Development Of Professional Competency For Lecturers In The Field Of Natural Sciences Of Research-Or...

DEVELOPMENT OF PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCY FOR LECTURERS IN THE FIELD OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF RESEARCH ORIENTED UNIVERSITIES Pham Van Thuan, Nghiem Thị Thanh (VNU University of Education) Nguyen Thanh Xuan (VNU University of Science) Abstract Fostering the lecturers of research oriented universities should focus on the following activities fostering lecturers based on the required competencies; based on personal aspiration; through the process of performing the tasks of lecturers; sending on secondme[.]

FOR LECTURERS IN THE FIELD OF NATURAL SCIENCES

OF RESEARCH-ORIENTED UNIVERSITIES

Pham Van Thuan, Nghiem Thị Thanh

(VNU University of Education)

Nguyen Thanh Xuan

(VNU University of Science)

Abstract: Fostering the lecturers of research-oriented universities should focus on the following activities:

fostering lecturers based on the required competencies; based on personal aspiration; through the process of performing the tasks of lecturers; sending on secondment, exchanging scientific research at home and abroad … Based on the survey results of lecturers in the field of natural sciences of National Universities, the “very effective” and “effective” levels of evaluation of the above-mentioned fostering activities are only less than 40% The article has proposed 06 solutions that are necessary and highly feasible, most of them reach over 70% The proposed solutions are specific, practical and implemented under the orientation of quality-focused viewpoints according to international standards.

Keywords: professional competency, lecturers in the field of natural sciences, research-oriented universities,

National University.

1 INTRODUCTION

Fostering can be seen as the main way to improve the quality of lecturers in research-oriented universities For the lecturers in the field of natural sciences of research-oriented universities, fostering lecturers has its own specific forms such as: on-the-job fostering, in-service fostering; regularly updating professional knowledge in domestic and foreign partners; encouraging lecturers to work as visiting lecturers at high-ranked universities in the world … This article aims to survey the reality of professional competency development activities of lecturers in the field of natural sciences of National Universities

by the above characteristics; provide solutions and assess the necessity and feasibility of solutions for development of professional competency of lecturers

2 OVERVIEW OF PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCY DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES OF LECTURERS

OF RESEARCH-ORIENTED UNIVERSITIES

Developing professional competency of lecturers of research-oriented universities should focus

on the following activities:

- Lecturer training and retraining activities are based on the competencies to be satisfied At the end of academic year, the Faculty-level and University-level Board of Human Resource will assess the

level of achievement using the set of standards of lecturers, clearly determine the level of competency

of lecturers to continue updating the results as a basis for lecturers to adjust their plans and develop the next roadmap (Cảnh Chí Dũng, 2015, p 150)

- Developing lecturer training and retraining plans based on personal aspiration of lecturer: based

on lecturer standards in accordance with research-oriented requirements, the lecturers will self-register goals to be achieved and recommend ways to achieve the targets in order to develop the development roadmap within a certain period Each lecturer will become more effective when he or she feels that the learning work for the purpose of meeting the prescribed requirements is truly meaningful to the individual rather than perceived as a mean for the organization to achieve his/her set goals “Establish the center for lecturer development support dedicated to monitoring, assessing and supporting lecturer development programs This recommendation comes from the fact that the development programs are all voluntary by the lecturers, so it is necessary to have supportive centers, not mandatory and procedural functional units that may affect the academic freedom of lecturers Clearly disseminate requirements, content of each standard and importance of the set of standards (especially for newly recruited lecturers

at home or abroad) This recommendation aims to motivate and encourage lecturers to voluntarily develop and implement their own development plans in a oriented way and in line with the goals of university” (Cảnh Chí Dũng, 2015, pp 150,151)

- Training and retraining through the process of performing the tasks of lecturers: The view of learning process should be also changed in comparison with traditional approach: not only from the perspective

of formal learning programs provided by the organization, but more importantly, from the perspective of informal learning through the working environment; in which voluntariness and strong motivation are important factors (Cảnh Chí Dũng, 2015, p 152; Phạm Văn Thuần, 2016) also believes that the strengths

of higher education institutions (especially research-oriented universities) with many leading lecturers should be taken advantage for on-the-job fostering Each young lecturer has an experienced staff such as professor, associate professor, doctor of science, … to guide and help in teaching-specialized activities

