Generic skills in higher education - teachers’ conceptions, pedagogical practices and pedagogical training

Teachers’ conceptions of teaching play a key role in the pedagogical practices they apply in their teaching. Previous studies of conceptions of teaching generic skills have been mainly qualitative with small samples, and thus there is a need for a more extensive quantitative study. This study investigates the associations between higher education teachers' conceptions of teaching generic skills, pedagogical practices, pedagogical training, and teaching experience. The data consist of teachers’ survey answers (N=286). The findings indicate that conceptions were related to pedagogical practices. In addition, pedagogical training has a significant relation to conceptions and pedagogical practices. However, teaching experience did not relate to conceptions of generic skills, but it did to some of the practices. This study suggests a need for teachers to enhance their awareness of conceptions related to teaching generic skills and highlights the importance of pedagogical training.


Introduction
Learning generic skills such as critical thinking, problem solving as well as collaboration and communication, in addition to acquiring domain-specific knowledge, are broadly agreed key aims of academic university education . Such skills are essential both in higher education studies as well as in life-long learning, development throughout academic careers, and academic citizenship in the democratic society. Despite the widespread consensus on their importance, however, there is evidence that students in higher education differ significantly in their levels of generic skills such as critical thinking (e.g., Arum and Roksa 2011;Evens et al. 2013;Kleemola, Hyytinen, and Toom 2022a;Tuononen, Parpala, and Lindblom-Ylänne 2017;Ursin et al. 2021). There is also evidence that students are not systematically supported in their learning of generic skills in terms of domain-specific courses in higher education (Bovill, Bulley, and Morss 2011;Goodyear and Zenios 2007), and that this aspect has not been sufficiently taken into account in the curricula (Hyytinen, Toom, and Shavelson 2019). Research has shown that such skills are better learned when intertwined with disciplinary content rather than in single separate courses (Bath et al. 2004;Star and Hammer 2008;Jääskelä, Nykänen, and Tynjälä 2018;Virtanen and Tynjälä 2018).
Teachers' conceptions of learning and teaching play a central role in the practices they employ in their work (e.g. Pajares 1992;Kember and Kwan 2000;Postareff, Lindblom-Ylänne, and Nevgi 2008;Northcote 2009;Hyytinen and Löfström 2016). Those teachers who are aware of their own conceptions of learning and teaching are better able to make conscious, justified choices regarding teaching methods and strategies, and thus to support their students in achieving better learning outcomes (Boulton-Lewis 2004). Recent qualitative studies have reported some variation in teachers' conceptions of generic skills and how they perceive their role in ensuring that their students acquire them (Barrie 2007;Mah and Ifenthaler 2017). Enhancing student learning of generic skills may be challenging for some teachers, who may not have the necessary pedagogical knowledge and skills (Green, Hammer, and Star 2009;Muukkonen et al. 2022). There is also evidence of a multifaceted relationship connecting teachers' conceptions of learning and teaching with their pedagogical practices, which are not necessarily always aligned (Gao and Watkins 2001;Wai Mui Yu and Boulton-Lewis 2008). Therefore, given the insufficient understanding of how generic skills might be best promoted and integrated into teaching practices, there is a need for research on teachers' conceptions of teaching generic skills and pedagogical practices that enhance learning in this respect.
Teachers in higher education are in a key position to facilitate student learning of generic skills, but there has been surprisingly little research on their conceptions and practices related to the learning and teaching of generic skills. Moreover, the few previous studies that have been carried out were qualitative, based on data from only a few teachers (Barrie 2007;Jääskelä, Nykänen, and Tynjälä 2018). Thus, there is a need for quantitative studies that explore these relations more extensively based on larger data sets.
Many institutions of higher education in Finland and other countries provide university pedagogical courses for teaching staff (Ödalen et al. 2019) to support their capabilities for quality university teaching. Evidence shows that pedagogical education may have an influence on teachers' conceptions of teaching and learning, such that they are more likely to focus on student learning rather than merely transmitting content (Vilppu et al. 2019;Postareff, Lindblom-Ylänne, and Nevgi 2007).
Given that teaching generic skills requires utilising learning-focused methods and versatile pedagogical practices, there is a specific need to explore how pedagogical training relates to conceptions of teaching generic skills and teaching practices.

