Teach outside your comfort zone: A qualitative study of higher education students’ conceptions in Namibia

Abstract

Namibian Higher Education Institutions offer education at the levels of certificate, diploma, undergraduate degree and some other post graduate levels and each typically pursues different levels of capacity in skill and knowledge development for their graduates. However, systematic investigations of students’ conceptions of good teaching are hardly carried as the focus tend to be on teachers’ views. Qualitative data was collected through face-to-face focus group discussions and was analysed using the Noticing, Collecting and Thinking method of analysis. It was found that good teaching requires teachers who operate using the student-centred, learning oriented conception framework. Such are teachers who ensure students understand the content of the subjects, understand students’ problems, are punctual and provide opportunities for students to access learning resources. Although many of the findings from this paper may not be unique from the existing literature, the implication of the absence of unique insights is that methods of instruction and administration continue to be modified to reach students’ hearts. This study contributes to furthering knowledge about good teaching in higher education institutions and its attributes in Namibia and analyses how this is different from developed countries.

Keywords

• conceptions
• higher education
• students
• teaching
• university
• namibia