23 November 2017 | EQAF Paper

Teaching in higher education: consistency and change in context and role

Gerhard Yngve Andersen, Jon Haakstad

Abstract

In the summer of 2016 NOKUT conducted a survey of academic teachers’ perceptions of quality in ‘their own’ educational programmes. From this survey, the theme of teacher collaboration and quality enhancement was selected for a qualitative follow-up study. The teachers’ responses on these issues seemed to contradict some commonly held views about higher education teaching: that it is carried out with less enthusiasm than research, that it lacks collective enhancement effort and, therefore, is characterised by methodological conservatism. Often contradicting these assumptions, the survey indicates that a change in teaching culture may have taken place.


In the follow-up study we wanted to probe if this is really so, and in case it is, if it is an effect of the many reforms and changes in contextual circumstances that have taken place during the same period. Group interviews with 33 experienced teachers in different disciplines indicate that there have indeed been significant changes, but perhaps not so much as a result of policy intentions and reform efforts.

 

This paper was presented at EQAF and reflects the views of the named authors only.

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