Students’ Perspectives on Significant and Ideal Learning Experiences —A Challenge for the Professional Development of University Teachers

The paper presents a study of students’ significant and ideal learning experiences as triggers of university teachers’ professional development. Students’ feedback and teachers’ own reflection on their teaching act as important triggers for quality shifts in their teaching and professional development.

The results of empirical research, during which we used a questionnaire with predominantly open-ended questions, will be presented. We were interested in the degree of students’ satisfaction with the quality of education and what conceptions about teacher’s and student’s role they had formed during their studies. Of the many research questions, this paper only deals with analysis of learning experiences which had a particular impact on students, and their notion of an ideal study environment. In this manner we attempted to reflect on the quality of studying and, based on significant learning situations, gain insight into the influence a teacher’s teaching may have on their students’ professional and personal development. Thus the question arises of how much university teachers are prepared for in-depth reflection on their own practices, to what degree they are ready to take into account feedback they receive from students and whether they are prepared to abandon their customary teaching practices.