Higher Education Teaching and Learning: A Qualitative Interpretive Study of Conceptions of Teaching Held by Certain Lecturers at the Moriah University, Zion Hill Campus

This research focuses on conceptions of teaching held by certain lecturers at Zion Hill Campus (ZHC), Moriah University (MU). I explore lecturers’ understanding of teaching in the context of their actions, intentions and beliefs using Basic Interpretive Qualitative Design (BIQD). BIQD is a qualitative research paradigm that seeks to promote relationships individuals create in their world, visualising that world from their perspective (Merriam, 2009; Sandelowski, 2010, 2000), including the structure, analysing data gathered aligned to its revelation (Graham, 2002). I also explore lecturers’ dimensions of variation of practice related to: (1) The role of the lecturer; (2) The role of the student; (3) Information and communications technology (ICT) integration and (4) Assessment. To contextualise local higher education (HE) teaching, I utilise the pedagogical constructs model (Fanghanel, 2007) to explore lecturers’ positionality on filters they identified. These impact their institutional practice and include: (a) The Research–Teaching Nexus; (b) Reward and Recognition; (c) ICT Integration; and (d) Student Assessment. The research findings suggests that ZHC lecturers’ current conceptions of teaching are located in the lower–order, teacher–oriented exclusive quadrant of the conceptions model (Kember, 1997; Prosser et al., 1994) with their highest current conception of teaching occupying a location between the lower–order conceptions and higher–order conceptions. More particularly, the findings suggest lecturers’ current conceptions of teaching in four categories: (a) Delivering Information: (b) Delivering Structured Knowledge; (c) Delivering the Lecturer’s Conception of the Subject Matter; and (d) Facilitating good Student–Teacher Relations/Apprenticeship (Kember, 1997). A requirement exists for MU institutional recognition and rewarding of teaching, placing it on equal status as research, including opportunities for recognition of early–career lecturers’ excellent teaching and for faculty/departmental support for teaching/learning research. In departments, an environment that fosters collaboration among academic staff as ‘communities of learning and practice’ is also required