Higher education massification and pedagogic adaptation : An investigation of business teaching excellence in inclusive university environments

Massification, a phenomenon driven by both the collective aspirations of citizens and governmental encouragement of a highly skilled workforce, is revolutionising the field of higher education. The student body, particularly in widened participation universities, has expanded in number and diversity increasing the demands on HE institutions and their teaching staff. Australian business school graduates are expected to drive national success in fast-changing, globally competitive business environments. This qualitative study investigates characteristics of teaching excellence in widened-participation teaching environments in Australian business schools. The recency of the massification phenomenon has meant theoretical conceptualisations are sparse so Grounded Theory was used to generate new theory. Using university entry scores as a surrogate for an academically inclusive student cohort, 23 award winning teachers from the business schools of eight universities were interviewed. These exemplary business educators displayed strong similarities in terms of their approach to teaching. Seven dimensions of diversity that significantly impact teaching within a widened-participation environment were identified. This thesis argues that alignment between the diversity of cohort and both the type of educators and the pedagogic strategies they employ is the key to unlocking teaching excellence within widened-participation universities, thus giving rise to the notion of context mediated pedagogy and the associated conceptual model. Findings from this study are significant because extreme student diversity is now the norm in many university environments and a better understanding of teaching excellence may offer specific insights for policymakers, academic leaders and educators seeking to adapt pedagogy for the massified HE environment. Improving teaching quality in these widened-participation universities has the power to significantly impact on individual student success, whilst driving innovation on the global stage.Doctor of Philosoph