This study investigated how university teachers’ (mis)conceptions of teaching and learning are related to their ability to notice and interpret pedagogically significant incidents in the classroom, that is their professional vision. Additionally, we examined whether university teachers can be supported in their development of conceptual understanding and professional vision through a short pedagogical training. A total of 32 university teachers who participated in this study completed a teacher conception questionnaire and an eye-tracking measurement with a stimulated retrospective recall (SRR) interview. A pre-test/post-test design was utilized. The findings indicate that in general, professional vision scores and (mis)conceptions of teaching and learning did not correlate. However, with regard to classroom incidents where teachers’ visual attention needed to be selectively allocated due to simultaneous interactions, university teachers with more misconceptions and less sophisticated conceptions of teaching and learning tended to focus on the teacher’s actions in the classroom. By contrast, university teachers with fewer misconceptions and with more sophisticated conceptions of teaching and learning tended to focus on students’ actions. University teachers’ less sophisticated conceptions became more sophisticated as a result of pedagogical training. Additionally, statistically significant improvements in participants’ noticing were identified, but interestingly not in their interpreting skills. The results emphasize the relevance of the need for pedagogical training and the development of conceptual understanding for university teachers in relation to learning theories in order to support their pedagogical expertise as well as their professional vision.

This study investigates the effects of a short pedagogical training on university teachers’ professional vision and (mis)conceptions concerning teaching and learning, utilizing a mixed-methods approach. Participants’ written interpretations of a video-based teaching–learning situation were analyzed and comparisons were made between prospective and current faculty teachers. Before the course, participants missed almost half of the pedagogically relevant incidents in a classroom. Generally, the short pedagogical training was successful in supporting all participants’ professional vision development. The training successfully provided all teachers’ with more in-depth reasoning skills as a result of the course. Thus, improvements in participants’ reasoning skills were identified, but interestingly not in their noticing capability. In addition, prospective teachers had more misconceptions concerning teaching and learning both before and after the training. Finally, the study discusses the implications for research on how teachers’ beliefs and conceptions are related to professional vision.