Teachers' conceptions of teaching and learning generic skills
Conceptions of teaching and learning refer to the beliefs about teaching that guide a teacher's perception of a situation (Pajares, 1992;Wondifraw 2020). They also bear consequences for the teaching methods chosen and the ways how teachers put the curriculum guidelines in practice (Northcote 2009;Löfström and Hyytinen 2017). Given this, it is important to examine and understand teachers' conceptions of teaching generic skills, i.e., their beliefs about their preferred ways of teaching and learning generic skills. More precisely, how teachers perceive their role in teaching generic skills, and how they perceive the importance of teaching and learning generic skills and the integration of generic skills in domain specific courses.
Generic skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, argumentation, communication and problem-solving are acknowledged as key capabilities to be enhanced in contemporary higher education . They are skills that are needed across a variety of disciplines and contexts as well as in working life (Tuononen, Parpala, and Lindblom-Ylänne 2017;Strijbos, Engels, and Struyven 2015;Hyytinen et al. 2021). Generic skills are also referred to as key skills, transferable skills, employability skills, academic competences, core competences and generic attributes (Barrie 2006;Strijbos, Engels, and Struyven 2015;Suleman 2018;Tuononen et al. 2017). The acquisition of generic skills is not only a major learning outcome of higher education, it is also an asset that students need from the very beginning of their university studies. These skills enable students to learn in the university, draw on their field-specific knowledge and apply it in a variety of situations, and therefore to succeed better in their studies (Hyytinen, Toom, and Shavelson 2019;Hyytinen et al. 2021;Tuononen and Parpala 2021). It is not enough to possess generic skills; however, students also need to be willing and able to utilise them (Hyytinen et al. 2021). While in the present study we approach generic skills as instruments in academic careers, we acknowledge their intrinsic value.
Because teachers in higher education are in a key position to facilitate the development of generic skills among students, their views on learning and teaching of generic skills are not irrelevant.
Previous studies on the teaching of these skills have concentrated on interventions (i.e. applying a particular teaching method (see e.g., Carvalho 2016; Kridiotis and Swart 2017) and on teachers' conceptions (Barrie 2006;Jones 2009;Wai Mui Yu and Boulton-Lewis 2008), whereas there has been little research on conceptions of how they should be taught. Thus, the theorisation of this issue remains unestablished. Nevertheless, there is some evidence that teachers have various conceptions of teaching generic skills, as well as different points of view both of the extent to which they should be learnt and taught and of their role in this task (Barrie 2006;Jones 2009). Some teachers hold the view that generic skills are largely irrelevant in courses they teach, or they expect students already to have them when they start their university studies, thereby implying that the focus of teaching in higher education should be on disciplinary knowledge (Barrie 2006;Mah and Ifenthaler 2017).
Similarly, some teachers feel that generic skills should be taught through practical experience such as in extra-curricular activities, or in specialised, separate courses, thereby denying their own responsibility in this regard (see Abayadeera and Watty 2014;Barrie 2007;Star and Hammer 2008;Nykänen and Tynjälä 2018). Others, in turn, believe that they all have the responsibility to ensure that generic skills are effectively taught and hence should be addressed in multiple programmes and learning activities across the curriculum, not only in a specialised course (Hyytinen, Toom, and Shavelson 2019;Virtanen and Tynjälä 2018;Jääskelä, Nykänen, and Tynjälä 2018). In an earlier work, Barrie (2006) identified teachers who considered generic skills useful in terms of complementing students' disciplinary knowledge, suggesting that their acquisition was at the heart of all scholarly knowledge as they facilitate the use or application of discipline-specific learning. Thus, they are integral to disciplinary knowledge, and they need to develop within a disciplinary context (Barrie 2006).

