Becoming a Better Teacher: How to Get Started in Pedagogical Studies
Ask someone to name their favourite teacher, a few names instantly come to mind – those who shaped their journeys in significant ways. But what makes a teacher ‘good’? Their subject matter expertise or communication style or empathy? There could not be one single reason. In fact at the crux of it is a key quality – the ability to adapt to diverse learning needs.
What makes a good teacher?
Teaching is not the same as it used to be two decades ago, when textbooks and lectures were the norm. In today’s world, everything is different – society, students and even the teaching content have evolved. Teaching must evolve accordingly to keep up with the new technologies and learning styles. So naturally, teachers must continue to educate themselves, changing what they teach and how they teach it, to meet the needs of society.
Challenges in today’s university teaching:
Over the last decades, teachers have had to deal with different situations that obstruct the process of learning at a higher education level, some of which could be the responsibility of the teacher, the students, or the exploitative nature of the educational system in which we are all immersed. Teachers must deal with a great diversity of backgrounds of students who come from different programs. Students with a background unrelated to science may be unprepared to tackle science subjects. Weaknesses in literacy and numeracy (difficulties in reading and writing science-related content or basic algebra calculations) are issues whose solution goes beyond the objectives of the course one single teacher can impart. This could be an even bigger problem for second-language learners (Childs, 2015). The massification of higher education could also become a problem for universities that do not hold the resources necessary to serve a high number of students, which results in less personalization of the learning process.
We are also now facing a generation of students who have adopted new technologies as part of their lifestyle, which changes the way they engage with the content of the courses since they are accustomed to reading less and have shorter attention spans. This situation demands that teachers develop a whole new set of different skills to address these differences (Childs, 2015).
Why is pedagogy needed?
Pedagogy is the science and way of teaching that thoughtfully integrates various teaching methods to support diverse learning styles.
Some of these struggles are a reflection of the scarce preparation for teaching that PhD programs offer since academic programs primarily focus on research and rarely on teaching or other interpersonal abilities. It is common for new professors to feel unprepared to tackle the different tasks in their new role such as mentoring, getting funding for their labs, or preparing material for personalized learning (Robert & Carlsen, 2017).
Pedagogical training courses for university teachers are a solution to this distress, as these courses increase self-reported confidence in the teacher’s role, and improve pedagogical skills, even if the course is considerably short. Courses were especially useful for teachers who were starting their pedagogical journey and had less than three years of teaching experience (Ödalen et al, 2019).
Passive listening to active learning:
We have become accustomed to a system in which the professor is the one who holds all the knowledge, and the student is merely a passive listener who needs to retain as much information as possible through the 45-minute lecture. From this perspective, the job of the teacher is simply to communicate the content of the course. However, new trends in pedagogy propose that students get a better understanding of topics when they actively participate during the session by asking questions, proposing solutions, or deducing solutions (Waldrop, 2015). A student-centered model for teaching improves the ability of the students to learn and retain, as well as their accountability for their studies. Since the professor’s approach to teaching influences the students’ attitude to learning, pedagogy courses could be a key element for turning professors from a teacher-centered to a student-centered model that could improve the engagement of the student with the content of the course (Waldrop, 2015; Ödalen et al, 2019).
Teaching and learning go hand-in-hand
There is a reciprocal relationship between teachers engaging in pedagogical studies and their mindset as a teacher. Teachers who desire to become better at their profession should engage in and maintain learning and improvement of pedagogical practices. Whether in a formal classroom setting or informal workshops, placing yourself in the position of a student helps you reconnect with the experience of learning something new and builds empathy for your students (Freire, 2017).
Teachers should embrace new teaching methodologies that emerge during their tenure; like research, teaching cannot rely on the mindset of “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” Teachers should strive to regularly attend teaching workshops, symposiums, and conferences because it exposes them to new methods of teaching, but also allow them to be a student again (Quiroga, 2021).
Different approaches to teaching – PBL & CBL:
Two teaching styles that are actively being incorporated into university classrooms are problem based learning (PBL) and case based learning (CBL). These styles of teaching have been in practice in many fields already, but they are especially important when thinking about developing the scientists of the future. Case-Based Learning (CBL) is a teaching approach where students learn by working through real-life or realistic scenarios (Williams, 2005)
Teaching for the future:
Pedagogical training not only enhances the teaching quality but also translates to training better scientists for the future. For many early-career researchers, teaching can be unfamiliar terrain. Pedagogical training whether through formal courses or informal workshops helps them gain fluency while offering space to reflect on their teaching mindset and strategies (Silander & Stigmar, 2023).
