Adult students' perceptions of good teaching as a function of their conceptions of learning—part 1. influencing the development of self-determination

Abstract

This study investigated the perceptions of good teaching of adult students. Fifty-three students enrolled in part-time courses in Hong Kong were interviewed about a range of issues concerned with teaching, tutoring and learning. The initial analysis showed that there was no universal view of what constituted good teaching, as approaches preferred by some students resembled those disliked by others. These apparent contradictions were resolved by the recognition that perceptions of teaching quality were framed by conceptions of learning, which were shown to be consistent with a continuum from a reproductive pole to a self-determining one. Each of the four quadrants of the framework represents a conception of learning receiving teaching consistent or inconsistent with it. The quadrant representing self-determining learners receiving consistent facilitative teaching is seen as the goal for adult education to strive for. Didactic teaching was consistent with reproductive conceptions of learning. Teachers faced with predominantly reproductive classes are urged to help in developing greater levels of self-determination by progressively exposing students to forms of teaching requiring active involvement in the learning process, in a supporting environment.