Teaching Perspectives Inventory Research Articles

University teachers’ perspectives on teaching: The differences among academic disciplines

Numerous studies indicated that perspectives and approaches to teaching of university teachers vary considerably across academic disciplines. However, other research presented contrary results. Regarding such inconsistencies in previous findings, the aim of this research was to examine the representation of five perspectives on teaching and three commitment components (Beliefs, Intentions and Actions) among university teachers of different academic disciplines. The Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) which contains 45 items was used on the sample of 342 teachers from the University of Novi Sad. Dominant perspectives indicated that these teachers were more teacher-centred and that there are differences among university teachers from different academic disciplines (technical, social, medical and natural sciences) in terms of how they conceptualise and approach teaching. Differences between teachers from hard and soft sciences were evident only on the Social Reform perspective and on Intention component; hard sciences teachers were more teacher-centred and content-oriented while soft sciences teachers were more student-centred and learning-orientated. Understanding of the teaching process should include knowledge about academic culture and the context in which teaching takes place, which suggest the need to respect different disciplinary cultures when creating pedagogical training programs for university teachers.

Educational perspectives in cardiothoracic anesthesia in the United States using a survey of educators and learners.

Cardiothoracic anesthesiology training presents learners with unique challenges, procedural skills, and the management of high-intensity critical scenarios. An effective relationship between educator and learner can serve as the backbone for effective learning, which is crucial for the development of budding anesthesiologists. Strengthening this educational alliance between teachers and trainees involves understanding the educational values educators and learners find most important to their learning experiences. This study aimed to identify the key educational values related to cardiothoracic anesthesia for both learners and educators. By identifying these values in separate cohorts (learners and educators), the importance of various educational values can be examined and compared between the trainees and teachers. Two separate surveys (one for learners and one for teachers) were adapted from the Pratt and Collins Teaching Perspectives Inventory to establish the importance of various educational values related to cardiothoracic anesthesia. Surveys were sent to 165 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited anesthesiology residency training programs in the United States to trainees (residents and cardiothoracic anesthesiology fellows) and educators (board-certified cardiothoracic anesthesiologists). Analysis of survey results from 19 educators and 57 learners revealed no statistical differences across the two groups, except Q15: "Let trainee perform critical technical steps" (P value = 0.02). While learners and educators in cardiothoracic anesthesia hold similar values regarding cardiac anesthesia education, they differ in the degree to which critical technical steps should be performed by learners.

Disciplinary Differences and University Teachers’ Perspectives: Possibilities of Applying the Teaching Perspectives Inventory

Based on the conceptual and empirical framework of five perspectives on teaching and earlier studies that have suggested a link between teaching perspectives and teachers’ academic disciplines, this paper aimed to examine the differences in the university teachers’ perspectives from various academic disciplines and faculties. This research also aimed to validate the Teaching Perspectives Inventory on a sample of 526 university teachers in Serbia. The results confirmed the differences in the university teachers’ perspectives and led to the conclusion that hard sciences teachers were more teacher-centred, while soft sciences teachers were more student-centred. Additionally, exploratory factor analysis indicated that the slightly modified version of the TPI is applicable and reliable to use in other educational contexts. However, it can be concluded that research on teachers’ perspectives is limited to specific cultural, educational, and research contexts.

Formative Feedback on Problem-Solving Skills: Intent and Action

Formative feedback is integral for the learning of difficult skills such as problem solving. To understand why less than ideal amounts of feedback are sometimes provided to students, this study elicited undergraduate engineering instructors’ intentions, and then observed their actions regarding formative feedback on midterm exams in courses that purport to teach problem solving. Intentions were collected through a survey that emulated the intentions-focused portion of the Teaching Perspectives Inventory. The questions were reworked to reference Fink’s FIDeLity feedback system. Actions were then measured by analyzing feedback provided on previous midterm exams administered by the same instructors who filled out the survey. Alignment between the instructors’ intentions and actions were analyzed by comparing the survey results and the midterm exam marking. Overall, instructors’ actions are generally aligned with their intentions. However, their intentions tend to favour time saving practices rather than using every known method for providing high-quality formative feedback.

