More than 600 experts gather at UB to debate the recognition of university teaching
The International Congress on University Teaching and Innovation (CIDUI) celebrates its 25th anniversary this year with a new edition to be held at the University of Barcelona from 9 to 11 July. Organized by all the Catalan public universities, in collaboration with the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP), the meeting will bring together some 600 participants and will feature a programme covering a wide range of topics related to the improvement and innovation of university teaching. Under the title “Today’s teachers for tomorrow’s university”, this year’s forum will focus on the development and professional recognition of the teaching profession.
The International Congress on University Teaching and Innovation (CIDUI) celebrates its 25th anniversary this year with a new edition to be held at the University of Barcelona from 9 to 11 July. Organized by all the Catalan public universities, in collaboration with the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP), the meeting will bring together some 600 participants and will feature a programme covering a wide range of topics related to the improvement and innovation of university teaching. Under the title “Today’s teachers for tomorrow’s university”, this year’s forum will focus on the development and professional recognition of the teaching profession.
The UB’s Faculty of Economics and Business will host several sessions that will focus on the training of university teachers, collaboration between the various stakeholders in the training process, the integration of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence, the promotion of flexible and lifelong learning models and the promotion of the values of equity, inclusion and sustainability in higher education.
One of the key themes of the meeting will be how professional recognition of teaching facilitates the transformation and improvement of the learning processes of university students. Along these lines, the last day of the meeting will include the roundtable “Good teaching and professional development: towards a new university culture”, moderated by the vice-rector for Teaching Policy, Conxita Amat, with the participation of Idoia Fernández, president of the Red Estatal de Docencia Universitaria (REDU); Mar Carrió, coordinator of the Margalida Comas programme for the improvement of teaching and learning at the university, and Jaume Valls, director of the Catalan University Quality Assurance System (AQU).
The programme also includes the roundtable “Social change, university culture and student practices. Reflections and challenges”, chaired by Ramon Llopis, professor at the University of Valencia, and with the participation of Francesca Peiró, lecturer at the UB; Pau Mazas, general coordinator of the Student Council of Catalan Universities, and María Fernanda Rejas, coordinator of the Unit for the Improvement of University Teaching at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, in Chile. The programme includes several workshops and the lecture by Juan Freire “Higher education and universities at a time of disjuncture: the teaching staff as agents of transformation”.
Lecture by former minister Joan Subirats on LOSU
The event to commemorate CIDUI’s 25th anniversary will take place on Wednesday 9 July at 6.00 pm in the Paranymph Hall of the Historic Building. It will include a public recognition of the people who promoted the first edition of the congress and a lecture by the former Minister of Universities, Joan Subirats on the Organic Law of the University System (LOSU) and the advances introduced by this law, such as the need to train university professors for their teaching tasks.
Over the past 25 years, CIDUI has been a space for reflection, debate and the exchange of experiences among professionals involved in teaching. At its biennial meetings, many key aspects of this field have been addressed, from internationalization and cooperation between universities to the assessment of learning. The latter is one of the aspects that has changed the most in the past 25 years, and which CIDUI addressed from the beginning as a tool for improving university teaching. CIDUI’s track record bears witness to the progress made over the last 25 years in university teaching. During this time, the UB and all Catalan public universities have improved in teaching-related indicators in international rankings.