Pedagogical training may seem to be a fast track for enhancing educational quality. But its effectiveness depends on how well the contents are crafted to suit contemporary classroom requirements, utilising evidence-based insights. Studies show that even short-term training can impact teaching styles and learning outcomes, helping teachers adopt student centric approaches (Chalmers & Gardiner, 2015).
Teaching methods should reflect the future competencies and workforce needs – internationalization, digitalization, and sustainability (Kärkkäinen et al, 2023). Frameworks like Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 2024), along with digital tools, flipped classrooms, and CBL methods, help students apply their knowledge in a real-world context.
Incorporating the human elements of science – encouraging student and teacher well-being, fostering emotional intelligence, and peer networks are also essential. When science itself is interdisciplinary and collaborative, teaching can also happen through similar collaborative learning. Be it formal pedagogy circles, informal peer chats or digital tools like Plantae, they certainly have transformative effects on learning new teaching concepts.
By committing to learn alongside the students, teachers not only make meaningful connections but also help more young minds stay in science, just like how many of us once found our way into it.
Additional resources:
Plantae Presents: Enhancing Teaching Skills for Plant Scientists
In this Plantae webinar from 2023, speakers from industry and academia discuss the skills fundamental to teaching science, their experience with formal and non-formal education, and the pathway to becoming a better teacher.
References
CAST (2024) Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 3.0.
Chalmers D, Gardiner D (2015) An evaluation framework for identifying the effectiveness and impact of academic teacher development programmes. Stud Educ Eval 46: 81–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2015.02.002
Childs, P. E. (2015). Some Challenges for Teaching and Learning Third Level (University) Science. In Pixel (Ed.), Conference Proceedings. New Perspectives in Science Education (pp. 302–306). Libreria Universitaria Edizioni.
Freire, P. (2017). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Penguin Classics.
Kärkkäinen K, Jääskelä P, Tynjälä P (2023) How does university teachers’ pedagogical training meet topical challenges raised by educational research? A case study from Finland. Teach Teach Educ 128: 104088. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104088
Ödalen, J., Brommesson, D., Erlingsson, G., Schaffer, J. K., & Fogelgren, M. (2019). Teaching university teachers to become better teachers: the effects of pedagogical training courses at six Swedish universities. Higher Education Research & Development, 38(2), 339–353. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2018.1512955
Quiroga, Sofia. 2021. “Learning through Experience: Workshops as a Pedagogical Tool.” The International Journal of Design Education 15 (2): 283-297. https://doi.org/10.18848/2325-128X/CGP/v15i02/283-297
Robert, J., & Carlsen, W. S. (2017). Teaching and research at a large university: Case studies of science professors. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 54(7), 937–960. https://doi.org/10.1002/TEA.21392
Silander C, Stigmar M (2023) What university teachers need to know – perceptions of course content in higher education pedagogical courses. Int J Acad Dev 28: 87–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2021.1984923
Waldrop, M. M. (2015). Why we are teaching science wrong, and how to make it right. Nature, 523(7560), 272–274. https://doi.org/10.1038/523272a
Williams B. (2005). Case-based learning – a review of the literature: is there scope for this educational paradigm in prehospital education? Emerg Med, 22, 577-581. https://doi.org/10.1136/emj.2004.022707
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About the Authors
Jerry Javier González Cantoral
Jerry is a Guatemalan biologist who now teaches Plant Physiology at University of San Carlos of Guatemala, and a 2025 Plantae Fellows. He has dedicated himself to study secondary metabolites in an endangered Guatemalan species; but life put him to work on several other things. You can find him on X: @phytojerry | Bluesky: @phytojerry.bsky.social.
Malini Muthu Karpagam
Malini is a postdoctoral associate at the Plant Physiology Arts Community Engagement (PLACE) lab at Smith College, Massachusetts, and a 2025 Plantae Fellows. During her Ph.D., she explored the impact of high-temperature stress on rice, and her transition to forest trees has expanded her understanding of plant physiology across ecosystems. Outside research, Malini teaches, creates science blurbs, writes blog posts, and enjoys working on art projects and traveling. You can find her on X: @malini_muthuraj.
Xavier Ozowara
Xavier is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech, and a 2025 Plantae Fellows. He is interested in the factors that shape secondary metabolism in fruit. For his dissertation, he is investigating the effects of management systems, regional climate, pests, and pathogens on apple and strawberry phenolic composition and diversity.
