Browsing by Author "Tuominen, Jasmiina"

Aims. The aim of this thesis is to bring forth Aalto university School of Engineering associate professors' conceptions of good teaching, their construction of the conceptions and experiences about resources and difficulties in developing teaching. These issues are partly elaborated in the light of teaching competence assessment which is part of the tenure track career path for professors. In this thesis the following research questions were addressed: 1) What are the associate professors' conceptions of good teaching? 2) Through which elements the associate professors construct their conceptions? 3) What kinds of experiences the associate professors have about the resources in developing teaching? 4) What kinds of experiences the associate professors have about the difficulties in developing teaching? Methods. Seven associate professors of the School of Engineering were interviewed and they had all participated in teaching competence assessment before being admitted as associate professor. Seven thematic interviews were conducted in the Winter 2015-2016. The qualitative method of analysis was an abductive thematic analysis. The theoretical framework is based on Boyer's concept of the scholarship of teaching and Kreber and Cranton's (2000) perception of three knowledge domains (instructional, pedagogical and curricular knowledge) that are based on three reflections (content, process and premise reflection) which together construct the scholarship of teaching. Boyer's (1990) concept and Kreber and Cranton's (2000) three types of reflections and knowledge domains were utilized in analyzing the conceptions of good teaching as well as resources and difficulties in developing teaching. Results and conclusions. Three different conceptions about good teaching emerged. The conceptions were 1) teaching as providing multifunctional tools for working life, 2) teaching as activation of students and 3) teaching as emphasizing students. The interviewees constructed their conceptions through eight elements of which pedagogical training and discussions with pedagogical experts were described as central in changing own conception. Activating students was emphasized in all of the conceptions, but in different ways. The most fundamental resources for developing teaching were pedagogical training, discussions with pedagogical experts and proactivity. The most central difficulties for developing teaching were lack of pedagogical skills, time and the distance in between pedagogical experts and teachers. Based on the interviewees reports, the conceptions of good teaching, resources and difficulties in developing teaching could be partly explained with the financial situation of the society as well as university teachers' workload. Additionally, the difficulties in developing teaching could be eased by making the assessment process of teaching competence more transparent and reaching pedagogical experts easier.