Teaching Concepts and Their Relationship to Teaching Practices: A Study with University Professors

Abstract

The focus of this work is on analyzing two dimensions that are fundamental to a study of university teaching: how teachers act in the classroom and how they view teaching. Since the 1970s, both topics have been the object of research developed through a variety of methods. The conceptual models underlying the different approaches used to analyze the complexity of classroom life have evolved to greater levels of depth and scope: from the technical rationality approach, which tries to explain teaching practices through verification of the behavior patterns anticipated in response to regular classroom situations, to a constructivist approach that acknowledges the singularity and complexity of the classroom. The study was conducted between 2006 and 2007, at a private university in Argentina, to examine the teaching practices and concepts of 25 university professors in the field of medicine. The information was collected with a semi-structured class observation chart and an attributional inventory of teaching theories implicit in the faculty, designed by Rodrigo, Rodríguez and Marrero. The relationship between the teaching practices observed and the selected teaching concepts was examined as well.