Pedagogical practices enhance the learning of generic skills
Curricula in higher education, course design and the pedagogical practices of teachers play a central role in how students can learn generic skills during their studies (Kember 2009;Tuononen et al. 2022). Maximising student learning in this area requires the alignment and explicit expression of objectives, methods, assessment criteria and practices (Biggs 1999). Learning goals and assessment aimed at supporting students should be discussed transparently with them so that they are aware of and can monitor their progress. The acquisition of generic skills requires students to take an active role, and a collaborative learning environment (Tynjälä and Gijbels 2012;Virtanen & Tynjälä 2018).
Integrative pedagogy is a model in which the elements of expertise are combined in learning situations, by doing practical exercises or applying theoretical knowledge to practice (Tynjälä and Gijbels 2012;Virtanen and Tynjälä 2018). Accordingly, key pedagogical processes that also facilitate the learning of generic skills combine authentic or simulated experiences with theoretical content and conceptual learning, problem-solving and reflection (Tynjälä et al. 2016;Virtanen and Tynjälä 2018;Muukkonen et al. 2022). Collaborating with peers and working-life representatives, using various sources and forms of knowledge, and fostering change in terms of ideas and practices have also been identified as reasonable ways of supporting the learning of generic skills (Kember and Leung 2005;Muukkonen et al. 2017;2020;Virtanen and Tynjälä 2019). On the other hand, there is evidence of a negative association of traditional teaching methods such as lecturing, reading, and working alone with self-reported learning of generic skills (Virtanen and Tynjälä 2018). Research on the contribution of pedagogical practices to how students learn generic skills is still a relatively new field.
Previous studies have identified several challenges related to teaching generic skills (Green, Hammer, and Star 2009;Hyytinen, Toom, and Shavelson 2019;Wan-Mohamed and Yunus 2009;Hassan et al. 2016). For example, it is not considered a key role of teachers in higher education; teachers do not have a clear understanding of what generic skills are and how to implement them in their curricula and teaching; teachers lack both the confidence and the time to teach and assess these skills. Hassan et al. (2016) also found that teachers were keen and willing to apply generic skills in their courses, but they struggled with the focus, namely whether they should concentrate on core disciplinary content or generic skills.

The relationship between teachers' conceptions of teaching generic skills and their pedagogical practices
Teachers' conceptions of teaching and learning reflect their teaching practices (Kember and Kwan 2000;Postareff, Lindblom-Ylänne, and Nevgi 2008). However, the relationship between conceptions and practices is not straightforward. For example, teachers might hold multiple or conflicting views when they consider both the ideal and the practical sides of teaching (Gao and Watkins 2001;Wai Mui Yu and Boulton-Lewis 2008), which in turn may cause inconsistency between their conceptions of teaching and how they approach itin other words their pedagogical practices. Research has also revealed dissonance between teachers' values and practices concerning teaching and learning (Eren 2010;Wang, Kao, and Lin 2010): they might value student-centred learning, but they practise traditional teaching (Eren 2010). Therefore, there is a need for research exploring the relationship between teachers' conceptions of teaching generic skills and pedagogical practices, which remains unexplored.

