What’s happening in education at the Faculty?

With the Faculty Board’s decision in November, the allocation of central government funding to the Faculty’s Education at first- and second-cycle levels is now set. A revision of the model was initiated in 2021 and was followed in 2022 by a proposal phase for the funding allocation model. The process has taken longer than expected – something that, according to Lisa Freyhult, has been due in part to the need for discussion and anchoring support, and in part to the difficulty of gathering input.

“And it’s hard to change how funding is allocated from something people are used to. One such difficulty is the fact that if you get a certain amount of money, you adjust the teaching accordingly. Then you can describe what the teaching looks like now, but it’s not as easy to say what the teaching would need to look like.”

Inventory of costs

The work of the advisory committee for education with the funding allocation model has largely been about analysing costs, especially those linked to lab experiments and teaching hours. Something to bear in mind is that even though some study programmes have high costs for infrastructure and lab equipment, the teaching hours linked to lab experiments constitute the biggest cost.

The resources for first-cycle education are scarce, and this is due to what the Faculty has long pointed out: the price tag for courses and study programmes does not increase at the same rate as other costs.

“These prices have been eroded over a long period, which is apparent in all higher education institutions. But there does seem to be a political awareness of this, and we recently got a small increase in the science and technology price tags, even if it’s not enough,” says Lisa Freyhult.

Greater efficiency in study programmes

Now that the funding allocation model is in place, the Faculty can more clearly identify where funds are needed the most and make better decisions about resource allocations and the structure of Education. The advisory committee for education has also begun to review the study programs and educational offerings. In addition to the disciplinary domain’s need for smaller programmes, it is investigating whether the Master of Science in Engineering programmes should be taught based on a 3+2 model.

“According to this model, students would be able to obtain a Bachelor’s degree after three years of study, and then continue with a Master’s programme. This model can provide more flexibility and could also be more attractive to international students,” Lisa Freyhult points out.

“At the same time, the current five-year programmes have the advantage of being cohesive, clear and more focused. It’s a complex challenge. How do we design study programmes so that they link up well with both the students’ interests and labour market needs in the future?”

Efforts to widen participation

Another important area is the work of attracting students from different backgrounds. In December, the University’s goals for widened participation were set, and the Faculty has now presented its plans and activities to achieve the goals for the period 2025–2027. However, the Faculty is already working on many of these activities, including efforts targeting specific surrounding municipalities where the number of applicants per place in technology and science study programmes is low.

“But we’re now going to explore the possibility of focused initiatives such as visits by upper secondary school ambassadors, researchers and professionals in schools or online, as well as school visits to the University,” says Lisa Freyhult.

“We’re also planning for pilot activities in the area of widening participation with partner companies and a number of teaching staff days with lectures on equal opportunities. I believe it is smart to do smaller targeted tests with a specific goal to get a better understanding of what works best for reaching new groups of students.”

For a long time now TUR, the Council for Educational Development, has offered internal courses, seminars, conferences and other educational support. But despite the big range that TUR offers, which is greatly appreciated, it has been difficult to get teaching staff to participate in these educational activities.

“What we see is that it’s often the same, very committed people who participate, while newer teaching staff, or those without strong networks, don’t always find their way to these activities.”

Course for qualifying in teaching and learning in higher education

This semester, TUR has therefore launched a special course consisting of seminars and workshops on the theme of Instruction in the classroom. The course can count towards qualifications in teaching and learning in higher education for academic appointments and also be part of continuing professional development among teaching staff. The concept will be tested for a year and has already attracted around 15 participants.

“The seminars are followed up with discussion groups where the teachers reflect on how they can apply what they’ve learned. The assessment consists of reflective seminars and classroom observation. We hope that this will lead to more conversations about pedagogy in the daily practice and concrete changes in teaching.”

Today there are also a large number of distinguished university teachers within the Faculty’s pedagogical academy. Many of them have expressed an interest in getting involved on educational boards, committees, seminars and in strategic discussions, something that according to Lisa Freyhult should be better exploited by the Faculty. She hopes that there will be more distinguished university teachers in the future, and reminds us of the support that TUR provides in the form of workshops and application writing guidance during the application process.

“Many teachers feel that it is a demanding process, but those who have done it found it to be very valuable.”

What are you particularly looking forward to this spring?

“I’m looking forward to this 3+2 inquiry. I think it will be great fun and I’m personally involved in it. And these TUR activities that are planned will also be really exciting to follow. I think the participants are going to like them.”

Anneli Björkman