Since spring 2023, PIL101 is offered in the form of modules. Read more about the transition to modules below!
PIL101 offers an introduction to learning theories, teaching methods and student learning in higher education. PIL101 builds in particular on collegial learning – that is the exchange of ideas and experiences that participants bring from their own practice of teaching and learning in higher education. PIL101 further addresses some of the issues that shape higher education in Sweden, including questions of equality, ethics, and the rules and regulations governing university teachers’ work.
Please note: PIL101 is only offered to staff, to doctoral students and to applicants for docentship at the University of Gothenburg.
Scope: PIL101 comprises the equivalent of 3.5 weeks of full-time studies.
Prerequisites: You must have a Degree of Bachelor or equivalent.
Admission principle: We apply the admission principle "first come, first served", based on the time and date when a complete application is submitted.
NB: Those who belong to Sahlgrenska Academy (or the VG Region) also apply via this webpage.
Since spring 2023, the PIL unit is implementing a pilot project where the course PIL101 is converted into modules. This has two purposes:
The modules all have different connections to SUHF's recommendations on general learning outcomes for the teaching qualifications required for employment as academic teacher (pdf). In the module descriptions (see below) we describe how each module connects to these learning outcomes. You will also find information on how many working hours each module requires.
In the spring of 2024, we offer seven modules in English:
In order to get a certificate for PIL101, you need to take the Introduction Module and the Legal Module plus two additional modules of your choice. All participants start with the Introduction Module. After completing that module, you can take the other three modules in the order that suits you best. (Thus, it is fine to take the legal module last.) When you have completed all four modules successfully, you have achieved the equivalent of a full PIL101 course and can apply for a certificate that confirms completion of PIL101. Read more about the modules under Module descriptions below.
With most modules, you can choose whether you want to take the module on campus or online. You do not have to take all four modules during the same term. If you want to take more modules than four, that's fine.
NOTE I: You can take two or three modules at the same time, as long as no scheduled activities conflict. However, you must have completed Introduction to Teaching and Learning in Higher Education before starting any other module. Consequently, it is not possible to take the Introduction in parallel with any other module.
NOTE II: The modules are part of the university's staff development. All scheduled activities in all modules are mandatory and require attendance, unless otherwise stated in the module description.
Click on the module names to read more about the various modules:
The module Introduction to Teaching and Learning in Higher Education is designed as an introduction to the broad field of research into higher education teaching and learning.
Based on relevant literature as well as participants’ knowledge and experience as teachers, students, and researchers, this module is designed to encourage participants to develop their capacity to support student learning in their teaching practices.
As an introductory module, it is also designed to provide the grounds for more advanced studies in teaching and learning in higher education. For this reason, the module is mandatory and must be completed before any other module in the PIL101 series.
The module is divided into four interconnected parts. Part I introduces the history of teaching and learning in Swedish higher education, highlighting some of the institutional frames that shape teaching in different departments/faculties/workplaces.
Part II introduces different perspectives on learning in relation to current discussions of teaching and learning in higher education and today’s teaching practice, both on campus and online.
Part III introduces the notion of student learning environments and highlights issues related to equal treatment and equal participation in Swedish higher education. The module also provides opportunities to reflect on the less obvious ways in which our teaching choices might influence the ways in which students are (or feel) able to fully participate in their studies.
Part IV introduces the role of assessment for student learning. In this section, we also discuss opportunities for designing assessment activities that not only measure but also have a positive impact on student learning.
In each part of the module, participants write a reflective logbook entry. The module ends with a final seminar where selected reflections from the logbooks are discussed.
The module relates to the following learning outcomes provided by the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions (SUHF) for qualifying courses in higher education pedagogy:
Time required in total: 60 hours
Length of course: About 8 weeks
Form of delivery: Lectures, seminars, group discussions
Reading list: Compulsory readings for all classes. The current reading list will be available on the web page Litteraturlistor för PIL-enhetens kurser / Reading lists for the PIL unit's courses no later than eight weeks before the module starts.
Late cancellations will result in PIL imposing a fee on your department. This routine is also applied if you leave the module at an early stage. Read more
The Legal Module provides an introduction to the regulations that we as teachers must comply with. In addition to introducing some fundamental ideas about the rule of law, the module also deals with the rules and regulations that govern Swedish higher education, including the University of Gothenburg. Questions are discussed based on how higher education is organized, and the formal structure of courses and study programs.
Specifically, the module will provide an opportunity to discuss the central rules of the Administrative Procedure Act, the Higher Education Act, and the Higher Education Ordinance. The module also deals with policy documents such as the procedure for reports relating to suspicions of disciplinary offenses, as well as rules and regulations for programs, examinations, and course syllabi. Rules governing the handling of official documents such as emails, but also the use and reuse of teaching material, will be discussed.