Pedagogical training and teaching experience in relation to teachers' conceptions and pedagogical practices
As discussed above, the learning of generic skills requires an active role on the part of students, a collaborative learning environment, and the application of various teaching methods and pedagogical practices (e.g. Virtanen and Tynjälä 2018). Teachers therefore need to acquire both pedagogical knowledge about learning and teaching and practical pedagogical skills, which is demanding and may take time. In many countries, however, teaching in higher education does not require pedagogical education (e.g. Aškerc and Kočar 2015), which means that teachers may not have sufficient pedagogical knowledge and skills to implement teaching that would support the development of generic skills among students. Institutions of higher education in many countries provide voluntary pedagogical training for teachers (Vilppu et al., 2019;Ödalen et al., 2019), the effectiveness of which has consistently interested researchers in the field. In general, previous studies indicate that pedagogical training has a positive impact on the development of pedagogical skills and confidence as a teacher (Postareff, Lindblom-Ylänne, and Nevgi 2007;Stes, et al. 2012;Trigwell, Caballero Rodriguez, and Han 2012;Ödalen et al. 2019). It may also improve participants' attitudes towards teaching (Gibbs and Coffey 2004), and foster changes in thinking from content-focused (teachercentred) towards learning-focused (i.e. student-centred) instruction (Gibbs and Coffey 2004;Hanbury, Prosser, and Rickinson 2008;Light and Calkins 2008;Postareff, Lindblom-Ylänne, and Nevgi 2007;Vilppu et al. 2019). There is also evidence that pedagogical training is positively related to the frequent use of digital tools in teaching (Myyry et al., 2022). However, although most studies show positive effects, there are also some contradictory findings regarding the effects of pedagogical training (e.g. Norton et al. 2005). Norton et al. (2005) reported no significant differences in attitudes towards teaching between a group of individuals who had participated in training and those who had not. There is also contradictory evidence regarding the length of training. It is reported in some studies, for example, that achieving change in teachers' conceptions requires relatively long periods of pedagogical training (Gibbs and Coffey 2004;Postareff, Lindblom-Ylänne, and Nevgi 2007), whereas the results of a few studies indicate that even a short training programme may change perspectives on teaching (Ho, Watkins, and Kelly 2001;Pekkarinen and Hirsto 2017;Vilppu et al. 2019).
Similarly, there is contradictory evidence concerning the role of teaching experience in teachers' conceptions and practices. Norton et al. (2005) found, for example, that conceptions of teaching do not develop with increasing amounts of teaching experience. Masek (2019) also reports no differences in applying student-centred teaching among teachers with varying years of teaching experience. However, Norton et al. (2005) further found that experienced teachers were more intent on using problem-solving in their teaching than less experienced teachers. In addition, research evidence indicates that teachers with less teaching experience find it easier to change teaching conceptions and practices than those with extensive experience (Postareff and Nevgi 2015;Vilppu et al. 2019). This may be attributable to the fact that, although teachers are experts in their own fields, they may have limited knowledge of pedagogy (Postareff and Nevgi 2015). The contradictory evidence concerning the impact of pedagogical training and teaching experience, as well as the scarcity of research on how this relates to teachers' conceptions of teaching generic skills, highlight the need to explore how the amount of training and teaching experience relate to the use of pedagogical practices that support student learning of these skills.

Aims
The aim of the present quantitative study is to explore the conceptions of teachers in higher education concerning the teaching of generic skills and how they relate to pedagogical practices. A further aim is to explore how the teachers' pedagogical training and teaching experience related to the abovementioned conceptions. We address the following research questions: 1) What conceptions of teaching generic skills and pedagogical practices are emphasised among teachers in higher education?
2) How do teachers' conceptions of teaching generic skills relate to their pedagogical practices?
3) How do teachers' pedagogical training and teaching experience relate to their conceptions of teaching generic skills and pedagogical practices?

Context
The research was conducted in a research-intensive university in Finland. The university provides voluntary research-based education in university pedagogy worth up to 60 ECTS to all members of the teaching staff. The aim of the studies is to enhance the teachers' pedagogical capabilities and to provide a pedagogical qualification. The programme includes basic (25 ECTS) and intermediate (35 ECTS) courses in university pedagogy, which focus on learning and teaching in university, assessment, thesis supervision, pedagogical leadership, curriculum development and the researchbased development of one's own teaching. University teachers typically accumulate 10-25 ECTS from pedagogical courses. Those who complete the pedagogical studies (60 ECTS) also become formally qualified as a general teacher throughout the whole Finnish education system.

Participants
An electronic questionnaire was sent to all teaching and research staff on the mailing lists of all 11 faculties that represent human and social sciences, science and life sciences. Responses were received from a total of 286 teachers from different disciplines. Most of the respondents were senior university lecturers (equivalent to associate professor; 43%, n=121), professors and assistant professors (tenure track; 23%, n=66), postdoctoral researchers (12%, n=35) and doctoral students (10%, n=27). The majority of the teachers were from the faculties of arts (22%, n=63), science, (18%, n=51), theology (14%, n=40), biological and environmental sciences (11%, n= 30) and medicine (8%, n=23). In terms of gender, 55 per cent of the respondents reported being female, 43 per cent male, and two per cent other; 14 did not report their gender. In general, approximately 4,700 teaching and research staff work at the university, and of those 13 per cent are professors, 31 per cent senior university lecturers, 23 per cent postdoc researchers and 28 per cent doctoral students. Thus, professors and senior university lectures are slightly over-represented in this data.
Over 60 per cent of the participants had more than 10 years of teaching experience, 23 per cent had four-to-ten years, 12 per cent one-to-three years and four per cent less than one year.
Seventy-five per cent (n= 215) had some training in university pedagogy, and 22 per cent had a teaching qualification. More precisely, 25 percent (n=72) had no pedagogical training, eight per cent (n=23) had between one and five credits, 29 per cent (n=83) had between six and 24 credits, and 38 per cent (n=109) had 25 credits or more.
Most of the participants (54%, n=152) taught Master's-level courses for the most part, 40 per cent (n=114) Bachelor's-level courses and six per cent (n=16) taught on the doctoral level.
Almost half of them indicated that their typical teaching was lecture-based, whereas 20 per cent focused on seminar-type teaching. Other teaching types reported included online teaching, clinical teaching, lab work, and maths exercises and supervision. In terms of numbers, 69 per cent of the teachers reported having less than 30 students in their groups, 20 per cent had over 30 students, ranging up to 100, and 11 per cent had between 100 and 200.

