http://hdl.handle.net/10034/132771 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:25:27 GMT 2013-06-19T16:25:27Z http://hdl.handle.net/10034/267472 Title: Ethical thinking in a disciplinary context: The ethical development of undergraduates and expectations of tutors in the arts, social and pure sciences Authors: Healey, Ruth L Abstract: Barnett (2000) argues that universities need to prepare students for 'supercomplexity', where "the very frameworks by which we orientate ourselves to the world are themselves contested" (p. 257). Learning to think through ethical issues develops critical thinking skills for dealing with supercomplexity, since the frameworks the students use to consider ethical issues are contested and likely to change. Yet, Boyd et al. (2008) question whether universities actually produce graduates who are prepared "for practical and ethical engagement with their scholarly, professional and personal worlds" (p. 38). Moreover, we might expect differences in ethical thinking between disciplines given that the nature of ethical issues studied varies by discipline. The overall aim of this research was to explore the development of undergraduates' ethical thinking during their programmes and to compare how it aligns with the expectations of their tutors and to discuss the implications for teaching and learning ethics in higher education. To address this aim the research objectives were to assess whether the ethical development of undergraduate students varies by discipline, gender and year; to analyse how the nature of ethical thinking expected by tutors varies between disciplines and evaluate the extent to which this aligns with the students' ethical development; and to discuss the implications for enhancing the teaching and learning of ethics. Most emphasis is placed on the first objective. To address these objectives, a questionnaire exploring students' ethical understandings and level of ethical development, was given to students in all three undergraduate years of the English (art), Geography (social science) and Animal Behaviour and Welfare (pure science) programmes at an English University. In total 335 students responded. Interviews were then conducted with tutors teaching on the three programmes discussing the nature of ethics within their disciplines, how ethics was taught and what ethical thinking skills they wanted their students to develop. The key findings are that: 1) There are no significant differences between disciplines in terms of student ethical development. 2) There is some evidence of differences between years, but there was not clear evidence of progression over the three years of the undergraduate programme. 3) Male students demonstrate less ethical development than their female counterparts. 4) Tutors across all three disciplines have similar expectations in terms of the nature of ethical thinking desired. 5) Most of the students exhibit lower levels of ethical development than their tutors expected. It is suggested the skill of 'ethical thinking' should be included in programme outcomes and that teaching and learning strategies which cast students in the role of active, social and creative learners offer the best potential to enhance student ethical thinking abilities. Sat, 01 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10034/267472 2012-09-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10034/133871 Title: A case study to critically explore one tutor's use of questions to promote interactive teaching on a PGCE programme Authors: Roberts, Joy Abstract: Interactive teaching involves an increased interchange between teachers, students and the lecture content. The use of interactive teaching can promote active learning, heighten motivation, give feedback to teachers and students and increase satisfaction for both. Questioning is probably one of the most frequently used interactive teaching techniques used by teachers. The aim of this "small scale" research is to explore my use of questions as a means to develop a more interactive style of teaching on a one year programme of study. The Professional Development Education (PDE) course on the Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) Programme in the School of Education at the University of Chester has a prescribed curriculum content which has to be taught and assessed within this one year time frame. This case study is an attempt to explore the reasons for asking questions, to analyse the different types of questions asked and evaluate the ways of asking questions that promote active and reflective learning. It took the form of a questionnaire, a transcript of one hour's teaching on the PDE course and semi structured interviews with a group of the students. There are fifteen students on the PGCE programme and fourteen out of the fifteen students agreed to participate in the study. Fourteen questionnaires were completed and returned. The questions that were asked in an hour's teaching were taped and transcribed. On the same day that the teaching session was recorded I conducted seven individual semi-structured interviews with students. Relevant literature was reviewed focusing on the central theme of questioning. Research dating from the early twentieth century reveals that there are many ways to ask a question and some ways are more effective than others. Thinking about the types and levels of questions that can be asked or even preparing specific questions prior to a teaching session often leads to more effective classroom discussions. Although many studies have failed to find any relationship between the "level" of question and student achievement, many others have shown that students learn more in classrooms where teachers use a mix of analytical and evaluative questions than in those classrooms where teachers ask students mainly to recognise or recall facts. This case study focused on the following key questions: • Why ask questions? • What type of questions are most commonly asked? • How are questions asked? • What are the effects of a questioning approach to teaching on students' attitudes? The major findings to emerge from the case study were: • Students believed that a questioning approach to teaching encouraged interaction in the classroom • Findings from the questionnaire, the transcript and the semi-structured interviews showed that questions were a way of checking students' understanding and knowledge as well as sharing experiences. • Students believed that questions were used to extend their knowledge despite this not correlating with the transcript of the teaching session • Questions which were part of a sequence of four or more questions centred on a similar topic • Positive relationships between students and students and teacher were important factors when using a questioning approach to teaching. • That there is scope for further research on how students' answers are responded to by each other and the teacher. Recommendations based on the results of the research were made. Firstly, that there is a need to prepare fewer and better questions. These questions need to include those which require students to be more analytical and evaluative and which encourage students to question each others' answers as well as questioning the teacher. Secondly, how questions are distributed to the group and individuals needs to be considered more carefully by the teacher. Thirdly, more time for students to respond to questions before rephrasing the question or answering the question oneself needs to be given. Lastly that this research be seen as a starting point for future research by individuals and colleagues in the School of Education on how to improve questioning to develop a more interactive approach to teaching. The major conclusion from this case study is that I must be more aware of the reasons for asking the questions and the type of questions I am asking and develop my use of the effective questioning practices discussed. Thu, 01 Dec 2005 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10034/133871 2005-12-01T00:00:00Z