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What affects the teaching style of German professors? Evidence from two nationwide surveys

Was beeinflusst den Lehrstil von deutschen Professorinnen und Professoren? Ergebnisse zweier bundesweiter Befragungen

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to reveal potential influences on two different teaching approaches, one that is student-focused and one that is teacher-focused. Five hypotheses were derived and tested with two representative surveys among German professors in the years 2009 and 2011. Regression analyses indicate that selective incentives for teaching have a very weak effect on the teaching approach, whereas the particular scientific disciplines seem to exert a considerable impact. In addition, the following influential factors that foster a student-focused teaching approach were identified: continuing pedagogical training (only for professors at research universities) and interaction among professors regarding teaching. In terms of gender differences, it was detected that female professors at research universities prefer a more student-focused approach to teaching.

Zusammenfassung

In der folgenden Studie werden potentielle Einflussgrößen auf zwei verschiedene Lehrstile untersucht: studierenden- versus dozentenzentriert. Anhand zwei repräsentativer Befragungen unter deutschen Professorinnen und Professoren in den Jahren 2009 (Universitäten) und 2011 (Fachhochschulen) wurden fünf Hypothesen abgeleitet und geprüft. Regressionsanalytisch kann gezeigt werden, dass selektive Anreize für Lehraktivitäten nur einen sehr schwachen Effekt auf den Lehrstil ausüben, während die einzelnen wissenschaftlichen Disziplinen einen beträchtlichen Einfluss ausüben. Zusätzlich wurden folgende Faktoren identifiziert, die einen studierendenzentrierten Lehrstil begünstigen: Wenn eine didaktische Weiterbildung (gilt nur für Universitätsprofessorinnen) besucht wurde und wenn sich Professorinnen und Professoren über Lehrangelegenheiten miteinander austauschen. Bezüglich geschlechtsspezifischen Unterschieden wurde herausgefunden, dass Universitätsprofessorinnen

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrstuhl für Organisationsforschung, Sozial- und Weiterbildungsmanagement, TU Dortmund, Hohe Str. 141, 44139, Dortmund, Deutschland

    Uwe Wilkesmann & Sabine Lauer M.Sc.

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  1. Uwe Wilkesmann
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  2. Sabine Lauer M.Sc.
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Correspondence to Uwe Wilkesmann.

Additional information

The data collection has been financed by the German Research Foundation (project-ID: WI 2052/2–1 and WI 2052/2–2). Many thanks to Christian J. Schmid who was centrally involved in both projects.

Die Datenerhebung fand im Rahmen der DFG Projekte WI 2052/2–1 und WI 2052/2–2 statt. Vielen Dank an Christian J. Schmid, der an beiden Projekten maßgeblich beteiligt war.

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Wilkesmann, U., Lauer, S. What affects the teaching style of German professors? Evidence from two nationwide surveys. Z Erziehungswiss 18, 713–736 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-015-0628-4

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