- The lecturers are permitted to send on secondment and exchange scientific research at domestic and foreign training and scientific research institutions: according to (Trương Quang Học, 2009, p 24), in the American research universities, the lecturers have 1 – 2 semester(s) for fostering (scientific research) after 5 years In accordance with (Tuyên ngôn Hợp Phì, 2013, p 5), research university is a part of global network of collaborations among similar institutions, making significant and valuable contributions to global research efforts It integrates into the international community because its recognized excellence is capable of attracting attention, partnerships and support

3 CHARACTERISTICS OF LECTURERS IN THE FIELD OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF RESEARCH-ORIENTED UNIVERSITIES

According to Đào Trọng Thi et al (2004) and Cảnh Chí Dũng (2015), most research universities

in the world require competency assessment for lecturers based on activities: teaching, research and service activities; especially require lecturers to be excellent in both research and teaching, in which scientific research is considered with high weight in the achievement of lecturers

Research universities often require teachers to have a doctorate or equivalent, trained at the top universities in the country or in the world Competitiveness and collectivism are the sense of professors

of research university, as well as the university itself This scientific community is imbued with a desire

to contribute to science and knowledge, both to scientific progress and to development of career and

prestige Understanding the importance of collaboration, they work in groups, especially in science The international tendency in consciousness and also in work is the characteristic of professors of research universities They strengthen cooperation with colleagues around the world and regularly exchange expertise in different countries; getting jobs in places with the best working conditions, salaries, and working facilities In recent years, internationally qualified scientists have worked simultaneously in many countries, sometimes holding scientific positions in many countries

Research-oriented universities are multidisciplinary and multi-field universities in training and scientific research with high-tech specialties based on strong basic research, with emphasis on innovate research activities The most important task of the research university is to expand the frontiers of knowledge, breaking the existing limits in human perception In some countries, these studies are a partnership between the private sector and the scientific community As such, they have a key responsibility for creating scientific progress Most research in the field of natural sciences is fundamental and often very expensive; usually basic research, being the quintessence of the function of community and society service; no one gains profit directly from basic scientific research Funding for basic scientific research has been being a hard problem for many countries (Altbach & Salmi, 2011, pp 18-21) and (Altbach,

2012, pp 34-35)

4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

4.1 Research problem

- Establishing a theoretical basis for developing professional competence of lecturers in research universities: research universities have their own characteristics, requiring lecturers to have the following qualities: particular ability How should professional development of teaching staff in research-oriented universities focus on activities

- Survey and evaluate the actual situation of professional capacity development activities of lecturers in the field of natural sciences according to the characteristics of research universities at national universities

- Proposing solutions to develop professional capacity of lecturers in the field of natural sciences in universities in the direction of research and surveying the necessity and feasibility of the proposed solutions

4.2 Research design

The research has conducted to survey the actual situation of development of human resources of lecturers

in the field of natural sciences based on the characteristics of universities according to research universities Scale design: the most used scale is the Likert scale, number of steps 5

Level: level 1 = ineffective, level 2 = less effective, level 3 = moderate, level 4 = quite effective and level 5 = very effective; level 0: recognize yes or no)

4.3 Determine the sample size

According to Likert, the determination of sample size is based on the formula:

1

m j j

=

=∑

In which: n: minimum number of votes; k: Likert order; P number of groups; m number of independent variables

Applying the above formula, we determine at least n=135 votes

Survey of the current situation and the necessity and feasibility of the solutions was conducted by questionnaires for teachers at 02 National Universities The total number of survey votes at 2 Universities

of Science is 351 votes The percentage of answer sheets collected from University of Science – Vietnam National University, Hanoi is 186/351, accounting for 53%; from the University of Science – Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City is 47%

5 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

5.1 Reality of professional competency development activities of lecturers in the field of natural sciences of National Universities and proposed solutions

The chart below shows the “effective” level of professional competency development activities of lecturers in the field of natural sciences having been being developed at National Universities

Figure 1: The “effective” level of professional competency development activities of lecturers in the field of natural sciences at

National Universities

The chart below summarizes the “very effective” and “effective” levels of professional competency development activities of lecturers in the field of natural sciences at National Universities

Figure 2: Summary of “very effective” and “effective” levels of professional competency development activities of lecturers in the

field of natural sciences at National Universities

Through the charts 1 and 2, they show that the effectiveness of carrying out professional competency development activities of lecturers in the field of natural sciences at National Universities has been still quite limited The activities rated as “very good” are about 5%, rated as “good” are all less than 40%, while the rest are rated as “average” The content of lecturers who were seconded, exchanged scientific research at domestic and foreign training and scientific research institutions had the lowest efficiency, the level of quite good was only 33.6% It shows that the strategy of professional competency development lecturers in the field of natural sciences at National Universities has not been appropriate and had many limitations in fact Based on the results of the above situation study, the article proposes synchronous and suitable solutions to the actual conditions of Vietnam

