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Can ‘pooling teaching tips’ be more than ‘pooling teaching tips’?

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Abstract

There is increasing interest in how academic development of various kinds influences university teaching and student learning. To date the focus has been on formal, expert-led opportunities to learn how to teach. Our institution has developed a less formal, participant-led forum for teaching staff that was initially established to share ideas on teaching techniques and skills. We report here on participant-led research that explores if and how this model of group learning works, and how it might relate to other models that have been applied to tertiary teaching development. Authors adopted a self-study research framework incorporating a collaborative autoethnography. The data emphasises how participants use this forum as a community of practice, as a means for deep engagement with learning about teaching, and as a means to rationally manage their learning against a backdrop of challenges associated with learning to teach in research-led higher education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Surveying, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Colin O’Byrne

  2. Department of Classics, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Gwynaeth McIntyre

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Celia Lie

  4. Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Sheena Townsend

  5. Department of Theology and Religion, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Benjamin Schonthal

  6. Higher Education Development Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Kerry Shephard

Authors
  1. Colin O’Byrne
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  2. Gwynaeth McIntyre
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  3. Celia Lie
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  4. Sheena Townsend
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  5. Benjamin Schonthal
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  6. Kerry Shephard
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Correspondence to Kerry Shephard.

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O’Byrne, C., McIntyre, G., Lie, C. et al. Can ‘pooling teaching tips’ be more than ‘pooling teaching tips’?. Tert Educ Manag 24, 351–361 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1080/13583883.2018.1465117

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13583883.2018.1465117

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