Variation in teachers' descriptions of teaching: Broadening the understanding of teaching in higher education

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Abstract

In the present study 71 university teachers from several disciplines were interviewed in order to capture the variation in descriptions of teaching. Two broad categories of description were identified: the learning-focused and the content-focused approaches to teaching. The results showed that the relationship between the two approaches was complex and variation could be captured in detail only after considering the purpose of teaching. Within both of these categories 10 aspects of teaching were identified, which were further grouped into four broader ones, namely teaching process, learning environment, conception of learning, and pedagogical development.

Introduction

During the last decade research into teaching in higher education has increased considerably. These studies emphasise that teaching does not automatically lead to students' learning, and hence attention has been increasingly given to the quality of teaching worldwide (e.g., Biggs, 2003). Teachers' approaches to teaching (i.e., how they teach) and the conceptions they hold about teaching (i.e., what they believe about teaching) have been the focus of several studies in recent years. Previous studies on approaches to teaching have identified two broad categories, the student-centred and the teacher-centred approaches to teaching. The student-centred approach is described as a way of teaching which sees teaching as facilitating the students' learning processes. The teacher-centred approach is described as a way of teaching in which students are considered to be more or less the passive recipients of information transmitted from the teachers to the students (e.g., Kember and Kwan, 2000, Trigwell and Prosser, 1996a, Trigwell and Prosser, 1996b). Teachers face pressure to change their teaching practices to be more student-centred and the processes of students' knowledge construction should become the object of teachers' efforts (Ramsden, 2003, Vermunt and Verloop, 1999). Pedagogical training organised for university teachers has been shown to be effective in changing teachers' approaches towards being more student-centred. Postareff, Lindblom-Ylänne, and Nevgi (in press) as well as Gibbs and Coffey (2004) showed that a long training process (over 1 year) enhanced the adoption of a more student-centred approach to teaching.

The present study concerns the approaches to teaching and conceptions of teaching. Previous research on these phenomena and on their relationship will be introduced. The study analyses the descriptions of teaching from 71 academics. Instead of analysing individual teachers' descriptions of teaching or profiles of university teachers, the unit of analysis is broader, looking at the variation in teachers' descriptions of teaching on a general level. The aim of the study is to find categories of description and to identify different aspects of teaching.

In the present study approaches to teaching are defined as strategies teachers adopt for their teaching, whereas conceptions of teaching are defined as beliefs teachers have about teaching and which underlie the purpose and the strategies in teaching.

On the basis of interviews of 17 lecturers in three university departments, Kember and Kwan (2000) proposed two broad approaches to teaching: content-centred and learning-centred teaching. The former focuses on the material or content and the latter focuses on the student and appropriate learning. The authors defined the approaches using one motivation dimension and five strategy dimensions. The motivation dimension separates the approaches in terms of whether teacher's motivation is an extrinsic or intrinsic part of the teaching role. The five strategy dimensions focus on whether instruction is about supplying notes or encouraging students to construct knowledge, the teachers' focus is on the whole class or individual students, the teacher's assessment is based on frequent tests or on more flexible means, accommodation of student characteristics occurs or not, and finally, the source of experience/knowledge is one's own experience or utilising student experience. Trigwell, Prosser, and Taylor (1994) found five approaches to teaching when interviewing 24 first-year university physics and chemistry teachers. The approaches were analysed in terms of the strategies the teachers adopted for their teaching and the intentions underlying the strategies. The five approaches to teaching ranged from a teacher-focused strategy with the intention of transmitting information to students to a student-focused strategy aimed at students changing their conceptions. These two studies show a similar categorisation of approaches to teaching: Kember and Kwan (2000) use the terms “learning-centred” and “content-centred” approaches, while Trigwell et al. (1994) talk of “conceptual change/student-focused” and “information transmission/teacher-focused” approaches. Conceptually these categorisations are very close to each other, since the one focusing on students and their learning is about ensuring that appropriate learning takes place, and the other category focusing on teachers and content emphasises teachers' performance and teaching material.

