University teachers’ self-reflection on their academic growth

This study followed the academic growth of four university teachers, over a two-year period, with the intention of enhancing inquiry-based learning in practice. Data were generated within the natural settings of classrooms, laboratories and lecture halls, through the analysis of teaching materials, low-participation observation, informal discussions and semi-formal interviews. The research approach was based on a critical social paradigm, assuming principles of action-research methodology privileging a transitional ‘instructional coaching approach’. Outcomes show a marked interest in the design and development of innovative approaches to teaching, learning, feedback and assessment. They demonstrated strong collaborative practices, insightful reflections on their teaching activities, and willingness to share evaluations both within and without of university contexts and successfully contributing thoughts and ideas to a wider audience.

[1]  Patricia Cranton,et al.  Exploring the Scholarship of Teaching , 2000 .

[2]  M. Watts,et al.  Contexts for questioning: two zones of teaching and learning in undergraduate science , 2012 .

[3]  Ronald Barnett,et al.  Higher Education: A Critical Business , 1997 .

[4]  D. Burnapp,et al.  The UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching andsupporting learning in higher education , 2008 .

[5]  Furthering the ‘theory debate’ in the scholarship of teaching: A proposal based on MacIntyre’s account of practices , 2015 .

[6]  M. Watts,et al.  So much more than just a list: exploring the nature of critical questioning in undergraduate sciences , 2014 .

[7]  Mary Taylor Huber,et al.  The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Reconsidered: Institutional Integration and Impact , 2011 .

[8]  Catherine Clarke,et al.  Foundational academic development: building collegiality across divides? , 2013 .

[9]  J. Knight.  Instructional Coaches Make Progress through Partnership. , 2004 .

[10]  Anne-Maria Brennan,et al.  Doing Research in the Real World , 2018 .

[11]  Hilary Hollingsworth,et al.  Elaborating a model of teacher professional growth , 2002 .

[12]  Roque Moraes,et al.  Analise de conteudo , 1999 .

[13]  Karin Crawford,et al.  Influences on academics' approaches to development: voices from below , 2010 .

[14]  G. Boulton‐Lewis.  Teaching for quality learning at university , 2008 .

[15]  P. Petegem,et al.  Instructional development for teachers in higher education: impact on teaching approach , 2010 .

[16]  K. McKinney.  Attitudinal and structural factors contributing to challenges in the work of the scholarship of teaching and learning , 2006 .

[17]  S. Barrie,et al.  Students’ perceptions of teaching quality in higher education: the perspective of currently enrolled students , 2007 .

[18]  A. Kennedy,et al.  Models of Continuing Professional Development: a framework for analysis , 2005 .

[19]  K. Trigwell,et al.  Scholarship of Teaching: A model , 2000 .

[20]  I. Sadler.  The challenges for new academics in adopting student-centred approaches to teaching , 2012 .

[21]  Russell K. Schutt,et al.  Research Methods in Education , 2011 .

[22]  Erika Löfström,et al.  The development of academics' teacher identity: Enhancing reflection and task perception through a university teacher development programme , 2015 .

[23]  Coaches Coaching Coaches , 2007 .

[24]  Castl Survey.  The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching , 1910, Nature.

[25]  Identifying teaching groups as a basis for academic development , 2015 .

[26]  Keith Trigwell *,et al.  Student learning and the scholarship of university teaching , 2004 .

[27]  Carolin Kreber,et al.  Controversy and Consensus on the Scholarship of Teaching , 2002 .

[28]  M. Watts,et al.  Reflectivity, reflexivity and situated reflective practice , 2014 .

[29]  Ernesto Macaro,et al.  Developing language teachers through a co-researcher model , 2002 .

[30]  Adrianna Kezar.  Higher Education Change and Social Networks: A Review of Research , 2014 .

[31]  Robert H. Ennis.  Critical Thinking Dispositions: Their Nature and Assessability , 1996 .

[32]  M. Watts,et al.  Managing affect in learners' questions in undergraduate science , 2014 .

[33]  D. Kolb.  Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development , 1983 .

[34]  S. V. Van Schalkwyk,et al.  Journeys of growth towards the professional learning of academics: understanding the role of educational development , 2013 .

[35]  V. Bamber.  Evaluating lecturer development programmes: received wisdom or self‐knowledge? , 2008 .

[36]  Yvonne Jaeger.  Practical Action Research For Change , 2016 .

[37]  L. Shulman.  Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform , 1987 .

[38]  G. Bolton,et al.  Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development , 2001 .

[39]  E. Boyer.  Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate , 1990 .

[40]  Robert H. Ennis.  Incorporating Critical Thinking in the Curriculum: An Introduction to Some Basic Issues , 1997 .

[41]  David F. Feldon,et al.  Exploration of factors related to the development of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graduate teaching assistants' teaching orientations , 2014 .

[42]  C. Weston,et al.  Making Explicit the Development toward the Scholarship of Teaching. , 2001 .

[43]  David Gosling,et al.  Improving Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: A Whole Institution Approach , 2005 .

[44]  Robert H. Ennis.  Is Critical Thinking Culturally Biased , 1998 .

[45]  L. Shulman,et al.  The Scholarship of Teaching: New Elaborations, New Developments. , 1999 .

[46]  Promoting questioning skills by biology undergraduates: The role of assessment and feedback in an online discussion forum , 2012 .

[47]  D. Schoen.  Educating the reflective practitioner , 1987 .

[48]  Lyndsie M. Galizio,et al.  Project DAVES: An exploratory study of social presence, e-mentoring, and vocational counseling support in community college courses , 2012, Internet High. Educ..

[49]  Helena Pedrosa-de-Jesus,et al.  Promoting academic development through situated critical reflection , 2014 .

[50]  L. Cohen,et al.  Research methods in education, 6th ed. , 2007 .

[51]  G. Gibbs.  Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods , 1988 .