Abstract
The aim of this study was to compare thediscursive repertoires for explicating teachingand learning that were preferred by universityteachers and students. Fifty statements,reflecting Samuelowicz and Bain's (1992)five-dimensional model of conceptualisations ofteaching and learning, were administered to 52academic teachers and 125 students for rankingusing a Q-sort procedure (McKeown and Thomas1988). Statements were grouped, based uponvarying gradations of endorsement, and thenfactor-analysed to identify common responsepatterns. In terms of the model formulated bySamuelowicz and Bain, the university teachersand students surveyed exhibited broadlydifferent preferred repertoires. We argue,however, that the model is too simplistic, inits formulation of bipolar dimensions ofteaching and learning, to capture thecomplexities of the preferences and practicesof university teachers and students. A focus oncomplexity rather than descriptivereductionism, and an acceptance of the notionthat people are inconsistent and variable inthe accounts they give, is argued to be morelikely to result in fruitful insights into theways in which people construct pedagogicalpreferences and practices. The results indicatea need for continued exploration of the rangeof discourses surrounding teaching and learningin ways that pay attention to the localcontextual frameworks within which theserepertoires are acted out.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Biggs, J.B. (1989). ‘Approaches to the enhancement of tertiary teaching’, Higher Education Research and Development 8(1), 7–25.
Boud, D. (1978). ‘Staff student collaboration in experiential learning’, in Boud, D. and Pascoe, J. (eds.), Experiential Learning: Developments in Australian Post-secondary Education. Sydney: Australian Consortium on Experiential Education, pp. 45–50.
Brown, S. (1980). Political Subjectivity: Applications of Q Methodology in Political Science. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.
Brown, S. (1968). ‘Bibliography on Q-technique and its methodology’, Perceptual and Motor Skills 26, 587–613.
Dunkin, M.J. and Precians, R.P. (1992). ‘Award-winning university teachers’ concepts of teaching’, Higher Education 24, 483–502.
Entwhistle, N. and Ramsden, P. (1983). Understanding Student Learning. London: Croom Helm.
Gergen, K. (1985). ‘The social constructionist movement in modern psychology’, American Psychologist 40, 266–275.
John, I.D. (1997). ‘Discursive construction of the relationship between theory and practice in Psychology’, Australian Psychologist 32(2), 86–92.
Kitzinger, C. (1987). The Social Construction of Lesbianism. London: Sage.
McKeachie, W.J. (1963). ‘Research on teaching at the college and university level’, in Gage, N. (ed.), Handbook of Research on Teaching. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1118–1172.
McKeown, S. and Thomas, D. (1988). Q Methodology. Beverley Hills: Sage.
McLeisch, J. (1968). The Lecture Method. Cambridge: Cambridge Institute of Education.
McNamara, D. (1990). ‘Research on teachers’ thinking: Its contribution to educating student teachers to think critically’, Journal of Education for Teaching 16(2), 147–160.
Ramsden, P. (1985). ‘Student learning research: Retrospect and prospect’, Higher Education Research and Development 5(1), 51–70.
Rogers, C.R. (1959). ‘Significant learning: In therapy and education’, Educational Leadership 16(4), 232–242.
Samuelowicz, K. and Bain, J.D. (1992). ‘Conceptions of teaching held by academic teachers’, Higher Education 24, 93–111.
Senn. C.Y. (1996). ‘Q-methodology as feminist methodology: Women's views and experi-ences of pornography’, in Wilkinson, S. (ed.), Feminist Social Psychologies: International Perspectives. Buckingham: Open University Press
Stainton Rogers, W. (1991). Explaining Health and Illness: An Exploration of Diversity.New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Stainton Rogers, R., Stenner, P., Gleeson, K. and Stainton Rogers, W. (1995). Social Psychology: A Critical Agenda. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Stephenson, W. (1936). ‘The foundations of psychometry: Four factor systems’, Psychometrica 1(3), 195–209.
Thomas, P.R. and Bain, J.D. (1984). ‘Contextual dependence of learning approaches: The effects of assessments’, Human Learning 3, 223–240.
Thouless, R. (1968). ‘Introductory note’, in McLeish, J. (ed.), The Lecture Method. Cambridge: Cambridge Institute of Education, vii-viii.
Trigwell, K., Prosser, M. and Taylor, P. (1994). ‘Qualitative differences in approaches to teaching first year university science.’ Higher Education 27, 75–84.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
LeCouteur, A., Delfabbro, P.H. Repertoires of teaching and learning: A comparison of university teachers and students using Q methodology. Higher Education 42, 205–235 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017583516646
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017583516646