Oldal 225 [225]
224 LEARNING-CENTRED TEACHING IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Science. Ihe main aims of these
studies are the following: (1) developing a framework for learning-centred teaching
and professional development and learning of university teachers (2) exploring
Hungarian university teachers’ beliefs about teaching, teaching competencies,
PDL (3) identifying those key areas in PDL of academics where changes can be
initiated to shift to a more learning-centred higher education teaching practice.
The results of these studies will contribute to design more evidence-based teaching
and development projects in Hungarian higher education.
The theoretical foundations of learning-centred teaching are described in
two chapters. In the first one a learning-centred teaching framework is explained
which consists of four pillars, namely (1) facilitating active, constructive learning
of students (2) focusing on the development of students’ competencies and learning
outcomes (3) supporting all students and (4) university teachers as learners. The
other theoretical study deals with how university teachers as learners can be
supported and identifies three main approaches and highlights the key positive
effects and challenges of each. The three approaches are the following: supporting
by pedagogical trainings, communities of practice, and scholarship of teaching
and learning,
A mixed methods research study was conducted with consecutive phases,
moving from an exploratory approach to a more development-oriented phase. In
the exploratory phase, narrative interviews were conducted with academics who
were highly committed to teaching, then an online questionnaire was sent out
to Hungarian university teachers. The sample of 1128 university teachers were
representative by study areas, providers and regions in Hungary. Lastly, a design¬
based research was conducted focusing on pedagogical programmes for university
teachers’ PDL at two faculties.
The results of the qualitative study showed that even novice university teachers
had a learning-centred teaching practice, but pedagogical awareness typically
follows it later causing turning points in the experienced university teachers’ life.
University teachers also develop further sub-identities e.g. developer, mentor,
programme designer, organizational expert but learning and constructing these
new identities are not well supported by higher education institutions. Developing
special support for these emerging roles could be important next steps in higher
education institutions.
The questionnaire-based study showed that Hungarian university teachers’
beliefs about teaching are less learning-centred than their concepts about
professional development and learning in which they find facilitating students’
learning as a key driver. Furthermore, constructive alignment of planning, teaching
and assessment can be only identified in the information-centred teaching approach
and none of the student-centred approaches. University teachers’ beliefs about