All Ireland Society for Higher Education
| Name: | Alison Clancy |
|---|---|
| Email: | Alison.clancy@ucd.ie |
| Institution: | University College Dublin |
The relationship between belief of teachers, their teaching behaviours and their learning goals for students has been well documented in the literature (Richardson et al.,1991, Munby,1982, Fox, 1983, Clarke & Peterson, 1986, Trigwell et al.,1994). Quinlan, (2001) contends that the teacher's belief in teaching and learning is critical to the quality of the teaching. Attempting to understand the belief system that each lecturer holds about teaching and learning is complex and this construct however difficult to comprehend is critical to improving teaching practices within third level institutions. As stated it is widely understood that all lecturers in higher level education hold beliefs about teaching and learning, but is it true to say that these beliefs have a definite impact to implementing and sustaining alternative teaching philosophies like problem based learning?
The sample consisted of 36 academics from one university (University College Dublin) representing a range of professional disciplines (Medicine, Education, Science, Computer Science, Sociology, Geography, Adult Education). Data was collected through semi structured interviews, which focused on exploring issues surrounding teaching and learning beliefs. The questions ranged from asking the participants what was their aim of teaching, how they saw their role and their student's role, and their understanding of the nature of good teaching. Data analysis which is still ongoing but will be completed by the time of the conference is using a grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). It is anticipated from the initial findings that a formal theory will be generated describing the teaching and learning belief of academics and how this impacts on the implementation and sustainability of Problem based learning in higher education.
References
Clark, C. M., and P. L. Peterson. 1986. "Teachers' thought processes." 3rd edition
Glaser, B.G., & Strauss, A.L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine.
Fox, D. (1983) Personal theories of teaching, Studies in Higher Education, 8(2), pp.151-163.
Munby, H. (1982) The place of teachers belief in research on teacher thinking and decision making, an alternative methodology, Instructional Science, 11, 201-225.
Quinlan, K. (2002) Scholarly Dimensions of Academics Beliefs about Engineering Education. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice Vol 8, 1 467-463.
Richardson, V., Anders, P., Tidwell, D., & Lloyd, C. (1991). "The relationship between teachers' beliefs and practices in reading comprehension instruction." American Educational Research Journal, 28(3), 559-586.
Trigwell, K., Prosser, M. & Taylor, P. (1994). Qualitative Differences in Approaches to Teaching First Year University Science. Higher Education, 27, 75-84