching and Learning (HYPE), University of Helsinki researchers, as well as other Finnish and international researchers. One of our duties is the provision of pedagogical training for teaching and research staff.
We provide training in Finnish, Swedish and English and organise workshops at the City Centre Campus for teachers from various faculties. The aim of pedagogical training is to support teachers’ expertise in teaching. In addition, we supervise theses concerning university pedagogy. In the faculties assigned to us, we contribute to the development of teaching and learning, as well as provide pedagogical support to degree programmes. Pedagogical research helps develop methods of supporting degree programmes as well as teaching and studying methods promoting students’ independent and critical thinking, and supporting their development into experts
International Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) for the Centre for University Teaching and Learning will support the Centre and its Director in the core operations – research on university teaching and learning and research-based development of teaching – and strategic development. The role of the SAB is advisory: to bring outside perspectives to the core tasks of the Centre, make suggestions for the development of the Centre and to provide support in strategic decisions. The SAB will communicate its recommendations in the annual report, which will be prepared after the annual meeting.