Inventar perspektiva o nastavi (TPI) - validacija i mogućnosti primene skale u Srbiji

Research directed at an ex amination of teachers' beliefs, conceptions, and perspectives on teaching demonstrate that these phenomena define teachers' perceptions and behavior, as well as influence students' learning and teaching efficiency. For the purposes of testing teachers' perceptions, we created the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI). The goal of this research is the validation and adaptation of this scale on a sample of 526 university professors in Serbia. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirm the five-factor model, which to a certain extent differs from the structure of the original instrument. All five sub-scales demonstrate adequate internal consistency in the range from .70 to .87, whereby good convergent validity is also confirmed. The modified version of TPI ensured the validation of originally defined teaching perspectives, and it was concluded that this scale may be used reliably in the educational context of Serbia.

Creencias docentes de la enseñanza en la Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes (UAA)

Las creencias docentes son uno de los factores principales para entender la práctica educativa de los profesores; la forma cómo enseña el docente se relaciona estrechamente con las representaciones que tiene sobre el contenido que enseña, el currículum, la organización escolar y los procesos de aprendizaje de los alumnos, entre otras cosas. Para poder analizar la práctica educativa de los docentes de la Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes (UAA), se realizó esta investigación cuyos objetivos fueron: 1. Describir las características propias de profesionalización y formación de los docentes, tales como años de experiencia, tiempo dedicado a esta actividad, grado académico, área de especialización, asignaturas impartidas y función principal dentro de la institución. 2. Conocer las perspectivas de enseñanza dominante de los profesores de la UAA, sin separar sus tres componentes: creencias, propósitos y acciones. 3. Comparar los distintos tipos de perspectivas dominantes de los profesores con algunas características propias de la profesionalización y formación docente. La muestra estuvo conformada por 73 docentes de ambos sexos que forman parte de la planta docente de la universidad; se aplicó el Inventario de Perspectivas de Enseñanza (IPE). Los resultados obtenidos indican que la perspectiva dominante de los profesores es la de transmisión, es decir, para los profesores de la UAA un buen profesor es aquel que domina el contenido de la materia, tiene objetivos claros, presenta en forma oportuna retroalimentación a sus estudiantes y tiene un fuerte compromiso con los contenidos.

La enseñanza en la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional desde las creencias de sus docentes

La finalidad de este trabajo es describir los resultados obtenidos en las dimensiones denominadas: Creencias, Propósitos y Acciones del Inventario de las Perspectivas de Enseñanza (IPE) en una muestra de profesores de la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional (UPN) Ajusco, así como identificar las características de formación y profesionalización de los docentes. Para tal efecto, se aplicó el instrumento versión en español modificada del Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI), a 27 docentes de la UPN, Ajusco. Los resultados obtenidos indican que los docentes tienen una idea clara de su función en la enseñanza y la experiencia suficiente para facilitar la forma de enseñar el contenido, y los resultados que se esperan en el aprendizaje de los estudiantes. Para mejorar la calidad de la educación, es importante comprender la forma de enseñar, ya que de esta manera se pueden explicar las acciones que el docente lleva a cabo en el salón de clases. Asimismo, se da la posibilidad de considerar a las creencias docentes como parte de la modificación de los contenidos curriculares y/o en la formación permanente del docente.

Perspectivas de enseñanza en docentes de la Facultad de Psicología y Terapia de la Comunicación Humana de la Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango (UJED)

La investigación, pretende dar a conocer las perspectivas sobre el proceso de enseñanza que tiene una muestra representativa de docentes de la Facultad de Psicología y Terapia de la Comunicación Humana de la Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango (UJED). Además, se busca conocer si existen diferencias significativas de estas perspectivas en función de las variables de antigüedad y grado académico. Para tal fin, se utilizó una metodología de investigación de tipo cuantitativo, basada en la aplicación del Inventario de Perspectivas de Enseñanza (IPE, versión al español). El objetivo del instrumento es identificar las perspectivas de enseñanza desde tres componentes: Creencias, Propósitos y Acciones de los profesores cuando enseñan. Desde estas tres dimensiones, se observan cinco perspectivas: Transmisión, Aprendizaje, Desarrollo, Acompañamiento y Reforma social. De acuerdo con los resultados, se concluyó que no existe uniformidad en las creencias de los docentes con respecto a la enseñanza, en contraste con la antigüedad y grado de estudios. Sin embargo, las diferencias no fueron estadísticamente significativas.

