Abstract
The regulation changes we have been witnessing in Portugal in the last five or
six years have been introducing new degrees, new diplomas and new audiences in
higher education. The Technological Specialization Courses where created in this
context, providing a more vocational and technical post-secondary training.
This courses are of the responsibility of Higher Education Institutions and their
faculty, presenting a whole new set of pedagogical difficulties and challenges.
In this paper we present a study, performed in the Polytechnic Institute of
Bragança, a public Higher Education Institution, that aims to understand the
perceptions and expectations of teachers in relation to this kind of courses in terms
of students, curriculum, pedagogical methodologies and satisfaction. The
following pages describe the theoretical background, the study methodology and
the result analysis, focusing in the pedagogical changes and strategies towards the
improvement of teachers’ professional skills and students intellectual and ethical
development.
