The Effect of a Change in Virtual Learning Environment on Innovative Digital Teaching Practice: A Case Study of Academic Staff in an Irish University
Open Access
- 15 December 2021
- journal article
- Published by Eurasian Society of Educational Research in European Journal of Mathematics and Science Education
- Vol. 2 (2), 101-127
- https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmse.2.2.101
Abstract
This mixed-methods, investigative case study explores the experience of a virtual learning environment (VLE) change and its effect on the use of digital learning tools specifically, and teaching practice more generally, for chemistry lecturers at TU Dublin (Ireland) prior to pandemic of the coronavirus disease COVID-19. Initially, a questionnaire examined the different teaching identities the participating lecturers might have and how they relate to the literature. These identities were examined under the following themes: sense of achievement, motivational factors for innovation, innovation positioning, as well as social and organizational factors influencing the decision making. A visual approach of representing the questionnaire data, termed ‘Lecturer Landscapes’, was developed which uncovered new trends based on the biographical descriptors of the research population. Subsequent interviews led to a more detailed investigation of the themes noted in the questionnaire and the Lecturer Landscapes to more holistically capture the professional identity of each respondent. The lens of experience during a VLE change was used to frame each respondent’s professional identity in context. Overall, a VLE change does not have to effect teaching practice and can be experienced as a positive change in teaching and learning. It was also noted that innovation can only occur when specific, and individual, needs and problems are addressed and when personal development is promoted by intrinsic, rather than extrinsic, motivational factors.Keywords
This publication has 19 references indexed in Scilit:
- Teacher educators’ identity: a review of literatureEuropean Journal of Teacher Education, 2014
- Landmarks in the professional and academic development of mid-career teacher educatorsEuropean Journal of Teacher Education, 2013
- Assessing Innovation: A 360‐degree appraisal studyInternational Journal of Selection and Assessment, 2012
- Professional Identity in Higher EducationPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,2012
- Who is a Teacher Educator? Enactment of Teacher Educator Identity through Electronic Portfolio DevelopmentAction in Teacher Education, 2008
- Death of the VLE?: a challenge to a new orthodoxySerials, 2007
- Using thematic analysis in psychologyQualitative Research in Psychology, 2006
- Two decades of research on teacher–student relationships in classInternational Journal of Educational Research, 2005
- Teachers’ perceptions of professional identity: an exploratory study from a personal knowledge perspectiveTeaching and Teacher Education, 2000
- Highly confident but wrong: Gender differences and similarities in confidence judgments.Journal of Educational Psychology, 1994