Can Pedagogical Innovations Be Sustainable? One Evaluation Outlook for Research Developed in Portuguese Higher Education

Abstract

Across higher education, teachers have been inspiring themselves (and others) to apply pedagogical innovations grounded in a unifying intention: to prepare students for labour markets and societal challenges. Research-based education has been funded to promote pedagogical innovations with valuable impact on the students’ academic success and/or the teachers’ academic growth. However, there is still few documented research-based evidence that highlight how long-lasting and/or how embedded are the pedagogical innovations in academic practices, particularly when the funding period comes to an end. The purpose of this article is to discuss the extent to which funded national research-based education projects, developed in public Portuguese higher education institutions (universities and polytechnic institutes), have considered the sustainability of research results (e.g., pedagogical innovations), after funding ends. Based on a qualitative research approach, data collection included: document analysis of 39 projects’ materials and conceptions collected with 9 coordinators and 17 key participants from selected projects, through interviews and questionnaires, respectively. Content analysis of data collected showed that there are key factors that contribute to enhance and/or limit the sustainability of research results (e.g., funding and institutional support to maintain innovation). Results and recommendations are put forward to inform educational policies, funding agencies and involved actors (e.g., institution leaders, researchers, and teaching staff) to increase the sustainability of research results.

Pedagogical innovation to captivate students to ethics education in engineering

“…This recognition stimulates teachers and motivates them to change (Peraya, 2009) and guides them in analysing the results obtained, since pedagogical innovation starts from a need and therefore has concrete objectives that it aims to achieve. Depending on the teacher's perception of the results obtained, the teacher will decide whether or not to adopt pedagogical innovation in their teaching practice (Guerra and Costa, 2021). To this end, it is important to collect data on students' perception of pedagogical innovation; but it is also necessary to understand the teacher's perception of its benefits.…”