Lecture-centered or student-centered: a case study in a public university

Abstract

This study is aimed to investigate the current practice of teaching methods among lecturers in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. A total of 357 lecturers participated in this study. The result showed that the general practice was influenced by lecturer’s field and years of teaching experience, not gender, qualification and designation. Comparing the specific teaching methods applied in three fields, it found that lecturers in science and technology used lecture and discussion much more frequently than those from engineering and social science. Among the six specific teaching methods, discussion and lecture were the most frequently used teaching method, which is scored significantly higher than the other four teaching methods. However, an interesting finding was reported when lecturers were asked to rate their preference in the six specific teaching methods. Lecture was rated at the lowest level of preference but it was reported as one of the most frequently used teaching method. It may imply the changes on lecturers’ perspectives. Discussion method obtained the highest preference score, which is also applied frequently in current teaching practice.