Innovative Teaching and Learning Practices: The Student Perspective

Abstract

As educators we are interested in continuous improvement; we want our teaching to be more impactful, to be engaging and innovative, culminating in students developing skills that facilitate lifelong learning. To date significant research has been conducted on innovative teaching and learning practices that educators may adopt to achieve these aims. However, fewer studies have focused on teaching and learning practices from the student perspective. This paper, reporting findings from a larger study, seeks to address this gap. An online survey was conducted across the student cohort in the School of Business of an Irish higher education institution (HEI). The findings show that students favour a mix of innovative practice and traditional teaching in helping them to learn effectively. Case studies and recorded lectures are the most popular choice of innovative teaching practice and students favour methods that help them to understand, thus leading to deep learning. Additionally, traditional teaching practices are still important to students, particularly first year undergraduates.Keywords: Traditional teaching practices; innovative teaching practices; student perspective; higher education.