Transition process of teaching conception among new engineering lecturers to implement student centred learning

Abstract

Studies on the transition of teaching conception commonly refer to the change of teaching conception from teacher-centred learning to student-centred learning. In engineering education, there is a gap in research on teaching conception among lecturers, specifically on how it occurs in terms of changing teaching belief, intention, and action. The purpose of this study was to investigate and understand the process of teaching conception transition (teaching belief, intention and action) from teacher-centred approach to student-centred approach among engineering lecturers. This study employed the microgenetic method as its strategy and thematic analysis (TA) to analyse the data. The respondents in this study were three engineering lecturers from various fields. The data were collected using in-depth interview and observation. Three observations and three interview sessions were conducted from the beginning to the end of the semester for each respondent. The data transcription was then analysed using the three steps of TA. The narration style was used to illustrate the findings which were divided into seven episodes. These episodes gave indications on the changes that the respondents underwent during the transition of the teaching conception. This study found that the transition was related to their experiences as students in the past and other transformation factors, which were staff development programmes (such as mentoring, community support and conducting research) as well as education environment. Thus, based on the different experiences, a descriptive model of transition of teaching conception from teacher-centred to student-centred learning was produced. In conclusion, the transition process of teaching conception is about transforming the engineering lecturers’ teaching conception from teacher-centred learning to student-centred learning. The proper support system should be provided for a successful transition of the teaching approach as this will be impactful as the engineering lecturers are making changes in their efforts to produce more well-versed future engineers.