Changing approaches to teaching: A relational perspective

Abstract

Studies of student learning have shown that students' conceptions of learning are strongly correlated with their approaches to study. Students who consider learning in quantitative terms are likely to find it very difficult to adopt a deep approach to learning. This study looks at the parallel situation for teachers. It looks at the conceptions of teaching and learning of a group of first year science lecturers, and how those conceptions relate to their approaches to teaching. The results also parallel those found for students. Strong relations are found between conceptions of teaching and approaches to teaching. Relations between conceptions of teaching and conceptions of learning were not so strong, but lecturers with highly developed conceptions of teaching differentiated between teaching and learning in quite different ways to those with less well-developed conceptions. The implications of these results for the practice and development of teaching in higher education are discussed.