Notions of Effective Teaching: An Exploration of Students ’ and Lecturers’ Perceptions of First Year Education Undergraduates

Abstract — This article reports on a piece of research designed to explore both students ’ and teachers ’ perceptions of what constitutes effective teaching in a modern UK university. Definitions of effectiveness, based on work in both the schools and university sectors, are explored and summarised into four domains: providing a supportive elearning environment, having high expectations, scaffolding learning and providing clear explanations. The research was undertaken with the co-operation of undergraduate students reading Early Childhood Studies, Special Needs and Inclusion Studies or Education Studies. This case study adopts a phenomenographic perspective. Evidence from three focus group interviews, observations of three tutors, and from the reflections of 22 tutors on the characteristics identified by students, informs this paper. The article concludes by suggesting that notions of effectiveness are predicated less on having high expectations and more on providing a supportive environment and that the students themselves have a pivotal role as collaborators in the process of developing understanding and thus making teaching effective