Instruments
The Teachers' Pedagogical Conceptions and Practices (TPCP) questionnaire measured conceptions of teaching generic skills and pedagogical practices. The conceptions were measured on nine items (see Table 1), formulated based on previous qualitative studies ( Barrie 2006Barrie , 2007Jones 2009;Jääskelä, Nykänen, and Tynjälä 2018). Pedagogical practices were explored in 22 items (Virtanen and Tynjälä 2018) and included practices such as sharing and utilising students' earlier experiences, combining theory and practice, reflecting and utilising feedback, and assessing and critically examining knowledge. The teachers were also asked if they had pedagogical training, and if so, how many credits they had accumulated. Their teaching experience was assessed as follows: less than a year, between one and three years, between four and 10 years, and more than 10 years. Table 1 gives the scales, items and Cronbach's alphas.

Analyses
Given the novelty of both instruments, we examined them in detail. First, we looked at the scales measuring teachers' conceptions of teaching generic skills. One item (Teaching generic skills is not part of university teaching) was dropped due to the non-normal distribution, namely extremely high values for both skewness and kurtosis. Exploratory factor analysis showed a four-factor solution.
However, one of the factors consisted of a single item (Generic skills develop during one's studies in any case, so there is no need to teach them separately) was dropped because it failed to align with other items. The resulting three-factor solution was theoretically sound, and it was tested by means of confirmatory factor analysis. The goodness-of-fit was acceptable (RMSEA=.07, CFI=.95, SRMR=.04). The final solution and the Cronbach's alphas of the factors are presented in Table 1.
Next, we considered the scales measuring teachers' pedagogical practices. The items were normally distributed, and in the exploratory factor analysis most of the items loaded relatively strongly on four factors, as expected. One item (Students seek practical examples) cross-loaded on several factors, and none of the loadings were strong, therefore we decided to drop it. Three items (4, 13, 17) loaded on different factors than in the original study (Virtanen and Tynjälä 2018), but the loadings were theoretically sound. In light of these changes, we decided to name the fourth factor "Reflecting and utilising feedback" instead of the original Feedback, assessment and summarising tasks. We tested the resulting four-factor solution by means of confirmatory factor analysis. The goodness-of-fit was not ideal, but it was acceptable (RMSEA=.09; CFI=.88; SRMR=.07). The final solution and Cronbach's alphas of the factors are presented in Table 1.

Conceptions of generic skills
Non-integrative 2. Teaching discipline-specific knowledge is more important than teaching generic skills.
3. Generic skills are learned separately such as in writing courses.
7. Teaching generic skills should be integrated into teaching through different teaching methods, not in separate courses. * .56 Integrative 5. Generic skills can be taught together with disciplinespecific knowledge and skills.
6. Generic skills are an integral part of the curriculum and teaching. .61 Participatory 8. Generic skills are best learned in authentic multidisciplinary projects where theory and practice can be combined.
9. Learning generic skills requires collaboration with researchers and practitioners. .70

Pedagogical practices
Sharing experiences .87 Finally, we analysed the relationship between conceptions of teaching generic skills and pedagogical practices by means of linear regression (forward method) to find out which factor related most strongly to the conceptions. We further explored the relationships between pedagogical training and conceptions of generic skills and pedagogical practices in analyses of variance (ANOVA). We used SPSS version 25 and Mplus version 8.4 (Muthén and Muthén 2017) in conducting the analyses.

