University teachers’ perspectives on teaching: The differences among academic disciplines

Abstract

Numerous studies indicated that perspectives and approaches to teaching of university teachers vary considerably across academic disciplines. However, other research presented contrary results. Regarding such inconsistencies in previous findings, the aim of this research was to examine the representation of five perspectives on teaching and three commitment components (Beliefs, Intentions and Actions) among university teachers of different academic disciplines. The Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) which contains 45 items was used on the sample of 342 teachers from the University of Novi Sad. Dominant perspectives indicated that these teachers were more teacher-centred and that there are differences among university teachers from different academic disciplines (technical, social, medical and natural sciences) in terms of how they conceptualise and approach teaching. Differences between teachers from hard and soft sciences were evident only on the Social Reform perspective and on Intention component; hard sciences teachers were more teacher-centred and content-oriented while soft sciences teachers were more student-centred and learning-orientated. Understanding of the teaching process should include knowledge about academic culture and the context in which teaching takes place, which suggest the need to respect different disciplinary cultures when creating pedagogical training programs for university teachers.