Abstract:

Arranging and rearranging good practices
The first challenge was the categorization, of the teaching strategies described in the teaching reports. Misleading information was the main difficulty, which lead to a categorization oriented by the ‘Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education ’ and the constructive alignment concept .
All the valid strategies were categorized in 55 variables which were arranged in 9 Good Practice (GP) groups: GP1 – Encourage the student university interaction; GP2 – Encourage the student – student interaction and cooperation; GP3 - The use of active learning techniques; GP4 – Assure immediate feedback to the student; GP5 - Emphasize the need to carry out a task within the scheduled time; GP6 – Communicate high expectations to the students; GP7 – Respect diversities: of talents, experiences and learning modes; GP8 – Transmit unequivocal Learning objectives to the students; GP9 – Adapt the learning materials to the subject learning objectives and the subject assessment.
Guided by the objectives of finding among the original list the best teaching practices, and of testing the integrity of the 9 groups, the 55 categories were put to test on an survey directed to all Excellent Teachers.
The survey had a 86,7% response rate, and all the teachers were asked to flag the practices used in the subject in which they were considered excellent. Using a hierarchical cluster analysis, the data were reduced from 55 to 22 variables, and rearranged in 6 good practice groups.
Some of the groups did not match the original ones, in particular GP6 and GP7, the practices that composed them did not stand among the most used by the best teachers. The identified clusters are only partially correspondent with the the inicial propososed categorization in bibliography.

Teaching profiles
The new 6 groups, seemed to indicate the existence of teaching profiles distinct between themselves, but with coherent practices in them. Cluster 1 seems to indicate a teaching profile that can be named as The Aligned Teaching: Availability of exercises proposed so that students can make them by themselves, with feedback; Adequacy of evaluation to the course unit objectives; Review/adequacy of the class support materials; Availability of supplementary information. Cluster 2 seems to indicate a teaching profile that can be named as The Pro-active Teaching: Review making; Promote study and autonomous work; Work out problems within a prefixed time limit. Cluster 3 seems to indicate a teaching profile that can be named as The Practical Teaching: Group work and projects; Carrying out of challenging and/or original projects; Gradual scheduling and follow-up of laboratory projects/practices; Classes with practical examples and work; Discussion and understanding of work outcomes. Cluster 4 seems to indicate a teaching profile that can be named as The Inclusive Teaching: Disclosure of timely evaluation outcomes; Adequacy of the evaluation to the students’ knowledge; Constant follow-up of students. Cluster 5 seems to indicate a teaching profile that can be named as The Motivational Teaching: Coordination between theory and practice; Work out problems in class; Review/doubt classes. Cluster 6 seems to indicate a teaching profile that can be named as The Student Oriented Teaching: Promptness to clarify doubts; Online availability of the main material and further material for the course unit; Definition of the course unit objectives.

Keywords:

Best practices, teaching 6-learning, teaching profiles.