Higher education teachers' conceptions of teaching generic skills and pedagogical practices
The results revealed three different conceptions of teaching generic skills among the teachers: nonintegrative, integrative and participatory. Non-integrative here implies that teaching disciplinespecific knowledge is more important than teaching generic skills, which are better learned in separate courses. Integrative implies that generic skills can be integrated into the curriculum and teaching, and they can be taught together with discipline-specific knowledge and skills. Participatory, in turn, implies that generic skills are best learned through participation in authentic multidisciplinary projects and in collaboration with researchers and practitioners. The results revealed that the teachers scored the highest on integrative conceptions, quite high on participatory conceptions and the lowest on nonintegrative conceptions. Regarding the pedagogical practices, four practices emerged: evaluating knowledge, combining theory and practice, sharing experiences, and reflecting and utilising feedback.
Teachers scored the highest on combining theory and practice, quite high on sharing experiences and evaluating knowledge, and the lowest scores on reflecting and utilising feedback. Table 2 gives the means and standard deviations of the conceptions and pedagogical practices, as well as the Pearson correlations.

The relationship of higher education teachers' conceptions of teaching generic skills and pedagogical practices
We then explored the relationship between conceptions of teaching generic skills and pedagogical practices. As Pearson's correlation analysis showed, integrative and participatory conceptions correlated significantly positively, and non-integrative conceptions significantly negatively with all pedagogical practices (Table 2). .208** .213** -.406** .631** .574** .601** 1 Next, we conducted regression analyses to find out which conception types related most strongly to the various pedagogical practices. The results showed that non-integrative conceptions related statistically significantly negatively to all pedagogical practices; integrative conceptions did not relate statistically significantly to pedagogical practices; and participatory conceptions related statistically significantly positively to two of the practices, namely sharing experiences and combining theory and practice. Table 3 gives a summary of the results.

The relationships of higher education teachers' pedagogical training, conceptions of teaching generic skills, pedagogical practices and teaching experience
During the next stage we explored the relationships linking pedagogical training, conceptions of generic skills and pedagogical practices. We found a statistically significant relationship between pedagogical training and both the conceptions and the pedagogical practices (see Table 4). Regarding integrative conception, teachers with no pedagogical training had significantly lower scores on integrative conceptions than teachers who had completed 25 or more credits. Participatory conceptions were also related to the amount of pedagogical training. More precisely, teachers who had accumulated between six and 24 credits had the lowest scores, and they differed from teachers with 25 or more credits. Regarding non-integrative conceptions, teachers with no pedagogical training had the highest scores, whereas teachers with 25 or more credits had the lowest.
We also found differences in pedagogical practices between teachers with different amounts of pedagogical training: Those with no pedagogical training had the lowest scores on sharing experiences, integrating theory and practice and reflecting and utilising feedback, differing statistically significantly from those who had accumulated 25 or more credits. In addition, teachers with between six and 24 credits of pedagogical training differed from those with none in combining theory and practice. There were no differences among the teachers in terms of evaluating knowledge as a pedagogical practice. .000 The findings further revealed that teaching experience was not statistically significantly related to conceptions of teaching generic skills, but it did relate to two of the pedagogical practices, namely combining theory and practice, and reflecting and utilising feedback (Table 5). More precisely, not only did teachers with less than a year of teaching experience achieve the lowest scores on combining theory and practice, differing from teachers with between four and ten years of experience, they also had statistically significantly lower scores on using reflection and feedback in teaching than teachers with more than 10 years of experience.

