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Articles

No. 1 (2026)

Promoting pedagogical innovation amidst the complexity of transitions: results of the quantitative phase of a Researchbased Teacher Professional Development project at university

  • Aurora Ricci
  • Elena Luppi
  • Flavio Brescianini
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/cad2026oa23298
Submitted
luglio 20, 2026
Published
2026-08-27

Abstract

Widening participation is reshaping higher education, making teaching innovation a strategic priority. Adopting a sequential exploratory mixedmethods design, this study reports the quantitative phase of a Researchbased Teacher Professional Development project at the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna. Two online questionnaires were administered to 102 teachers and 318 students, addressing selfefficacy, engagement, motivation, collaboration, and employability. Teachers’ satisfaction with student engagement was predicted by selfefficacy in engaging them and by teaching engagement, whereas active methods reflected their ability to foster metacognitive skills. Among students, engagement and extrinsic motivation predicted degree commitment; selfefficacy and collaborative behaviour predicted teamwork ability; and engagement, motivation, and employability predicted learning transfer. Findings inform formative, datadriven faculty development.

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