As part of our institutional commitment to continuous improvement and ensuring the quality of university teaching, the main goal of this project was to promote comprehensive training for university faculty, especially newly appointed faculty, equipping them with the necessary teaching competencies to perform effectively in increasingly diverse, inclusive, and evolving educational contexts. This training is conceived from a theoretical-practical perspective, focused on reflection on one’s own practice, mentoring by experienced faculty, and the integration of active, accessible methodologies centered on student learning. With this project, we reaffirm our commitment to a university that guarantees the quality of teaching from an inclusive perspective, focusing on the development of professional competencies for both faculty and students. By providing diagnostic tools, personalized virtual advising, tailored training pathways, and shared innovation spaces, we have laid the foundation for a sustainable and meaningful transformation of university teaching.
The request for this project arises from the urgent need to train university faculty in teaching competencies that enhance their professional performance and promote inclusive, high-quality, student-centered teaching. The experience during the pandemic highlighted the limitations of the traditional teaching model, revealing gaps in training in key areas such as instructional design, formative assessment, accessibility, pedagogical use of technology, and the development of active methodologies. The InnovaLab project was created as a proactive response to these challenges, promoting innovative, reflective, and personalized teacher training based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning and a competency-based curriculum approach. Additionally, it fosters the creation of institutional spaces (Innovation Labs) and digital tools (such as the ConnectU app) that support faculty in the continuous analysis and improvement of their teaching practices. In this way, it contributes to the development of a more equitable, inclusive university, adapted to the demands of the European Higher Education Area.