Exploring and comparing pedagogical beliefs of university instructors in relation to their behavioural patterns regarding learning management system use

Abstract

ABSTRACT Understanding the relationship between instructors’ pedagogical beliefs and their usage of learning management systems (LMSs) is crucial in higher education. This study addresses this research gap by studying how 64 active university teachers’ pedagogical beliefs match their LMS usage behaviours. Based on 1374 LMS courses, this study intended to illuminate the complex relationship between teachers’ traditional, constructivist, ICT-based beliefs and operational behaviours while using an LMS for technology-enhanced instruction. Four patters were found: low-use (67.2%), administration-oriented (20.3%), communication-oriented (9.4%), and assessment-oriented (3.1%), which provide insights into how university instructors engage with LMS tools, highlighting the different LMS tool-adoption strategies used in higher education. Intriguing links were found between actual usage patterns and pedagogical beliefs, indicating that administration-oriented and low-usage patterns were related with weaker beliefs in ICT use, with the former having the highest constructivist belief scores and the latter recording the lowest. Instructors with communication use patterns had the lowest traditionalist beliefs, while those focusing on assessment had the highest. This research underscores the significance of aligning pedagogical approaches with technology integration within the context of higher education instruction, offering vital insights for universities committed to ongoing improvement in teaching practices and the effective utilisation of LMS technologies.