5.2 Solutions to develop professional capacity of lecturers in the field of natural sciences in universities in the direction of research

5.2.1 Organizing fostering on teamwork skills

According to Mahla Salajegheh et al (2020, p 5), one of the 26 indicators of faculty professional development is teamwork

Because it has to go through 4 stages: building, breakthrough, stabilizing, perfecting, at first, it seems that an active group does not achieve the effectiveness like a working individual (Thuan & Xuan, 2018) As a result, there are a few capable and enthusiastic individuals who have done the work for the whole group Consequently, the achievements obtained by the group are only due to the efforts of

a few people, which in turn leads to division and disintegration of the group On the contrary, after the breakthrough stage, if the group works in accordance with the principles, the group will stabilize and promote the strength of teamwork, overcoming the limitations of the individual to achieve the common goal that everyone can obtain the benefits from the group A group should have skills: interpersonal communication within the group, conflict resolution and leadership; skills in using tools for group administration and management

5.2.2 Organizing fostering on competency of international cooperation and publication through the performance of tasks of lecturers and retraining courses

- Take advantage of the strengths of research-oriented universities with many leading lecturers for on-the-job fostering Young lecturers also work with experienced staff to guide and help in professional and teaching activities Young lecturers must have specific programs, content and goals for each of their fields and must have specific published products such as articles, specific topics, textbooks, lesson plans, …

- Develop the lecturers through the club of young scientists Young lecturers have been developing strongly with many young doctors trained from abroad, this is a form to promote scientific research activities at research-oriented universities The club is to help young scientists connect with each other

to generate new scientific research ideas and develop scientific research competency In particular, the club will connect policy makers who are capable of supporting resources and mechanisms to help young scientists develop

- In order to be able to train and foster, the lecturers in the field of natural sciences develop professional and scientific research competencies to gradually achieve competency framework:

Identify training and fostering needs Research-oriented universities should organize assessment and survey the reality of quality of lecturers in the field of natural sciences; compare with the requirements

of contents in the planning and competency framework; balance the requirements for each working

position with the priority order of contents to be trained and fostered, especially paying special attention

to the criteria having not yet been followed well to serve as a basis for organizing the training and fostering The training and fostering needs being very necessary for lecturers in the field of natural sciences in the current period are:

(1) Intellectual property and commercialization of research results;

(2) Forecasting the science and technology development orientation in the revolution 4.0;

(3) Compilation and development of new training programs

Research-oriented universities should closely follow the competency framework of lecturers in the field of natural sciences to identify training and fostering needs for the lecturers Compared with the criteria, each individual lecturer identifies his/her weakness and strengths to identify training and fostering needs

In order to improve the quality of lecturers in the field of natural sciences, the fostering should be conducted based on the individual needs of each teacher to ensure the implementation of training and retraining plan with the desired results

5.2.3 Professional development through secondment and exchange at domestic and foreign partners

Research-oriented universities actively send their staff to train at home and abroad This is one of the ways to quickly improve the professional qualifications of lecturers, and update the actual requirements

at home and abroad:

- Attend scientific conferences, practice and teach abroad;

- Go to graduate school at home and abroad;

- Go to study post-doctoral research and improve qualifications at home and abroad;

Lecturers of research-oriented universities should regularly update their professional knowledge

in domestic and foreign partners, thereby easily adapting to changes in majors Specific activities such as: sending to practice teaching, developing lectures, developing programs, experiences in building laboratories and organization of scientific research at leading universities in the world Research-oriented universities should develop policies on encouraging lecturers to work as visiting lecturers at universities around the world such as: calculating working hours suitable for scientific research activities, using scientific research hours to have enough working time in the academic year, reducing teaching hours when there are excellent scientific research achievements …

- Sign for cooperation agreements in training, scientific research and technology deployment with universities, research institutes, companies and international organizations in or der to encourage and create conditions for staff and students to have opportunity to be sent to study and work abroad to improve qualifications and update professional knowledge