The module relates to the following learning outcomes provided by the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions (SUHF) for qualifying courses in higher education pedagogy:
Time required in total: 15 hours
Length of module: Circa 2 weeks
Form of delivery: Quiz, lecture, seminar and group discussions
Reading list: Compulsory readings for lecture/seminar
The Legal Module is offered in English three times in the spring term of 2024. The module involves one course meeting only but requires 12 hours of self-study time in preparations for that meeting. The preparatory work is described in the compendium. To prepare for the meeting, participants are expected to first read the literature, policy documents and legal texts specified in the compendium. After that, participants will take a quiz on Canvas and will need to achieve a full score of 8 points before they can attend the meeting that concludes the module.
The meeting includes a lecture as well as group discussions of selected cases.
Dates and times:
Please note: PhD students are welcome to apply for all three versions, not just the one that is specifically aimed at PhD students.
The purpose of this module is to give participants the opportunity to translate their new and previously acquired knowledge about teaching and learning in higher education into practical skills. In this module, the participants plan, carry out, develop and evaluate a short oral mini lesson. This is done in groups and the participants decide on the form and content of the mini lesson. Mini lessons can be part of a laboratory exercise, an interactive lecture, or a seminar for example.
The mini lesson is a way of bringing into focus various didactic aspects of teaching in the physical or digital teaching space. This exercise gives participants the opportunity to identify an interesting or problematic aspect of the teaching and then find a solution while microteaching to a constructively critical audience. The module starts with an introduction to didactics. The mini lesson is then given and further developed in two stages using feedback from the other participants.
The module relates to the following learning outcomes provided by the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions (SUHF) for qualifying courses in higher education pedagogy:
Time required in total: 25 hours
Length of course: About 4 weeks
Form of delivery: Lecture, mini lesson in two stages with associated peer feedback.
Reading list: Compulsory reading for the Introduction module. Otherwise, the participants choose their own readings based on their subject area and way of working.
The purpose of this module is to give participants the opportunity to further develop the design and planning of their teaching. The module will also give participants the opportunity to develop their capacity to justify their pedagogical decisions based on scholarly literature in the field and experience. The module is intended as an opportunity for the participants to plan, develop and justify a concrete lesson, such as a lecture, a laboratory exercise, or a seminar, from scratch.
In the lesson plan, the participants will describe in writing the purpose, content and potential pedagogical challenges of the lesson in relation to its specific teaching context. Based on the readings, participants’ own experiences, and their discussions with other participants in the module, they then choose appropriate learning activities and structures for their chosen lesson. The lesson plan will also contain a written justification of the participant's planning, which includes an account of the pedagogical decisions made and a reflection on the lesson plan as a whole.
The module relates to the following learning outcomes provided by the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions (SUHF) for qualifying courses in higher education pedagogy:
Time required in total: 40 hours
Length of course: About 5 weeks
Form of delivery: Seminar, lesson plan in two stages with associated peer feedback.
Reading list: Participants choose their own readings based on their subject area and way of working.
A large part of academic teaching is conducted in the form of lectures. The module aims to prepare participants to lecture in a student-active manner and to be able to analyze and understand the pros and cons of the lecture as a form of teaching. Within the framework of the module, it is also included to create an understanding of what characterizes quality teaching, regardless of form, and how these characteristics can be applied when lecturing. The module aims to give the participant concrete tools for conducting engaging and student-active lectures and is directed to those who are new to teaching at the university, or who want to develop their skills further.
The module initially deals with the role of the teacher and what qualitative teaching is and discusses the pros and cons of the lecture. The ways in which the lecturer can use his personal qualities as a tool to create a good rhetorical basis to motivate and engage the participants are then discussed. This is followed by sections that concretely show how a student-active lecture comes about, from preparation to execution. Examples of content are planning, linguistic management, outline, script technique and performance technique. The final session focuses on the use of Powerpoint and how post-lecture handouts can be used to stimulate further student activity.
The module ends with practical application in the form of a short lecture.
The module relates to the following learning outcomes provided by the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions (SUHF) for qualifying courses in higher education pedagogy:
Time required in total: 40 hours
Length of course: About 5 weeks
Form of delivery: Lectures, active participation in discussions and group work, as well as implementation of a short lecture. Participation in at least 5 out of 6 teaching meetings as well as a completed and approved short lecture is required for a certificate.
Exley, K., & Dennick, R. (2009). Giving a lecture: from presenting to teaching (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Ramsden, P. (2003). Learning to teach in higher education (2. ed.). London: RoutledgeFalmer. (tillgänglig via UB).
Duarte, N. (2008). Slide:ology : the art and science of creating great presentations (1st ed.). O'Reilly Media.
Reynolds, G. (2010). Presentation zen design : simple design principles and techniques to enhance your presentations. New Riders.
Do your students have problems finding trustworthy sources from suitable genres for their assignments? Do they understand what to do with all the information that crops up in various media and how to filter and relate to the information? This module aims to help you improve your competence in supporting your students’ abilities to seek, evaluate and use information and literature – to develop information literacy – for their studies and for their future careers.
