Fjölgun nemenda í háskólanámi frá árinu 2002 og breyttar áherslur í kennslufræði hafa leitt til nýrrar stefnu í háskólakennslu með áherslu á fjölbreytta kennsluhætti. Hér er greint frá rannsókn tveggja kennara á eigin kennslu í fjölmennu meistaranámskeiði í eigindlegum rannsóknaraðferðum. Námskeiðið byggðist á vendikennslu og var nemendum skipt í fimm umræðuhópa. Strax í byrjun misseris upplifðu kennarar mikinn mun á milli hópanna. Gagnasöfnun var því hafin með það að markmiði að reyna að skilja betur í hverju munurinn lægi og geta með því bætt kennsluna þannig að hún næði til ólíkra hópa. Niðurstöður benda til þess að þó að flestir nemendur hafi vitað að ætlast væri til djúpnálgunar hafi sumir þeirra upplifað óöryggi sem leiddi til yfirborðsnálgunar. Aðrir nemendur voru mjög gagnrýnir á eigindlegar rannsóknaraðferðir og þetta tvennt gerði það að verkum að kennurunum fannst kennslan erfiðari en í þeim hópum þar sem nemendur voru jákvæðir gagnvart námsefninu og kennsluaðferðunum.
Changes have taken place within the university, not least with regard to teaching methods.
Apart from an increase in the number of students, they also have a more diverse
background than before. This makes teaching more challenging and calls for new teaching
methods. This article discusses the case of a qualitative research course taught in the
autumn of 2014 at the Faculty of Business Administration at the University of Iceland.
This is a course with over 130 students in which the teachers have started to use the
flip-teaching method, where students listen to a lecture at home and come to the university
for a weekly discussion lesson. The class of 2014 was split into five discussion groups,
and each one was taught identical material. Early in the semester the teachers started
noticing a difference between the groups. However, they were unable to pinpoint what
this difference entailed, exactly. The main research question put forward in this article is,
therefore: How can teachers better live up to the needs of different groups of students
with regard to the build-up and implemention of the course? To be able to answer this
research question it was necessary to gain a better insight into the subquestion: Why are
there different attitudes between the student groups?
To be able to answer these questions, the teachers wrote down their impressions of
each group on a weekly basis and students were asked to fill out a survey about different
types of learning approaches. They also examined the mid-semester teaching survey
outcomes. The analysis revealed three themes: insecurity among students, demanding teaching from the perspective of the teachers, and student learning approaches. Some
students seemed uncomfortable with the way in which qualitative research methods
were taught, causing feelings of insecurity among them; they wanted more standard descriptions
on how to conduct interviews, on how to analyse data, or on how many codes
they were supposed to identify. Some groups were sensitive to any critique on their work,
and took such comments as a sign to throw in the towel, while other groups were rather
looking for confirmation that they were on the right track. Interestingly, the amount of
effort that went into encouraging students to actively participate in the lessons, rather
than the students’ insecurity, made the teaching feel demanding. While some groups
were skeptical towards qualitative research methods, other groups tended to be largely
outcome-orientated, focusing on grades and fulfilling the course requirements without
showing real interest in the course material. The results show that insecurity and skepticism
towards qualitative research methods partially account for the differences between
the groups. Encouraging students to use a deep-learning approach by means of assignments
did not engender the success we aimed for. While our data show the students are
aware that they are supposed to use a deep learning approach, feelings of insecurity and
lack of time seem to prevent them from really doing so. In addition, the term flip-teaching
may be wrongly connected to the notion of an “easy” course. While it can be convenient
to listen to short recorded lectures in one’s own time, it does not mean that flip-teaching
also results in less demanding course requirements with regard to assignment work.
In the autumn of 2015 the teachers made a number of changes to the course. The discussion
participation grade was removed from the course assessment, and assignment
work was initiated right from the start of the semester. Future research will be aimed at
examining the flip-teaching methodology in more detail; that is, whether it matters when
students seek the course material and watch the recordings.
