This paper investigates the participants’ perceptions of the effects of pedagogical innovation on teaching and learning and the adequacy between the reasons for which professors innovate and their perceptions of the results of their pedagogical innovation. Additionally, this study observes trends in the results on pedagogical innovation and interprets their implications for educational practice at universities. The participants’ perceptions of the effects of pedagogical innovation on teaching and learning hinges on two types of pedagogical innovation results: the results directly related to educational experiments and those concerning acknowledgement following pedagogical innovation.
One the one hand, the results directly related to the educational experiments highlight the benefits of pedagogical innovation noted by the majority of the professors. Only 2 professors recognized the failure of their pedagogical innovation. On the other hand, the results demonstrate benefits following pedagogical innovation in terms of acknowledgement, such as teaching awards and recognition from their colleagues, the university administration and the students. Implementing pedagogical innovation can even be useful with respect to a request for promotion.
The originality of this research lies in its comparative perspective, analysing the intentions of the professors interviewed to innovate and the results of their pedagogical innovations based on their perceptions.