To develop subject knowledge you need the ability to interact with the different types of sources, information and data that make up the field. The ability to navigate an academic information landscape independently and deliberately is a literacy that students must have a chance to practice as part of their education. Students need scaffolding to decode the often tacit norms and practices that govern a field’s scholarly communication. At the same time, these issues are seldom explicitly the focus of teaching and examination. In this module, we will discuss and exemplify how information sources are used for studies and professional activities within your field and what poses challenges for the students.
The information landscape is increasingly characterized by access to a very large number of sources, by new forms of disinformation and by search engines and services that are algorithm and AI powered. This entails greater insecurities around how knowledge is created and what the expectations are on how information seeking, evaluation and use should be managed in an academic as well as a professional context. We will discuss how this affects the students’ – and our own – information practices and how we address it in the classroom.
In the module we will look at strategies and methods for how the foundations for your students’ information literacy can be constructed as part of their developing subject knowledge. You will be given the opportunity to relate your own experiences to various teaching and learning methods and pedagogical perspectives. Using literature, experiences, and discussions with other participants you will develop a learning activity that requires the students to practice some aspect of information literacy. Collegial conversations and sharing of experiences will play a central part in the module.
The module relates to the following learning outcomes provided by the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions (SUHF) for qualifying courses in higher education pedagogy:
Time required in total: 40 hours
Length of course: About 5 weeks
Form of delivery: Lectures (pre-recorded), workshops, tutoring session, plan for and peer review of learning activity
Note: Only PhD students at the Faculty of Science can apply for this module. You can not use the PIL application form. For more information, please contact Gabriella Olshammar.
The module aims to prepare PhD students for teaching at the Faculty of Science. The module aims to give the participants the opportunity to further develop the design and planning of their teaching, with focus on the participants being PhD students. The teaching includes lectures, practical exercises, literature studies and reflection both in groups and individually via logbooks. The exercises are in didactics and methodology with a focus on leading laboratories, calculation exercises and field studies. Within base groups, the participants discuss which pedagogical decisions a teaching element contains, based on scientific literature and experience.
Based on the above, the participants will develop and motivate a concrete natural science teaching element commonly used by PhD students at the Faculty of Science. This is summarized in a lesson plan with purpose, content, possible pedagogical and didactic considerations and challenges. Peer response to the lesson plan takes place before submission.
The lesson plan, lectures, literature and practical exercises form the basis for each student to plan, develop, carry out and evaluate a short oral teaching session, called microteaching. The implementation takes place in a group and the participants themselves decide the form and content of the teaching element, based on a teaching situation commonly encountered as a PhD student at the Faculty of Science. The chosen teaching element can, for example, be part of a laboratory, a field study or a calculation exercise.
The microteaching is a way to actualize different didactic aspects of teaching in the physical or digital space. Through the exercise, the participants get the opportunity to identify an interesting or problematic aspect of the teaching and then find a solution in front of a constructively critical audience. The microteaching is recorded and analyzed afterwards.
Writing a logbook is included as a mandatory part throughout the module.
The module relates to the following learning outcomes provided by the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions (SUHF) for qualifying courses in higher education pedagogy:
Time required in total: 65 hours
Length of course: About 7 weeks
Form of delivery: Lectures, exercises, workshops
7 November 9–16: Introduction and concepts
14 November 9–12: Workshops
21 November 9–12: Workshops
Week 49 (1–2 h): Peer observation
12 December 9–15: Microteaching and Seminar and reflections of the microteaching
For a quick overview over the modules and their respective time slots, see the following documents:
Overview spring 2024 (opens in new window)
Overview autumn 2023 (opens in new window)
When you fill in your application, you choose when you want to take the various modules. Information about which time periods you can choose from can be found in the module descriptions above. If you apply for several time periods for the same module, you can prioritize them in your application.
Before you apply, you need to have your participation approved by your head of department.
In order to apply, you need an x-account (which must be active throughout all the modules).
To apply for a certificate that you have completed PIL101, you need to fill in a form.
How to apply for a certificate for PIL101
If you have questions about the transition to modules, please contact the PIL unit: pil@gu.se
We recommend you to take PIL101 before PIL102. To get admittance to PIL103, you must have passed both PIL101 (or HPE101) and PIL102 (or HPE102), or have qualifications assessed as equal by a faculty at the University of Gothenburg. Read more
An allocated place on any of our courses is offered for free, on condition that it is used. Read more about the fee for not using an allocated place
Have you taken a course in teaching and learning in higher education (PIL101, PIL102, PIL103) as a compulsory course in your doctoral studies? When you have received your certificate of a completed and approved course, you should hand the certificate to the person who is the administrator (or equivalent) for your doctoral studies. That person registers the course as approved in Ladok for doctoral studies.
