Teaching and learning politics: A survey of practices and change in UK universities

Political Studies

Volumn 47, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 114-126

  Stammers, Neil ^a   Dittmar, Helga ^a   Henney, Janet ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0032647067     PISSN: 00323217     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/1467-9248.00191     Document Type: Article

References (27)

1. 1 The survey was undertaken by the politics Teaching and Learning Network Project at the University of Sussex which received funding for an initial period of one year from the Training, Enterprise and Education Directorate of the Employment Department. Its main objective was to facilitate the establishment and maintenance of a discipline-wide network to consider issues and innovations in the teaching of politics. This network worked closely with the Political Studies Association teaching and learning specialist group formally launched at the Association's 1995 Annual Conference. The network project received one year's further funding for 1995/96 from the Department for Education and Employment.
2. 2 Sadie Plant, 'Crash course - as old certainties crumble, what sort of education will take us into the future', Wired, April 1995, pp. 44-7.
3. 3 This includes bodies such as the CVCP, The Staff and Educational Development Association and The Society for Research into Higher Education as well as authoritative educationalists such as N. Entwistle, P. Ramsden, and G. Gibbs.
4. 4 This is a commonly made point. See for example N. Entwistle, The Impact of Teaching on Learning Outcomes - A Literature Review (Sheffield, Universities Staff Development Unit, 1992), pp. 45-7; P. Ramsden, Learning to Teach in Higher Education (London, Routledge, 1992), p. 81.
5. 4 This is a commonly made point. See for example N. Entwistle, The Impact of Teaching on Learning Outcomes - A Literature Review (Sheffield, Universities Staff Development Unit, 1992), pp. 45-7; P. Ramsden, Learning to Teach in Higher Education (London, Routledge, 1992), p. 81.
6. 5 G. Gibbs, 'Control and Independence', in G. Gibbs and A. Jenkins (eds), Teaching Large Classes in Higher Education, ch. 3, (London, Kogan Page, 1992).
7. 6 For a comprehensive analysis from an Australian perspective see P. Candy, G. Crebert and J. O'Leary, Developing Lifelong Learning through Undergraduate Education, Commissioned Report No. 28 (National Board of Employment Education and Training, Canberra, Australian Government Publishing Service, 1994).
8. 7 see for example, J. Stephenson and S. Weil, Quality in Learning - A Capability Approach to Higher Education (London, Kogan Page, 1992); D. Boud, Implementing Student Self-Assessment (New South Wales, HERDSA, 1986).
9. 7 see for example, J. Stephenson and S. Weil, Quality in Learning - A Capability Approach to Higher Education (London, Kogan Page, 1992); D. Boud, Implementing Student Self-Assessment (New South Wales, HERDSA, 1986).
10. 8 B. Wood and M. Moran, 'The engine room of instruction: small group teaching', Politics, 4 (1994), 83-90.
11. 9 Gibbs, 'Control and Independence'.
12. 10 A 2 ('old' 'new') by 2 (now/before) ANOVA with repeated measures on the second factorrevealed that class sizes increased significantly compared to three years previously, F(1,46) = 91.93;p < 0.001, and that 'new' universities have larger class sizes than 'old' ones, F(1,46) = 5.81; p < 0.05.
13. 11 The relevant scale points were 3 = some difficulty and 4 = significant difficulty on a six point scale
14. 12 A reliability analysis revealed a Cronbach's alpha of 0.83, indicating that the four types of resource constraints can sensibly be reduced to a single mean resource constraint score.
15. 13 A 2 ('old'/'new') × 4 (type of assessment) MANOVA with repeated measures on the second factor revealed a significant main effect for type of assessment, F(3,15) = 141.43; p < 0.0001, as well as an interaction effect between assessment patterns and type of institution, F(3,15) = 5.96; p < 0.01.
16. 14 Reliability analyses confirmed that these two types of strategies form internally consistent scales, with alphas of 0.83 for control strategies and 0.91 for independence strategies. Thus, a mean rating was computed for each of the two types of strategies.
17. 15 The relevant scale points were 3 = used to some extent and 2 = used to a minor extent on a 6-point scale. A 2 ('old'/'new') by 2 (strategy) ANOVA with repeated measures on the second factor revealed that control strategies are used significantly more than independence strategies, F(1,36) = 45.95; p < 0.001, and that 'new' universities use both strategies more than 'old' ones, F(1,36) = 8.47; p < 0.01.
18. 16 Reliability analyses showed that responses were consistent across (a), (b) and (c) (all Cronbach's alphas were above 0.85, range 0.85-0.97), and ratings for each student skill were therefore averaged to one, single score.
19. 17 Statistical information is summarized in note 10 above.
20. 18 A 2-way ('old'/'new') MANOVA revealed that teaching methods differ significantly between the two types of institutions, F(15,6) = 5.79; p < 0.05, and univariate tests showed that differences are significant for teaching in groups of 2-5, F(1,20) = 5.04; p < 0.05, groups of 6-12, F(1,20) = 32.69; p < .001, and groups of 13-24, F(1,20) = 4.85; <0.05.
21. 19 Statistical information is summarized in note 13 above.
22. 20 Statistical information is summarized in note 15 above.
23. 21 This analysis employed hierarchical multiple regression, where the first set of predictor variables entered were university status ('old' was coded 0 and 'new' was coded 1), percentage increase in typical class sizes and mean resource constraint rating. In order to assess whether relationships between student numbers and resource constraints on the one hand, and teaching on the other, differ between 'old' and 'new' universities, the interaction terms between university status and percentage increase, and university status and resource constraints, were entered in steps 2 and 3 respectively. Predicted (or dependent) variables were the ratings of changes in teaching methods compared to three years previously, the use of control and independent learning strategies, and the ratings of changes in the emphasis on intellectual, communication, interpersonal and personal student skills.
24. 22 Group sizes could not be used as dependent variables, because percentage increase was computed on typical class sizes, which are obviously related to which size seminar groups are used most commonly at an institution.
25. 23 Gibbs, 'Control and Independence', p. 39.
26. 24 HEFCE, Quality Assessment of French - Subject Overview Report QO2 96; Quality Assessment of German and Related Languages - Subject Overview Report, QO3 96; Quality Assessment of Italian - Subject Overview Report, QO5 96; Quality Assessment of Linguistics - Subject Overview Report, QO6 96; Quality Assessment of Russian and East European Studies - Subject Overview Report, QO7 96; Quality Assessment of Sociology - Subject Overview Report, QO8 96.
27. 25 HEFCE, Quality Assessment of Sociology, p. 14.