Crash Course: Foundations of University Teaching
Two-day course in English
When: 4th & 18th May 2026 (Mondays), 9:00 – 15:00
Where: Uhelna
Facilitators: Karolina Duschinská, Radka High
Boost your teaching skills with research‑informed strategies!
Join our practical and reflective crash course designed for university teachers who want to enhance the quality, clarity, and impact of their teaching. In this hands-on seminar, you will explore what makes university instruction effective, how to motivate students, and how to actively engage them in the learning process.
We will also discuss principles of effective learning, presentation skills and time management techniques, psychological safety, and the role of teacher–student relationships in the classroom.
This course provides space for your questions, real-world teaching dilemmas, and individual reflection.
Who should attend?
- University teachers
- Early career academics
- Doctoral students with teaching responsibilities
Anyone interested in developing more effective, engaging, and student-centred instruction.
What you will learn
By the end of the seminar, you will be able to:
- Reflect on and articulate your own concept of high-quality teaching.
- Explain key principles of research-informed instruction and apply them to your practice.
- Recognise the importance of a growth mindset, a safe learning environment, and respectful communication.
- Describe different forms of student motivation and evaluate strategies to support it.
- Apply or critically analyse selected active learning strategies within your own lesson or course design.
Workshop programme
(for all participants; especially suitable for beginning teachers and laboratory instructors)
1. Introduction to Quality Teaching in Higher Education
- What constitutes high quality teaching in both laboratory and theoretical courses.
- The most common challenges faced by new university instructors, especially in labs.
- Real laboratory scenarios: critical situations, typical mistakes, and how to address them.
- Practical tools for improving one’s own teaching (short self reflection exercises).
2. Effective Communication: Organization, Structure, Safety
- Basic principles of respectful and effective communication.
- How to communicate instructions clearly in laboratory settings.
- Setting personal boundaries and maintaining authority.
- How to work with students who are insecure / overly confident / unfocused.
- Preventing chaos, working with errors, and making quick operational decisions.
3. Student Motivation and Individual Differences
- What motivates students in university courses.
- Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation; typical barriers for 1st–2nd year students.
- How student attitudes change across the semester and throughout their studies.
- Psychological safety: how to create an environment where students feel safe to ask questions.
- The role of social dynamics and teamwork.
- Practice using short scenarios: student breaking rules, not working, requesting exceptions, etc.
4. Activating Students
- How to encourage student engagement (including in laboratory courses).
- Simple techniques: quick questions, predictions, pair discussions.
- How to provide fast, formative feedback.
5. Q&A + Sharing Practical Teaching Situations
- Space for participants’ questions and issues arising from their own classes/labs.
- Joint analysis of short teaching scenarios.
(optional follow‑up for interested and more experienced instructors; expands topics in greater depth)
1. Quality Teaching “Plus”: Course Design and Advanced Principles
- Learning outcomes: how to formulate them and plan teaching accordingly.
- Ensuring alignment between objectives, methods, and assessment.
- Advanced scenario work: inactive class, challenging student, unclear expectations.
2. Effective Theoretical Teaching and Lecturing
- How to structure a lecture to make it clear and manageable.
- How to explain complex concepts using examples and visualizations.
- Principles of effective learning: how memory and attention function in higher education.
- Mini teaching practice (a short five minute micro lecture).
3. Advanced Student Activation: Deeper Engagement
- Advanced active learning methods (peer instruction, case studies, problem based learning).
- How to facilitate discussions in larger groups and respond to challenging questions.
- Using questions to diagnose understanding.
4. Motivation in Higher Education — Continuation
- How to support long term motivation throughout the semester.
- Addressing student diversity and different learning needs.
- What to do when motivation declines — early warning signs and interventions.
5. Analysis of Teaching Scenarios from Participants’ Own Practice
- Participants work with their own scenarios (teaching, lecturing, laboratory challenges).
- Group analysis and constructive feedback.
- Final reflection.
Format
- Interactive workshop
- Practical activities + reflection
- Teaching cases /scenarios
- Individual questions