Findings in the light of previous literature
The findings from the present quantitative study contribute to our understanding of teachers' conceptions of teaching generic skills and how they relate to their pedagogical practices. The study also provides a deeper insight into existing knowledge concerning the role of pedagogical training and teaching experience in these conceptions and in the teachers' pedagogical practices.
Our first aim was to explore what conceptions of teaching generic skills and pedagogical practices teachers emphasise in their survey answers. The results revealed three different conceptions of teaching generic skills: non-integrative, integrative and participatory. These conceptions vary in terms of how teachers perceive integrating generic skills into their teaching, and how they see their role in this endeavour. The results showed that teachers scored the highest on integrative, quite high on participatory and the lowest on non-integrative conceptions. Similar conceptions and models of teaching generic skills have been reported in previous studies (Barrie 2006;Jääskelä, Nykänen, and Tynjälä 2018). In terms of pedagogical practices, the teachers scored highest on combining theory and practice, quite high on sharing experiences and evaluating knowledge, and lowest on reflecting and utilising feedback. Similarly, it was found in a previous study that teachers did not facilitate student reflection in their teaching, and they were not aware of its importance in the development of student competence (Wai Mui Yu and Boulton-Lewis 2008). Our result is also in line with findings from previous studies indicating that most students report having learned to evaluate knowledge, including skills in critical thinking, during their studies in higher education (Badcock, Pattison, and Harris 2010;Tuononen, Parpala, and Lindblom-Ylänne 2019).
Conceptions of teaching relate to the practices of teachers (Pajares 1992;Kember and Kwan 2000;Postareff, Lindblom-Ylänne, and Nevgi 2008;Hyytinen and Löfström 2016). Our findings support this evidence in showing that conceptions of teaching generic skills related to pedagogical practices. More precisely, non-integrative conceptions had the strongest negative relationship with all pedagogical practices. In other words, teachers with conceptions implying that these skills are better taught in separate courses and who are not aware of their own role in the process may adopt fewer practices that support the learning of generic skills. Furthermore, participatory conceptions related positively to two of the practices, namely sharing experiences and combining theory and practice. This relation was theoretically aligned because using practices that support the sharing of experiences requires a collaborative approach to teaching. Surprisingly, integrative conceptions did not relate significantly to pedagogical practices. It may be that teachers who scored highly on the integrative scale knew how to teach generic skills, but it did not show in practice. Teachers may know what they would like to do, but it may not be possible for personal reasons, or for reasons related to their own skills or to contextual factors. This kind of conflict could arise when teachers think about ideals and the practical side of teaching (Gao and Watkins 2001;Wai Mui Yu). It could also reflect the fact that conceptions develop faster than the skills required to realise them in practice. Moreover, the teaching context, the numbers of students and the curriculum may restrict the pedagogical practices of teachers (e.g. Lam and Kember 2006). It seems that teachers are not always free to choose their teaching practices.
Finally, our aim was to explore how pedagogical training and teaching experience are associated with teachers' conceptions of teaching generic skills and to their pedagogical practices.
The results revealed that pedagogical training related positively to integrative and participatory conceptions, and negatively to the non-integrative, and was similarly related to pedagogical practices.
Teachers with no pedagogical training were less likely to engage in teaching practices such as sharing experiences, combining theory and practice, reflecting and utilising feedback than those with pedagogical training. There were no differences in practices of knowledge evaluation during the teaching process, possibly because it does not require collaboration or the same kind of active learning methods as other pedagogical practices.
It is worth pointing out that significant differences in conceptions and pedagogical practices were found among teachers who had quite a lot of pedagogical training (more than 25 credits) compared to those with none. This is in line with findings from previous studies indicating that bringing about a change in teachers' conceptions requires relatively long periods of pedagogical training (Gibbs and Coffey 2004;Postareff, Lindblom-Ylänne, and Nevgi 2007). It should also be noted that teachers who are more aware of the importance of teaching and learning generic skills and perceive that they have an important role in teaching these skills may seek pedagogical training more often than other teachers.
Our findings also revealed that teaching experience was not related to conceptions of generic skills. Similarly, it has been found that teachers' conceptions of teaching do not necessarily develop in line with teaching experience (Norton et al. 2005;Richardson 2005). On the other hand, teaching experience was related to pedagogical practices, namely in combining theory and practice as well as reflecting and utilising feedback. Thus, teachers with years of experience were more likely to combine theory with practice in their teaching, and to focus on reflection and feedback. Similarly, it has been reported that experienced teachers are more likely than those with less experience to use problemsolving methods in their teaching (Norton et al. 2005).

