Exploring Instructors' Changing Conceptions and Approaches Through Memorable Teaching Moments

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Faculty Perceptions in Higher Education

Abstract

To explore instructors’ developing conceptions and approaches to teaching and learning, we interviewed 30 instructors who engage undergraduate students in learning through the analysis of primary literature. Using a phenomenographic approach, we examined memorable moments that these instructors experienced in their classrooms and the impacts of those moments on their perspectives. The memorable moments were coded into eight emergent categories. Faculty indicated that they experienced changes in their conceptions of and approaches to five related domains: curriculum, instruction, learners, learning environment, and professoriate. Our data indicate that classroom experiences while teaching with interactive strategies provide unique opportunities for instructors to rethink and change their conceptions and approaches to a variety of domains related to learning and teaching.

Authors

• Lindsey Warnock, University of California - San Diego

• Stanley M. Lo, University of California - San Diego