Academic development to overcome STEM teachers’ challenges in teaching communication

The aim of this study is to explore how academic teachers view and experience challenges in teaching communication. During a teacher training course 92 STEM teachers developed, implemented, evaluated and reported on altogether 44 authentic communication elements. Content analysis was used for analysing teachers’ written answers to questions before the course, and reports after the course. The results illustrate teachers’ move towards a ‘communicating-to-learn’ approach, and their increased capacity to articulate and overcome challenges. A major conclusion is that a teacher training course facilitating curriculum-wide implementation of authentic communication elements offers an effective way of academic development.