Tables 5.19, 5.20 and 5.21 summarise the quantitative findings. These tables show the research questions, the associated hypotheses and goals and brief highlights of the findings.
Table 5.19: Summary of quantitative findings (Part 1)
Research question ‘Do Academics Belong to Teaching Groups?’
H1 Teaching group membership
The majority of academics belong to at least one teaching group
Hypothesis confirmed; close to 95% of participants belong to at least one teaching group.
G1 Teaching group parameters
Find out how many teaching groups academics belong to
Find out how many members teaching groups have
Find out where teaching groups are located in terms of organisational structure and teaching focus
Find out if teaching groups are split over multiple campuses
About 40% of participants belong to just one teaching group, about 30% to two, about 20% to three, about 10% to four or more.
About 75% of teaching groups have up to 10 academic members.
Just over half of teaching groups stretch over multiple locations.
No strong pattern emerged with regard to organisational unit and teaching focus Research question ‘What Happens in Teaching Groups?’
G2 Interaction in teaching groups
Find out how frequent participation in meetings about teaching is
Find out if by-chance interactions are frequent
Find out if most members initiate interactions about teaching
Find out if most members participate in interactions about teaching
By-chance interaction is more frequent than interaction in meetings.
Participation is higher than initiation. Across all teaching groups the interaction levels sit on the neutral point in the scale provided.
Some teaching groups have low levels of interactions, others high levels.
G3 Atmosphere in teaching groups
Find out if teaching groups have an open and trusting atmosphere
Over 60% of teaching groups have a trusting and open atmosphere, only under 15% do not.
H2 Importance of atmosphere
The majority of academics say that an open and trusting atmosphere facilitates constructive interaction on teaching. The majority of academics regards an open and trusting atmosphere as necessary for constructive interaction on teaching.
With 95% agreement or strong agreement there is strong support among
participants for facilitation and necessity. Both hypothesis statements are confirmed.
H3 Learning from others
The majority of participants have experienced interactions with colleagues that have had positive impact on their teaching.
More than 95% of participants have experienced interactions leading to positive impact. The hypothesis is confirmed.
G4 Learning from others
Find out if academics have experienced interactions with colleagues that have had negative impact on their teaching
More than 30% of participants have experienced interactions leading to negative impact. Many participants have commented to illustrate their experiences. Some participants have felt strong
negative impact on their teaching and on themselves as persons.
Table 5.20: Summary of quantitative findings (Part 2)
Research question ‘How can Teaching Groups be Characterised?’
G5 Determining teaching group types
Find out of the types of the teaching groups identified in the survey
The full range of teaching group types from individualistic to tight-knit is represented. The mean teaching group index is at 3.22, slightly above the mid point of the scale.
G6 Relating teaching group types to structural characteristics
Find out of what relationships there are between teaching group types and organisational structure and teaching focus of teaching groups
The teaching groups are distributed across all combinations of organisational unit and teaching focus. No pattern emerges.
G7 Relating quality statements to group types and beyond
Find out how survey participants judge the characteristics of their teaching groups with regard to faciliation of high quality teaching
Find out how survey participants judge the quality of teaching in their teaching groups
Find out if statements on quality made by survey participants match the ranking indicated by teaching group types Find out if participants think teaching quality would benefit from closer interaction of academics on teaching Find out if participants see a need for improvements of teaching quality at the University in general
65% of participants agree or strongly agree that their teaching groups show characteristics that facilitate high quality teaching.
60% of participants agree or strongly agree that the quality of teaching in their teaching groups is high.
The statements on quality made by participants are highly correlated to the ranking indicated by teaching group types. 75% of participants agree or strongly agree that teaching quality would benefit from closer interaction on teaching. 65% of participants agree or strongly agree with the need for improving the teaching quality at the University.
Table 5.21: Summary of quantitative findings (Part 3)
Research question ‘What Factors outside Teaching Groups Influence En- gagement with Teaching and Learning about Teaching?’
G8 Value given to teaching
Find out what value is given to teaching in teaching groups
Close to 100% of participants care about the quality of teaching in their teaching groups.
70% of participants agree or strongly agree that their teaching groups show a desire to improve teaching and that their teaching group colleagues value teaching highly.
G9 Relationship to colleagues
Find out if participants are influenced by the teaching quality of their colleagues Find out if participants think they can help colleagues with learning about teaching
Find out if participants think they can learn from colleagues about teaching
75% of participants are encouraged to work on improving their own teaching when being surrounded by high quality teaching.
85% of participants think they can learn about teaching from interacting with colleagues.
85% of participants think they can help their colleagues to learn about teaching.
H4 Motivation for teaching
The majority of academics is driven by intrinsic motivation to put effort into teaching
95% of participants agree or strongly agree to being intrinsically motivated to put effort into teaching. The hypothesis is confirmed.
G10 Motivation for teaching
Find out if academics are driven by extrinsic motivation to put effort into teaching
Find out what factors contribute to intrinsic or extrinsic motivation to put effort into teaching
With 35% agreement the power of extrinsic motivation is low.
With 99% and 95% agreement the effects of impact on motivation from student learning and student feedback are very strong.
The value colleagues assign to teaching (55% agreement) and the feedback received from colleagues (60% agreement) are also strong motivators.
The value for promotion (just above 35% agreement) and the value heads of sections put on teaching (40% agreement) are fairly low motivators for participants).
G11 Leadership for teaching
Find out if academics experience effective leadership for teaching
Participants rate the leadership they receive from the University management as fairly low, with percentages ranging from under 10% to just under 35%. There is substantial agreement (70%) that colleagues provide effective leadership. A considerable number of participants (45%) agree that others outside the University provide effective leadership.