NEWS On 1 July, Åse Tieva will take up the position of Director of the Centre for Educational Development (UPL), succeeding Eva Svedmark.
Åse Tieva, Centre for Educational Development
Image Ellen SällOriginally trained as a biologist, Åse Tieva has been part of Umeå University since the 1990s. She earned her PhD in 2002 at the Faculty of Medicine and subsequently worked as a researcher for several years. During that period, she began reflecting on her role as a natural scientist working within a medical context.
“I enjoyed both the subject and the research, but I think I missed the human connection.”
A temporary teaching position at the Department of Food, Nutrition and Culinary Science gave her the opportunity to start teaching, a shift that would have a lasting impact on her career. She taught natural science subjects in a social science environment, where students’ primary interests often lay elsewhere in their degree programmes. This experience came to shape her approach to teaching.
“The students were not always there because they were interested in the subject itself. It became important to find ways of making the content meaningful and accessible. There was something rewarding in helping students understand something they had not initially been interested in.”
In 2008, she was appointed Senior Lecturer at the department. Over the following years, her interest in teaching and student learning continued to grow. At the same time, she attended courses offered by UPL, where she encountered educational perspectives and built a network that would become highly significant for her future work.
Through this engagement, she became involved in the development of learning environments, including projects connected to Humanisthuset and Rooms for Learning. Together with colleagues, she explored new approaches to teaching, moving from more lecture-based formats towards increasingly student-centred and active learning methods.
Since then, she has participated in several major educational development and research projects related to learning environments, including Learning Lab and initiatives focusing on hybrid teaching. These projects have been carried out in collaboration with teachers, professional services staff and external partners, providing her with an extensive network both within and beyond the university, nationally as well as internationally.
On 1 July, Åse will assume the role of Director of UPL. Issues relating to learning environments, student learning, teachers’ conditions for teaching and educational quality have long been central to her work. At the same time, she emphasises the importance of staying close to educational practice and understanding what actually happens in teaching and learning contexts.
“We need to keep our ear to the ground and understand what is happening across the university. That is where we can make a difference.”
Åse Tieva, Centre for Educational Development
Image Ellen SällFor Åse, the role involves moving between different levels of the university: leading UPL’s work in close collaboration with educational practice while also contributing to strategic discussions about teaching and learning at the institutional level. In her view, these dimensions are closely connected. Educational development should be grounded in research and proven experience, while also responding to the questions and needs that arise in everyday educational practice.
With a background spanning several faculties and areas of university activity, from the Faculty of Science and Technology and the Faculty of Medicine to social science teaching and educational development, Åse has experience from a wide range of academic environments. This has given her an understanding that teaching and educational development take different forms in different contexts, something she sees as a strength in her new role.
“It is important to recognise that different parts of the university have different conditions and needs.”
Artificial intelligence is one of the areas that Åse believes will have a major impact on higher education in the years ahead. For her, an important question is how universities can create opportunities for shared learning and reflection around emerging challenges and possibilities. The recently launched initiative AI for Learning is one example of how UPL responds to needs within the organisation by providing a common platform for knowledge sharing, dialogue and collegial learning. Through this initiative, teachers and other university staff can explore together how AI can be used in thoughtful and responsible ways within education.
At a time when higher education is undergoing significant change, she sees a need both to build on existing knowledge and to create space for new ways of thinking about teaching and learning. For Åse, the role is largely about moving between the immediate and the strategic: between teachers’ everyday practice, students’ learning and the broader questions shaping the future development of the university.
“There is already a great deal of knowledge and commitment across the university. I hope to contribute by creating contexts where that can continue to grow and develop.”