Some studies have examined approaches to teaching by applying quantitative methods. By using the Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI), which was developed to measure the ways teachers approach their teaching, Trigwell and Prosser, 2004, Trigwell et al., 1994) detected two factors: the Conceptual Change/Student-Focused (CCSF) Approach and the Information Transmission/Teacher-Focused (ITTF) Approach. In addition, they found a significant negative correlation between the two factors. Based on these findings, they argue that these two approaches are two distinct categories. Meyer and Eley (2003) criticised this finding, based on their own quantitative analyses and suggested that the dimensionality of the ATI might better be interpreted as two mutually exclusive poles along a single continuum.

Studies on conceptions of teaching have showed, as well, a range of variation in university teachers' conceptions (e.g., Kember and Kwan, 2000, Prosser et al., 1994, Samuelowicz and Bain, 1992). For example, Kember and Kwan (2000) identified two major categories of conceptions: “teaching as transmission of knowledge” and “teaching as learning facilitation”, the former consisting of the sub-categories “teaching as passing information” and “teaching as making it easier for students to understand” and the latter including the sub-categories “teaching as meeting students' learning needs” and “teaching as facilitating students to become independent learners”. Conceptions of teaching have been shown to have an influence on approaches to teaching. Teachers, who conceive of teaching as transmitting information to students, approach their teaching in terms of teacher-focused strategies. On the other hand, teachers who conceive of teaching in terms of helping students to develop and change their conceptions, approach their teaching in a student-focused way (Kember and Kwan, 2000, Trigwell and Prosser, 1996a).

Researchers have discussed the role of interaction in teaching. Sometimes interaction has been placed between the student- and teacher-centred conceptions marking the transition from the teacher-centred category to the student-centred category (Kember, 1997, Samuelowicz and Bain, 1992). However, more recent research has not found evidence of such an intermediate category. For example, Samuelowicz and Bain (2001) found that the intermediate category split into two major clusters, teaching-centred and learning-centred, with no evidence of a category positioned between them. They emphasised that it is the purpose and nature of the interaction that differentiates between the two orientations, not its mere presence or absence.

Studies on approaches to teaching and conceptions of teaching have applied either quantitative methods (inventories) with large samples or qualitative methods (interviews) with a limited number of participants from only a few disciplines. In the present study the approaches to teaching and conceptions of teaching were examined qualitatively by using a large and multidisciplinary sample of academics.

The aim of the study was, first, to capture the variation in teachers' descriptions of their teaching in more detail and more broadly than in previous studies and to create categories of description which capture the variation and, second, to identify aspects of teaching in higher education through the analysis of the topics of teaching mentioned by the teachers in the interviews. More specifically, the aim was not to identify variation in approaches to teaching on an individual level, but on a general level.

Hence, it was hypothesised that more aspects of teaching will be identified than the two broad approaches found in previous research (e.g., Kember and Kwan, 2000, Trigwell et al., 1994) considering the differential teaching in the various disciplines.

Section snippets

Participants

The participants of the present study were 69 teachers from the University of Helsinki and two teachers from the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration, the total number of participants being 71. Of them 21 were male and 50 were female. The teachers' age varied from 27 to 58 years (M = 40, SD = 8.2), while five teachers did not report their age. Forty-eight had participated in pedagogical training organised for university teachers, while 19 had no such training and four teachers

Results

Only two broad categories of description clearly emerged from the data when analysing the variation in the descriptions of teaching, contrary to our expectation: (a) The learning-focused approach, in which the purpose of teaching was to improve students' learning and an emphasis was placed on continuously improving the teacher's own teaching; (b) The content-focused approach, in which the purpose of teaching was on transmission of knowledge and repeating traditional and familiar ways of

Discussion

When examining teaching in higher education qualitatively with the use of a large and multidisciplinary sample, it was assumed that the variation in descriptions of teaching could be captured in more detail and more broadly than in previous studies. Hence, it was hypothesised that more than the two broad approaches, the student- and the teacher-centred, identified in previous research (e.g., Kember and Kwan, 2000, Trigwell et al., 1994) could be identified. In line with previous research this

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