5.2.4 Developing the fund for supporting potential scientific working groups

A scientist after going through basic training and post-doctoral research will begin to enter the independent research stage This is the time when the scientist starts looking for funding sources to set up

a scientific working group of his/her own, including funding to build material facilities for the scientific working group (laboratory, synchronous research equipment, etc.), personnel for the scientific working group (associates, personnel working under: researchers, students, technicians …) and maintenance

costs for the scientific working group (salaries for personnel, money spent on research activities, etc …) Therefore, in most of the developed countries in the world, there are always funds available to scientists

to set up the initial steps for their research careers This fund can be either from the research institutions themselves, when posting a job for recruitment, the researcher will commit to providing initial funding for the successful candidates, or from government funds given to candidates in the form of “fellowship”

or “fund” The university will act as the guarantor of candidates

For Vietnam, the article proposes to establish a fund for supporting potential scientific working groups working on the following principles:

- Funding for a scientist with a project within 5 years can be considered as temporary enough to set up a small scientific working group, with the ability to purchase basic research equipment and cover maintenance costs for scientific working group activities

- Research-oriented universities ensure resources in terms of material facilities, support procedures

in relation to human resources, finance and administration

- Candidates should have enough experience in doing research after obtaining doctorate (for example, two to three years of post-doctoral research), with a strong scientific background (with good training process, continuous working experience with the output of scientific product …) plus a strong enough research plan (or research proposal) for a long-term research direction

5.2.5 Forming a network of part-time scientists who are foreigners, overseas Vietnamese and Vietnamese working abroad

In South Korea or China, when they want to push up a certain industry, they find ways to compete with the strongest centers in the world, invite top experts to work, and build a scientific working group Since then, the science industry will grow by itself, creating an international reputation Scientists in the same industry will find themselves to work together, and the prestige will increase more and more

In the context of globalization, attracting good scientists to work in the home country is not easy due to distance as well as differences in working conditions, income, environment, academic freedom This is a difficult task However, if there are specific solutions with special salary policies, this problem can be still resolved

In fact, the talented and advanced programs of some key universities have invited qualified and experienced professors from foreign universities, including Nobel Prize-winning scientists, to teach and guide scientific research for students The advanced program of the Ministry of Education and Training and the strategic mission program of Vietnam National University have also invited foreign professors to teach for a short time thanks to the funding of the State If the State continues to invest, it is possible to invite foreign scientists to work for a longer time In addition, most universities around the world apply the policy of academic exchange to expand their network of cooperation, develop more deeply their own research directions, as well as enhance their creativity in order to enhance their creativity for the purpose

of forming new research directions and ideas with research lecturers at partner universities

Research-oriented universities can carry out the following activities:

- Network building and development can be done through many methods such as: international cooperation in various fields, through the university network abroad; through Vietnam Education Foundation and similar funds; or through the introduction of scientists abroad

- Establishing an online association for oversea scientists as well as connecting with domestic colleagues Currently, among overseas Vietnamese living abroad, there are many scientists who have been teaching and doing research at leading universities in the world Research-oriented universities should attract these internationally qualified scientists for working and advise policies Research-oriented universities can develop policies on encouraging overseas Vietnamese scientists to collaborate in different ways

5.2.6 Formation of strong scientific working groups and research centers of excellence

According to Bui Minh Duc et al (2019, p 21), the model of scientific research in groups/research groups has existed for a long time in universities around the world and is being developed in Vietnam

in the recent period

Therefore, the article recommends the following conditions to form a strong research group:

- Leading scientist with organizational competency and enthusiasm in science; having the competency to establish a network of domestic and international research cooperation;

- Having a long-term research direction and a strategy for development of such research direction

in each period, in line with international trends and practically serving the development of Vietnam

- Laboratory operating expenses and support funds for international exchange activities such as organizing and participating in short-term conferences, training courses and scientific exchanges

- Gathering a team of enthusiastic and scientifically ambitious staff, especially young scientists, post-doctoral trainees and fellows The connection of members in the work requires science and clear assignment of tasks, because in order to produce a good quality article, there must be a clear working plan, in which the tasks of each individual must be clearly defined A strong scientific working group

is completely different from a regular scientific working group In a regular scientific working group, sometimes the group leader takes care of most of the work with the support of a few students and fellows

- Having a strategy on the professional development orientation of the group; Scientific results are accumulated, developed and widely published in national and international journals

- Having good partnerships with domestic and foreign agencies;