Using the Teaching Perspectives Inventory as an Introduction to a Residents-as-Teachers Curriculum

The Anesthesiology Milestone Project includes a milestone for assessing the teaching attributes of residents within the competency of Practice-based Learning and Improvement. We intend to develop a Residents-as-Teachers educational curriculum to assist our residents in successfully achieving this milestone. The goal of this study is to identify the specific teaching perspectives and intentions of our residents and to promote residents' comprehension of their own teaching philosophy. We invited our residents to complete the Teaching Perspective Inventory (TPI) and a follow-up survey to gather information regarding dominant and recessive teaching perspectives, their intended career pathway, and their view of the importance of understanding teaching perspectives. The two most common dominant teaching perspectives are apprenticeship and nurturing for residents who are planning a career in both academic medicine and private practice. A greater percentage of residents planning an academic career agree that identifying their teaching perspective is beneficial to their role as a clinical educator, compared to those anticipating a career in private practice. Based on this pilot data, our Residents-as-Teachers curriculum will include instruction of educational strategies specifically designed towards the apprenticeship and nurturing perspectives.

Teaching Perspectives of Faculty Members at an 1862 Land-grant University: A Snapshot of One Institution with Implications for Improving Instruction at All

As part of a larger study, this report describes the dominant teaching perspectives of faculty members with teaching appointments at an 1862 land-grant institution. A census study of the institution’s faculty was conducted during the Fall semester of 2013; 157 (12.1%) faculty members representing seven colleges provided usable responses. The participants completed Pratt and Collins’ (n.d.) Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) to determine their dominant perspective(s), i.e., apprenticeship, developmental, nurturing, social reform, or transmission, and responded to questions about selected personal characteristics. All five dominant teaching perspectives were expressed by participants; 134 (85.5%) held a single dominant perspective. Apprenticeship was the most prevalent, followed by transmission and then developmental. About 15% identified with two or more perspectives. Some differences in dominant perspectives emerged by gender and college affiliation. Nearly half reported never taking a pedagogy/andragogy course. If faculty members are struggling with teaching or perceive the need to reinvigorate or reorient their approaches to instruction, taking the TPI could be a good first step, especially if followed by specific actions to improve their teaching. The TPI is available online and can be self-administered free of charge; takers receive an individualized report and advice on interpreting the results.

The Influences on Teaching Perspectives of Australian Physical Education Teacher Education Students: The First-Year Influences on Teaching Perspectives Exploratory (FIT-PE) Study

There has been a paucity of literature investigating the teaching beliefs and intentions of Australian physical education teacher education (PETE) students that enter teacher training. The First-year Influences on Teaching Perspectives Exploratory (FIT-PE) study explores the teaching perspectives of first year PETE students; including teaching perspectives predicted as being dominant and important for physical education teaching. The teaching perspectives inventory (TPI) was administered to 105 Australian PETE students. Independent t-tests and one-way ANOVA statistical tests were conducted to compare average teaching perspective summary scores across demographic variables. The FIT-PE study findings revealed 18 year olds (compared to 20-25 year olds) and PETE students from rural backgrounds (compared to regional) had significantly higher average summary scores for the transmission (content-oriented) teaching perspective. This paper provides reflective opportunities for teacher training programs of the underlying core teaching values (beliefs and intentions) of students at the entry point of PETE training.

Using the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) to examine the relationship between teaching perspectives and disciplines in higher education

This study examined the relationship between different views of teaching and dimensions that differentiate academic disciplines. A total of 114 academics within Greece and 127 academics from similar disciplines but other countries were compared using the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI). Distinctions among disciplines for both groups were based on Biglan’s 3-dimensional classification (Pure/Applied; Hard/Soft; Life/non-Life). The objective of this study was to examine to what extent the teaching perspectives of the academics differ from one classification category to another. Greek academics represented participants in 15 departments across 9 universities throughout Greece, while the international sample was drawn from the TPI database. Statistical analysis indicated better differentiation of Biglan’s classification for its Life/non-Life dimension than for Pure/Applied or Hard/Soft between the combined samples for four Teaching Perspectives: Transmission, Developmental, Nurturing and Social Reform. No perspectives differences existed for Biglan’s Hard/Soft categorisation, although Greek professors were significantly higher in Soft rather than Hard disciplines in the Developmental, Nurturing and Social Reform perspectives compared to their global counterparts. They also demonstrated overall higher ‘Transmission’ scores. The authors conclude that disciplinary differences are real, but that they are small compared to the interpersonal ones or even to the international ones. The relationships between the teaching perspectives and Biglan’s classifications are further discussed.

