Over the last decades, there has been growing attention on "Teaching and learning at university" as a relevant research topic (Fry, Ketteridge and Marshall, 2008; Chalmers and Fuller, 2012; Ashwin et al., 2015; Harland, 2020). And, specifically, there are many studies focused on the "ideal" university teacher, from various perspectives, disciplines and contextual frameworks (Ramsden, 1991; Ibáñez-Martín, 1990; Bain, 2004; Wood and Su, 2017).

Considering the wide range of approaches in the research of the ideal teacher (or effective, effective, excellent, competent, or the best), highlights the studies that consider students' beliefs about what characterizes the best teachers, in short, what are the competencies of university teachers for a quality teaching from a student-centered approach. The competences of the ideal teacher that students usually highlight, in a transversal way, define the university teacher as knowledgeable, organized and planned, clear and with good communication skills, which relates to students (being caring) and supports their learning (encouraging), which develops a formative evaluation through feedback (Blair y Valdez Noel, 2014; Gargallo et al., 2010; Komarraju, 2013; Slate, et. al., 2011; Casero, 2010; Arnon y Reichel, 2007; Wood and Su, 2017).

In this context, this contribution (framed in the research project EDU2016-78451-P that currently develops in the Spanish context[1]) aims to examine the perception of first-year university students on the importance attributed to an inventory of teacher competencies for student-centered teaching and learning. In short, the following research questions are posed: RQ (1) what are the teaching competencies that the first-year university students perceive as more and less important for student-centered teaching and learning?, and RQ (2) what arguments do they provide to assess some competencies as more important than others?

[1] Project: "Development of competences and their impact on teacher training: harmonization of educational processes between secondary and university education" (EDU2016-78451-P), funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Spain).

To answer the research questions, we present in this contribution a quantitative-qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive study focus on gathered the perceptions of university students regarding the importance of a repertoire of teacher competences. The sample is intentional (not probabilistic), for convenience and availability. The participants in this research are 460 first-year university students of one Spanish public university. The instrument was a questionnaire specifically designed for this purpose. The questionnaire includes, in addition to classification variables: (a) 17 items that refer to the inventory of teaching competencies, where students make one assessment in a 4-point scale about the importance they ascribed to each of the teacher competences; (b) a selection question in which students choose the five most important faculty competencies and, finally, (c) an open question to capture the arguments to assess some competencies as more important than others. The questionnaire, which was applied online, was distributed coinciding with the beginning of the academic semester (February-March) in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Participation was voluntary. Anonymity and confidentiality were ensured. The data analysis is carried out from a descriptive and exploratory approach, integrating the quantitative (with SPSS v24) and qualitative data that emerge in the study.

The results showed interesting results that allow us to answer the research questions of the study. Concerning to the first (1) RQ, the first-year university students perceive as more important, that it could identify as essential, the competences: content knowledge, planning, communication and motivation. A second group of competencies highlighted by students as important are “tutoring” and “socio-emotional”. “Digital”, “research”, “teamwork” and “leadership” competencies are not perceived as relevant or very important, compared to the previous ones. And the least important teacher competence for students is the “institutional belonging”. Regarding the second (2) RQ, the qualitative analysis of the answers to the open question showed that the students highlighted the global importance of the competences, highlighting their necessary interconnection in a balanced profile of university teacher. In their responses they emphasize, mainly, the value of content knowledge and the importance of communicative competence, identified as nuclear to make teaching effective (teach well). In addition, student´s contributions focus on the need to "plan and organize teaching," to optimize what should be taught and learned in the course. And they also highlight in their responses the relevance of “relational” competences, which are related to the "image" of university professors as someone who guides, motivates, inspires and encourages (López Gómez, Leví, Medina and Ramos, 2019; Hagenauer and Volet, 2014;Ghenghesh, 2018). As a general conclusion, it should be noted that these results are consistent with previous studies (Ramsden, 1991; Bain, 2004; Casero, 2010; Wood and Su, 2017; Slate et al., 2011; Komarraju, 2013), in addition, they allow us to reflect on the relevance of "relational / interactive competences" that are highlighted in this study.

Arnon, S., & Reichel, N. (2007). Who is the ideal teacher? Am I? Similarity and difference in perception of students of education regarding qualities of a good teacher and of their own qualities as teachers. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 13(5), 441-464. Doi: 10.1080/13540600701561653 Ashwin, P. et al. (2015). Reflective teaching in higher education. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Bain, K. (2004). What the Best College Teachers Do. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Blair, E., & Valdez Noel, K. (2014). Improving higher education practice through student evaluation systems: is the student voice being heard?. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 39(7), 879-894.doi: 10.1080/02602938.2013.875984 Casero, A. (2010). ¿Cómo es el buen profesor universitario según el alumnado? Revista Española de Pedagogía, 68 (246), 223-242. Chalmers, D., & Fuller, R. (2012). Teaching for learning at university. Routledge. Fry, H., Ketteridge, S., & Marshall, S. (2008). A handbook for teaching and learning in higher education: Enhancing academic practice. Routledge. Ghenghesh, P. (2018). Personal tutoring from the perspectives of tutors and tutees. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 42(4), 570-584. Doi: 10.1080/0309877X.2017.1301409 Hagenauer, G., & Volet, S. (2014). Teacher–student relationship at university: an important yet under researched field. Oxford Review of Education, 40(3), 370-388. Doi: 10.1080/03054985.2014.921613 Harland, T. (2020). University Challenge: Critical Issues for Teaching and Learning. Routledge. Ibáñez-Martín J. A. (1990). Dimensiones de la competencia profesional del profesor de Universidad. Revista Española de Pedagogía, 186, 239-258. Komarraju, M. (2013). Ideal Teacher Behaviors: Student Motivation and Self-Efficacy Predict Preferences. Teaching of Psychology, 40 (2), 104-110. Doi: 10.1177/0098628312475029 López-Gómez, E., Leví-Orta, G., Medina Rivilla, A., & Ramos-Méndez, E. (2019). Dimensions of university tutoring: a psychometric study. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 1-19. doi: 10.1080/0309877X.2019.1571174 Medina, A. et al. (2013). Formación del profesorado. Actividades innovadoras para el desarrollo de competencias. Madrid: UNED. Ramsden P. (1991). A Performance Indicators of Teaching Quality in Higher Education: the Course Experience Questionnaire. Studies in Higher Education, 16 (2), 129-150. Slate, J. et. al. (2011). Views of effective college faculty: a mixed analysis. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 36 (3), 331-346. Wood M., & Su, F. (2017). What makes an excellent lecturer? Academics’ perspectives on the discourse of ‘teaching excellence’ in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 22 (4), 451-466.doi: 10.1080/13562517.2017.1301911