Profiling approaches to teaching in higher education: a cluster-analytic study

Abstract

Teaching approaches in higher education have already been the subject of a considerable body of research. An important contribution was Prosser and Trigwell's development of the Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI). The present study aims to map out the approaches to teaching profiles of teachers in higher education on the basis of their scores on the ATI. The assignment of teachers to different profiles reflects a particular combination of scores on the ATI, which yields more information relative to teachers' scores on the separate scales. Our results also provide further insight into the validity of the ATI as an instrument for ascertaining teachers' approaches to teaching. Cluster analysis of the ATI data from 377 teachers revealed four profiles. Interview data with 30 teachers enabled us to obtain more detailed pictures of the profiles. Differences between the profiles in terms of gender, discipline and type of higher education institute were analysed.