Teacher Development: Contributions of Educational Biography and Personality

The contribution of autobiographical narratives for the teacher’s personal and professional development is currently considered an important issue. “Our stories”, “the stories that we tell about our lives” constitute a fundamental path of human meaning making (Bruner in Acts of meaning. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990) and also, an identity construction process. “Fashioned out of memories, our stories become our identities” (Faust Harvard Magazine, 2003). Autobiographical narratives are then a development process, being its use in the educational scope pertinent, as it is considered that learning always features autobiography. Aiming at understanding the processes of personal and professional development, this study analyses student teachers autobiographical narratives, in particular, the relationship between primary school memories, personality characteristics, and teaching perspectives. This study was carried out with a sample of 129 student teachers of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Coimbra, with ages between 22 and 28 years. The instruments administered were the School Autobiography Sheet (an adaptation of the autobiographical method considered by McAdams; McAdams in Guided autobiography, 1997), and the Personality Inventory NEO-PI-R (Costa and McCrae in Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual, Psychological Assessment Resources Odessa, FL, 1992; Portuguese version Lima in Contextos teoricos e psicometricos: “Ocean” ou “Iceberg”?, Dissertacao de Doutoramento, Universidade de, Coimbra, 1997) and the Teaching Perspectives Inventory of Pratt and Collins Teaching perspectives inventory, 2001. The results of the study show that the relationship between the autobiographical memories and the perspectives of teaching are fable. However, they point to the crucial role played by personality traits in the organization of the autobiographical memories and of the perspectives of teaching. These results contribute to the understanding of the processes of personal and educational development of future teachers and to the reflection on forms of using autobiographical narratives in a training frame.

TGfU – Would you know it if you saw it? Benchmarks from the tacit knowledge of the founders

This paper explores the tacit expert knowledge and understanding about games curriculum and pedagogy of three men, Len Almond, David Bunker, and Rod Thorpe, credited as the founders of the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) model. The model emerged from teacher practice in the late 1970s and was little theorized at the time, apart from a handful of articles written by the founders. This paper attempts to retrospectively theorize and represent the founders’ ideas in terms of the beliefs, intentions, and actions they believed to be fundamental to TGfU. From here, some benchmarks are proposed so that TGfU can be more easily recognized when it is being practised and researched. Data were collected through two online sequential questionnaires, informal personal telephone interviews, and emails. All data were member checked throughout the two-year study. Both of the questionnaires were completed by the three founders in the persona of their ‘ideal’ TGfU teacher, in the hope that this would lead to greater clarity of response. The first questionnaire, called the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI), was developed by Daniel Pratt and builds a profile of teacher beliefs, intentions, and actions, which are then grouped into five perspectives and ranked by personal bias. Questions posed on SurveyGizmo formed the second questionnaire, which helped the founders reflect further about their ideal teacher’s beliefs, intentions, and actions, as they became apparent in the dominant and recessive perspectives identified in the TPI profiles. The findings were grouped into the founders’ beliefs and intentions about: (1) learners and learning; (2) content; and (3) teachers’ role and responsibilities. The data forming what the founders’ considered to be best pedagogical practice formed eight areas for consideration to include: (1) preparation; (2) management; (3) starting a TGfU lesson; (4) continuing a TGfU lesson; (5) teacher behaviours; teacher focus during a game; (7) teacher expectations; and (8) learning environment. This paper aims to provide a starting point for further research, debate, and reflection as we engage with the founders’ intentions – to provide students with teaching that is an overt social, cultural, and relational activity, as well as a set of plans, practices, and actions.

Learning Styles and Teaching Perspectives of Canadian Pharmacy Practice Residents and Faculty Preceptors

To characterize and compare learning styles of pharmacy practice residents and their faculty preceptors, and identify teaching perspectives of faculty preceptors. Twenty-nine pharmacy residents and 306 pharmacy faculty members in British Columbia were invited to complete the Pharmacists' Inventory of Learning Styles (PILS). Faculty preceptors also were asked to complete the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI). One hundred percent of residents and 61% of faculty members completed the PILS, and 31% of faculty members completed the TPI. The most common dominant learning style among residents and faculty preceptors was assimilator, and 93% were assimilators, convergers, or both. The distribution of dominant learning styles between residents and faculty members was not different (p=0.77). The most common dominant teaching perspective among faculty members was apprenticeship. Residents and preceptors mostly exhibited learning styles associated with abstract over concrete thinking or watching over doing. Residency programs should steer residents more toward active learning and doing, and maximize interactions with patients and other caregivers.

