Red U (Apr 2012)
University teaching: a model for analysis
Abstract
For longer than a decade we have been working on studying what happened in university classrooms. This is, what teachers and students did. In order to make this study possible, following Mehan (1979) y a Tikunoff y War (1980), the starting point was a holistic perspective with the intention of covering the total reality of classroom processes with the intention of constructing an image of multiple dimensions. Nonetheless, advances experimented in the last years both in literature and in modelling of teaching-learning processes united to the interesting, since 2000, because of the teaching quality makes it necessary that we carry out a revision of our former approach. So, we start from which we consider nowadays the most innovative modelling of teaching-learning processes carried out by Baeriswyl in 2008. To be precise, what he calls visible structure. This is, the teaching process. From this starting point, the model we propose has two different dimensions. The first one makes reference to contextual and situational aspects in which didactic communication is going to take place. The second one, didactic communication is focused to classroom real processes, this is, what Jackson calls teachinginteractive phase. In this dimension, following Zacks and Tversky (2001) we can distinguish a vertical axis or temporal where we place moral subdimensions (phases and episodes into which lessons are divided), and horizontal axis or functional where we place molecular subdimensions (methods, means of communication and social interactions). With this, we propose a model that allows us identifying, making visible, describing and analyzing teaching practices carried out by university teachers. Moreover, it can be used as a referent (bench marking) so that other teachers can analyse their own practice and, if it is precise, readjust it. Besides, it can be used for the didactic debate. And, as a last request, it can contribute to improving teaching at University.
Keywords
