Abstract:

The multidisciplinary teaching team in the Faculty of Pharmacy, from his creation 8 years ago, participates in all the actions focused in the support and formation of the beginner professor and in the improvement of the teaching of the University of Granada. Nowadays, the teaching team is constituted by 7 experienced professors (with 20 years of experience in teaching, coordinating grade level curricula, tutorial action plans, teaching innovation projects and implementation and monitoring of quality assurance systems in undergraduate degrees) and 14 beginner professors of different departments with different professional categories teaching in three degrees of the faculty: “Pharmacy”, “Human Nutrition and Dietetic”, “Food Science and Technology”. In every academic course, new beginner professors are incorporated to the team.

The methodology followed in the present work has focused on: Detection and analysis of the formative needs of the new professors, design and coordination of the training plan, design of training activities, academic execution and management of training, discussion and joint reflection among professors, evaluation of professor teaching method through satisfaction questionnaires. In addition, as for the training activities, every academic year, several activities of mentoring are performed (progress cycles, recorded classes and joint visualization).

The training activities programmed during the 2016-17 academic year are:

1. Exchanges of teaching experiences between experienced and beginner professors.
2. Use of tools by the professors to advise students in their university education.
3. Workshops for web resources and e-learning platforms for university teaching.
4. Sessions for improve planning skills and development of autonomous student work activities.
5. Session for introducing the tutorial action plans active in the center.
6. Seminars about knowledge of University regulations.
7. Session about work of Internal Quality Guarantee Commissions of the in each degree of the Faculty of Pharmacy.
8. Workshops for prevention of occupational hazards. Exercises for postural corrections in professors.

In conclusion, the creation and consolidation of a teaching team made up of experienced professors committed to the initial training of the new teaching staff, gives rise to a space for joint reflection, exchange of experiences to foster innovation, collaboration and mutual learning which contributes to the continuous improvement of teaching practice. Likewise, the teaching team provides a continuous support and advice during the first years of university teaching that facilitates the integration and labor insertion of teachers in the performance of professional activity and helps to optimize their teaching activity.

Keywords:

Higher education, teaching innovation, cooperative learning, mentoring.