Teaching Plastic Surgery from Different Perspectives

Just as everyone has a different learning style, teachers too approach the task from different perspectives. There are five basic teaching perspectives or styles: transmission, apprenticeship, developmental, nurturing, and social justice. The acronym BIAS is useful to describe the beliefs, intentions, assessments, and strategies associated with each perspective. The authors present a hypothetical 1-week rotation in plastic and reconstructive surgery in which a student encounters instructors who embody the five basic teaching perspectives. By presenting these perspectives, the authors introduce valuable teaching techniques that can benefit all those charged with the education of learners along the spectrum from premedical to continuing education venues. Educational objectives include the following: (1) explain and illustrate different approaches to effective teaching in plastic surgery; (2) introduce readers to the Teaching Perspectives Inventory as a means of determining their primary teaching style; and (3) argue for a "plurality of the good" in teaching.

Using the Teaching Perspectives Inventory in Athletic Training Education to Improve Teaching and Learning Strategies

W hen educators and students communicate there are assumptions that both parties understand each other and assumptions about what is meant by the way information, concepts and content are communicated.1-3 These assumptions can be based on the individual actions, beliefs, and intentions that each party brings to the teaching and learning environment. By learning more about the actions, beliefs, and intentions that we, as educators, bring to the teaching and learning environment, we can learn how to teach more effectively and how to achieve specific teaching objectives. The actions, beliefs, and intentions that athletic training educators bring to the teaching environment constitute what Pratt3 calls a “teaching perspective.” It can be useful for athletic training educators to find their dominant teaching perspective because there are a number of specific teaching activities and strategies that work well from each perspective. The purpose of this column is to illustrate how athletic training educators can identify their dominant teaching perspective, and employ effective teaching strategies that are appropriate for their teaching goals using the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI).

The Teaching Perspectives Inventory at 10 Years and 100,000 Respondents

The Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) measures teachers’ profiles on five contrasting views of what it means “to teach.” The inventory can be used in aiding self-reflection, developing statements of teaching philosophy, engendering conversations about teaching, and recognizing legitimate variations on excellence in teaching. Available at www.TeachingPerspectives.com , the TPI is a free, self-report, self-scoring inventory that promotes a pluralistic understanding of teaching and equips respondents with a more explicit vocabulary for reflecting on their own teaching and that of others. Ten years of accumulated responses for more than 100,000 respondents in more than 100 countries has provided a rich data bank for analysis of the instrument’s reliability, validity, and utility in promoting conversations about teaching that are respectful of disciplinary and professional signature pedagogies as well as cultural and social variations on how teaching is understood and valued.

Assessment policy and practice effects on New Zealand and Queensland teachers' conceptions of teaching

Teachers' thinking about four conceptions of teaching (i.e., apprenticeship‐developmental, nurturing, social reform, and transmission) were captured using the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI). New Zealand and Queensland have very similar teaching‐related policies and practices but differences around assessment policies and practices are expected to influence teachers' conceptions of teaching. Results from two surveys (New Zealand primary (n = 241) and Queensland primary (n = 784) and secondary (n = 614) teachers) found acceptably fitting models. TPI models were not invariant between primary and secondary teachers in Queensland while the models for primary teachers in Queensland and New Zealand were partially invariant. There were only small differences in mean perspectives scores, except for transmission, which elicited large differences.

The Significance Of Teaching Perspectives Among Academic Disciplines

This study examined the teaching perspectives among faculty from a research extensive university in the southern United States. A simple random sample was drawn from the institution’s faculty, and a total of n = 131 responded to the survey. Respondents were asked to complete the Teaching Perspectives Inventory via the Internet and complete a demographic survey. The Analysis of Variance procedure was used to determine if dominant teaching perspectives were disciplinespecific. The results of this analysis concluded that a significant difference existed among respondents, with Apprenticeship as a dominant teaching perspective [F(12, 118) = 2.036, p = .027].