Orhep01 introducing-university-teaching-11-12

Centre for Educational DevelopmentORHEP Project

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www.orhep.brad.ac.uk

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Learning and Teaching in Higher Education:GTAs and P/T TutorsSession 1

Approaches to University Teaching

Dr Sean Walton

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/



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An Introduction to University Teaching

• Theories of teaching.

• The HE Academy & university teaching- areas (what does teaching involve).- knowledge.- values.



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Learning Outcomes

At the end of this section, you should have:

• Reflected on your own approach(es) to teaching, and begun to place this within overarching theories of teaching.



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What is University Teaching?• Individually, describe on

one post-it note what university teaching means to you.



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SOME THEORIES OF TEACHING

Prosser & Trigwell: Approaches to Teaching

Inventory (ATI)

Lindblom-YlanneApproaches to Teaching

RamsdenThree Theories

of Teaching



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Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI)

• Prosser & Trigwell (1999).

• Draws from research into (science) lecturers’ conceptions of teaching.



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Line-up Activity

• In responding to each of the following questions from the ATI, think of a particular teaching context.

• You will be asked to position yourselves on a continuum from ‘almost always true for me in this context’ to ‘only rarely true for me’.



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• In this subject I concentrate on covering the information that might be available from a good textbook.

• We take time out in classes so that students can discuss, among themselves, the difficulties that they encounter studying this subject.

strategy



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• I feel a lot of teaching time in this subject should be used to question students’ ideas.

• I feel it is important to present a lot of facts in classes so that students know what they have to learn for this subject.

intention



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ATI and types of teaching• ATI: 2 main approaches to teaching

- Conceptual change/student focused approach.

- Information transmission/ teacher focused approach.

• But note concern about validity of ATI as a research tool (Meyer & Eley, 2005).



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Approaches to Teaching(Sari Lindblom-Ylänne, U of Helsinki, e.g. Lindblom-Ylänne et al (2006); Postareff et al (2007))

• Content-focused approach to teaching– focus on transmission of knowledge– generally repeat traditional and familiar ways of

teaching

• Learning-focused approach to teaching– teaching to improve student learning– emphasis on continuous enhancement of own

teaching

• (also looking at how AtT are affected by disciplinary and teaching context)



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Ramsden’s 3 Theories of Teaching Ramsden(2003)

1 Teaching as telling or transmission.

- Transmission of authoritative content.

- Teacher as source of undistorted

information.

- Failure to learn is blamed on students.



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2 Teaching as organising student activity

- Focus on what the student does.- Orchestrate teaching to generate

learning activity.- But may be failure to fully integrate T&L activity with students’ learning of subject.



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3 Teaching as making learning possible.

- T, L & subject linked in overarching system

- Teacher’s focus is on identifying & overcoming barriers to students’ learning

- Teacher recognises knowledge of the subject is constituted by the learner



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The HE Academy & University Teachers

• Areas of activity (what does teaching involve).

• Knowledge (what do we need to know to be effective).

• Values.



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Activity: areas, knowledge & values

In table groups discuss & produce a brief list of what YOU feel might constitute either:

- The key activities that constitute teaching in HE, or

- The core knowledge required by all HE teachers to be effective, or

- Professional values that should be shared by all HE teachers.



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HEA: The UK Professional Standards Framework

Please take a moment to consider the UKPSF

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ukpsf





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Areas of activity• Design and plan learning activities and/or programmes

of study. • Teach and/or support learning.• Assess and give feedback to learners. • Develop effective learning environments and approaches

to student support and guidance.• Engage in continuing professional development in

subjects/disciplines and their pedagogy, incorporating research, scholarship and the evaluation of professional practices.



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Core Knowledge• The subject material. • Appropriate methods for teaching and learning in the

subject area and at the level of the academic programme. • How students learn, both generally and within their subject/

disciplinary area(s). • The use and value of appropriate learning technologies. • Methods for evaluating the effectiveness of teaching. • The implications of quality assurance and quality

enhancement for academic and professional practice with a particular focus on teaching.



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Professional Values• Respect individual learners and diverse learning

communities. • Promote participation in higher education and equality of

opportunity for learners. • Use evidence-informed approaches and the outcomes

from research, scholarship and continuing professional development.

• V4 Acknowledge the wider context in which higher education operates recognising the implications for professional practice.



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Specific ReferencesLindblom-Ylänne, S, Trigwell, K, Nevgi, A & Ashwin, P (2006). How

approaches to teaching are affected by discipline and teaching context, Studies in Higher Education, 31 (3), 285-298.

Meyer, JHF & Eley, MG (2006) The approaches to teaching inventory: a critique of its development and applicability, British Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 633-649.

Postareff, L, Lindblom-Ylänne, S & Nevgi, A (2007). The effect of pedagogical training on teaching in higher education, Teaching and Teacher Education, 23 (5) 557-571.

Prosser, M & Trigwell, K (1999) Understanding Learning and Teaching, Buckingham: SRHE & Open University Press.

Ramsden, P (2003) Learning to Teach in Higher Education 2nd edition, London: RoutledgeFalmer.