Methodological reflections and limitations
The generalisability of the results is subject to certain limitations. The first limitation relates to the instrument. We used novel scales in the present study: one on which very little previous empirical research has been conducted (Pedagogical practices; Virtanen and Tynjälä 2018;Tynjälä et al. 2016), and one entirely new instrument (Conceptions of teaching generic skills). Neither of the scales worked ideally yet, thus further development of these instruments in future research is advisable. However, given that most previous research on the topic has been qualitative, there are no alternative and more robust instruments. There is thus an urgent need for such instruments to shed further light on the phenomenon (cf. Tuononen et al. 2022). Scales measuring teaching practices were originally created and used to measure students' experiences of them and of elements of teaching situations (Tynjälä et al. 2016;Virtanen and Tynjälä 2018). There was therefore a need for an instrument that explores pedagogical practices from the teacher's perspective: the findings from the present study indicate that such a measurement could also be used in research on teachers.
The other limitations relate to the nature of the data. The sample in our study was quite small and only one Finnish research-intensive university was involved. Moreover, this study relies on selfreport measures and collected the data in just one time point. Therefore, in future it would be important to explore the relationship between conceptions of teaching generic skills, pedagogical practices and pedagogical training using longitudinal data. Further, it would be important to observe teachers' pedagogical practices in order to find out the practices in authentic teaching situations. In addition, the issue of disciplinary differences in the conceptions of teaching generic skills is an intriguing one which could be explored with larger data sets in further research. In the current study, the number of participants in different disciplinary groups were small, and thus the data was not allowing the thorough analysis of disciplinary differences.

Pedagogical implications and future studies
Our findings have practical implications. Firstly, teachers' conceptions of teaching and learning generic skills need more attention. There is good reason to enhance teachers' awareness of these conceptions given that they are reflected in their own teaching practices: they need to understand their own role in teaching generic skills to support students in their learning of them. Secondly, pedagogical training has an important role, being related to teachers' pedagogical conceptions and practices.
Further pedagogical training could raise teachers' awareness of their conceptions, which could then be enhanced or changed. It is also worth pointing out that pedagogical training includes enhancing knowledge of learning as well as teaching generic skills and giving examples of how to integrate them into disciplinary courses. In addition, in pedagogical training it is important to model good practices that enhance the learning of generic skills. Furthermore, co-teaching could be used effectively: subject teachers could collaborate with teachers of writing to enhance writing skills (Kleemola, Hyytinen, and Toom 2022b;Hyytinen, Toom, and Shavelson 2019;Muukkonen et al. 2020;, and new teachers could teach with more experienced teachers. Collaboration among teachers and pedagogical experts could facilitate the integration of generic skills into courses and curricula in a constructively aligned way.
Finally, it is important to note that it is not only individual teachers' responsibility to ensure that students learn generic skills that they are assumed to acquire during their studies, but the generic skills should be embedded at the curriculum level (Hyytinen, Toom, and Shavelson 2019;Leung, Leung, and Zuo 2014). It is important that the curriculum and assessment practices are aligned to foster the intended generic skills acquisition throughout the studies, not only in specific courses. This requires collaboration within the study programs to ensure that generic skills and their assessment are a coordinated and aligned part of the whole curriculum. Generic skills may be assessed through, for example, self-assessment and be further supported by peer assessment and teacher assessment as well as reflected with tutors in a coordinated fashion. Higher education can provide its teachers and students with a learning environment that supports the development of generic skills (e.g. Hyytinen, Toom, and Shavelson 2019; Virtanen and Tynjälä 2018).
For the future, there is a need for research to explore how pedagogical training focused strongly on learning and teaching generic skills could support teachers in implementing practices that facilitate learning and help to change their conceptions of teaching. It would also be worthwhile exploring teachers' conceptions of teaching generic skills more deeply based on qualitative methods.
Additionally, future research should investigate whether teachers' conceptions of teaching are realised in practice and if they have a role in students' actual learning of generic skills.

Conclusions
The present study confirms that teachers' conceptions of teaching generic skills do relate to their pedagogical practices. In addition, pedagogical training is related to both teachers' conceptions as well as practices. This indicates that pedagogical training can have an important role in enhancing teachers' awareness of teaching generic skills and practices supporting students' learning of generic skills. To ensure high-quality teaching in higher education, it is important that pedagogical training is provided for teachers with varying teaching experience, and they are encouraged to participate in those trainings. It will contribute to providing high-quality learning and teaching for students in higher education.
Funding: This work was supported by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture under Grant OKM/280/523/2017.

Disclosure statement:
The authors report there are no conflicting interests to declare.