Abstract
Although instructional development has become an important topic in higher education, little is known about the impact on teaching practice. In this study we investigate the impact of instructional development on teachers’ teaching behaviour as perceived by students. Quantitative student data were assembled for 15 experimental and 12 control teachers. 45 experimental students and 27 control students were interviewed. Repeated measures analyses of variance and analyses of covariance showed no statistically significant impact of instructional development on teaching behaviour. The analysis of the qualitative data sustained this result. Several interpretations and perspectives for further research as well as for the planning of instructional development are discussed.
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Notes
A sufficient fit value for GFI, AGFI and CFI is minimum 0.90 (Hoyle 1995), while for RMSEA a value of less than 0.08 is sufficient (Browne and Cudeck 1993). The CMIN-value is not taken into account since we had 714 observations for our CFA (in a CFA only the data from students who filled in all items of the questionnaire can be taken into account). The CMIN-index can only be used to examine the goodness-of-fit when the number of observations is between 200 and 500 (Bollen 1989; Hoyle 1995).
Ranking based on the quantitative data.
Based on the ETLQ-questionnaire available from http://www.etl.tla.ed.ac.uk//questionnaires/ETLQ.pdf
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Appendix
Appendix
Dutch version of Part 2 of the ETLQFootnote 3 (back translated into english).
Perception of the course questionnaire.
Course:
Period:
Teacher:
This questionnaire’s purpose is to investigate how you experienced the course mentioned above as taught to you last semester.
Rate the following statements for the way the course mentioned above was taught during the past semester. If you think that your rating differs from one part of the course to another, then mark the rating that applies to the most important part of the course. If the course was taught by more then one teacher, please concentrate on the teacher mentioned above.
The numbers which accompany each statement have the following meanings:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | DNA |
Was never or only rarely true for me | Was sometimes true for me | Was true for me about half the time | Was often true for me | Was always or almost always true for me | Does not apply to this course |
Give only 1 answer per statement: the assessment which is most applicable. Please don’t miss out any of the statements. Do not spend a long time on each: your first reaction is probably the best.
Statement | Assessment |
---|---|
1. It was clear to me what I was supposed to learn in this course | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
2. The topics seemed to follow each other in a way that made sense to me | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
3. We were given a good deal of choice over how we went about learning | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
4. The course was well organized and ran smoothly | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
5. We were allowed some choice over what aspects of the subject to concentrate on | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
6. What was taught during classes seemed to match what we were supposed to learn | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
7. We were encouraged to look for links between this course and others | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
8. I can imagine myself working in the subject area covered by this course | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
9. The materials (handouts …) I received helped me to understand the course content | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
10. On this course, I was prompted to think about how well I was learning and how I might improve | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
11. I could see the relevance of most what was covered in this course | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
12. We weren’t just given information. We also learned how theories, facts and viewpoints were developed in this subject area | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
13. The way this course was taught encouraged me to rethink my understanding of some aspects of the subject | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
14. The different types of teaching (lectures, labs, seminars …) supported each other well | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
15. Plenty of examples and illustrations were given to help us grasp things better | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
16. This course has given me a sense of what goes on 'behind the scenes’ in this subject area | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
17. Researchers search for evidence underpinning their theory or viewpoint. The teaching in this course helped me to think about the evidence underpinning different theories and views in this subject area | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
18. The way this course was taught fitted in well with what we were supposed to learn | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
19. This course encouraged me to relate what I learned to issues in the wider world | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
20. The web pages or e-learning environment provided by the staff helped me to understand the topics better | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
21. Students supported each other and tried to give help when it was needed | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
22. Most of what I learned in this course was really interesting | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
23. The teacher tried to share his enthusiasm about the subject with us | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
24. Talking with other students helped me to develop my understanding | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
25. The teacher was patient in explaining things which seemed difficult to grasp | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
26. I enjoyed being involved in this course | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
27. The teacher valued students’ views in this course | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
28. The teacher helped us to see how you are supposed to think and reach conclusions in this subject | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
29. I found I could work comfortably with other students on this course | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
30. This course provided me with plenty opportunities to discuss important idea. | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
31. It was clear to me what was expected in the tasks and assignments for this course | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
32. I was encouraged by the teacher to think about how to best tackle my tasks and assignments | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
33. I could see how tasks and assignments fitted in with what we were supposed to learn | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
34. You had to really understand the subject to get good marks in this course. | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
35. The feedback given on my tasks and assignments helped me to improve my ways of learning and studying | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
36. Researchers search for evidence underpinning their theory or viewpoint. Doing the tasks and assignments helped me to think about how evidence is used in this subject | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
37. The teacher gave me the support I needed to help me complete the tasks and assignments for this course | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
38. To do well in this course, you had to think critically about the topics | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
39. The tasks and assignments helped me to make connections to my existing knowledge or experience | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
40. The feedback given on my tasks and assignments helped to clarify what I hadn’t fully understood | 1 2 3 4 5 DNA |
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Stes, A., Coertjens, L. & Van Petegem, P. Instructional development in higher education: impact on teachers’ teaching behaviour as perceived by students. Instr Sci 41, 1103–1126 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-013-9267-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-013-9267-4