All Ireland Society for Higher Education
| Name: | Marion Palmer |
|---|---|
| Email: | marion.palmer@iadt.ie |
| Institution: | Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art Design and Technology |
Lecturers in institutes of technology are teaching in a changing world. Changing times have led to a changed student population. There was an expansion of Irish higher education in the late 1990s. At present there is a scrabble for students. One of the key strengths of the institute of technology sector is its focus on teaching. Yet lecturers are appointed on the basis of their subject competence. How do they think and feel about teaching? This paper considers conceptions of teaching of lecturers in Irish institutes of technology. Conceptions of teaching is a theme in the literature of teaching in higher education e.g. Hativa and Goodyear, 2002, Kember, 1997, Fox, 1983. As part of a doctoral study teaching was explored across the sector and through interviews and observations in one institute of technology. An online survey was developed from the literature and used across 10 institutes of technology. This explored ideas such as what is teaching, what are the role of the lecturer as well as the work of lecturers and how they develop their teaching knowledge and skills. The survey is introduced briefly. The conception of teaching section in the survey is outlined. The participant's conceptions of teaching are presented and analysed in the light of the literature. The limitations of the online survey are acknowledged and the evidence about conceptions of teaching presented for consideration.