- The energy source of strong scientific working group is the topics and projects Therefore, the ability to participate in the selection of scientific and technological topics in the direction of research

is both a criterion of quality assessment and a decisive factor to the development ability of community High expertise, passion for science and ability to organize research are necessary requirements for a Scientific Working Group Leader The members of the group are highly qualified lecturers and researchers, young and dynamic scientists and may include graduate students and fellows The leadership factor is the most important in the above criteria, followed by the young, dynamic and scientifically ambitious graduate students and researchers Building and developing strong Scientific Working Groups and higher step being Centers of Excellence or Schools of Science

5.3 Survey on necessity and feasibility of solutions

5.3.1 Necessity of solutions

Chart 3.1 Level of necessity of solutions for professional competency development of lecturers

in the field of natural sciences of research-oriented universities

Through the above chart, it can be seen that the level of necessity of solutions is quite uniform, the “very necessary” and “necessary” levels of solutions are far above the opposing group of “less

necessary”, “unnecessary” and “not assessed” It shows that the assessment of level of necessity

of solutions for professional competency development of lecturers in the field of natural sciences of research-oriented universities is very high

The chart shows that the solutions assessed as “necessary” and “very necessary” have very high

indexes The lowest among the indexes is 69.2% under the solution of Building the Fund for supporting potential scientific working group; the solution with an index of over 80% is: Organizing fostering on teamwork skills.

5.3.2 Feasibility of solutions

Chart 3.2: Feasibility of solutions for professional competency development of lecturers

in the field of natural sciences of research-oriented universities

The above chart shows that most of the proposed solutions are very highly feasible, most of them

are over 60.4% The prominent solution is Forming network of scientists who are foreigners, oversea Vietnamese and Vietnamese working abroad, which has a feasibility index of over 70%.

6 CONCLUSION

Fostering the lecturers of research-oriented universities play the important role in the human resources development The survey results of lecturers in the field of natural sciences of National Universities, the “very effective” and “effective” levels of evaluation of the above-mentioned fostering activities are only less than 40% The article has proposed 06 solutions that are necessary and highly feasible, most of them reach over 70% which is to promote the active and active role of lecturers, improve professional qualifications and professional capacity, and at the same time promote the potential

of each individual To improve the quality of teaching staff in research universities, the training should

be conducted based on the individual needs of each teacher to ensure the implementation of the training and retraining plan with the desired results

REFERENCES

Vietnamese references

1 Altbach, P G (2012) Đại học nghiên cứu: khẳng định để phát triển (Người dịch: Phạm Thị Ly)

Bản tin Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội, 217-2009, 24-27

2 Cảnh Chí Dũng (2015) Phát triển giảng viên theo yêu cầu của đại học nghiên cứu: nghiên cứu

điển hình tại Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội Trường ĐH Kinh tế, ĐHQGHN Hà Nội

3 Trương Quang Học (2009) Đại học Nghiên cứu Bản tin Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội, 217-2009, 24-27

4 Đào Trọng Thi và nhóm nghiên cứu (2004) Nghiên cứu cơ chế quản lý đại học, đa ngành đa

lĩnh vực chất lượng cao theo định hướng đại học nghiên cứu, Đề tài cấp ĐHQGHN, mã số QGTĐ 03.07

5 Phạm Văn Thuần (2016) Bồi dưỡng giảng viên đại học đáp ứng khung năng lực vị trí việc

làm Journal of science of Hue, EducationalSci., 61(3), 45-55

https://doi.org/DOI:10.18173/2354-1075.2016-0026

6 Tuyên ngôn Hợp Phì (2013) Mười đặc điểm về trường đại học nghiên cứu hiện đại (người dịch:

Phạm Thị Ly) Bản tin Thông tin Quốc tế về Giáo dục đại học của Viện Đào tạo Quốc tế, ĐHQG TPHCM., 14

English references

1 Altbach, P G., & Salmi, J (2011) The road to academic excellence: The making of world-class research

universities World Bank Publications

2 Bui Minh Duc, Nguyen Thu Ha, & Nguyen Dinh Duc (2019) The role of the research team for

international publication in the field of natural sciences and engineering Journal of Educational Research, VNU, 35(2), 12-23

3 Mahla Salajegheh, Roghayeh Gandomkar, & Azim Mirzazadeh and John Sandars (2020)

Identification of capacity development indicators for faculty development programs: A nominal

group technique study BMC Medical Education, 20(163) https://doi.org/https:// 10.1186/

s12909-020-02068-7

4 Thuan, P V., & Xuan, N T (2018) Developing Scientific Working Groups for Universities in

Vietnam American Journal of Educational Research, 6(5), 449-454