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Instructional development in higher education: impact on teachers’ teaching behaviour as perceived by students

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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

  1. 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).

  2. Ranking based on the quantitative data.

  3. Based on the ETLQ-questionnaire available from http://www.etl.tla.ed.ac.uk//questionnaires/ETLQ.pdf

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Education and Information Sciences, University of Antwerp, Venusstraat 35, 2000, Antwerp, Belgium

    Ann Stes, Liesje Coertjens & Peter Van Petegem

Authors
  1. Ann Stes
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  2. Liesje Coertjens
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  3. Peter Van Petegem
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ann Stes.

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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