Analysis of the variation in the object of study in finance lectures and the significance for developing teaching abilities

Abstract

Driven by the core aims of cultivating innovative talents, many universities in the world are pushing heavily to change pedagogy. In Chinese universities, teaching reform is being practiced in various ways. For example, teachers are helped to use new advanced pedagogies to change teaching from “teacher-centred” teaching approaches to “student-centred” teaching approaches. They are encouraged to use new advanced teaching methods, and technologies are consistently promoted. It remains an unanswered question as to whether the adoption of advanced methods has any impact on what teachers prepare for students to learn. In the reform process teachers are being pushed to make visible changes in teaching practices to engage students, but it may be equally important to look at those aspects of teaching, such as the teachers’ designed object of study, that are largely invisible. Making the invisible more visible is the impetus of this research. Objects of study that are designed by 12 Chinese university teachers in two lectures in the same finance course are analysed through the use of a three-dimensional lens to ascertain the nature of what is being taught. The justification for the development of the lens comes from the inter-linking and combining of three educational ideas: tacit knowledge theory, student-focused teaching approach, and from a metaphor of learning known as the knowledge creation metaphor.. The three-dimensional lens is developed empirically in the study. In order to conceptualise the nature of the learning pathways, the idea of a teaching/learning artefact is adopted from the knowledge creation metaphor of learning. The artefact in this study is called a knowledge artefact that is constituted as the relation between the teaching method and the object of study and is seen as an entity that is a mediator of learning to “know-how”. The knowledge artefact is then used as the focus of study in each of the three dimensions of the analytical lens. Four teaching themes of the knowledge artefacts (such as questioning and relations between topics) are derived empirically from a content analysis of one lecture from one teacher, and the frequency of presentation of the knowledge artefact in that theme constitutes the first dimension used in analysing the themes in all lectures. The second dimension (the epistemic level) is a measure of the concreteness or abstractness of each knowledge artefact derived from Piaget’s theory of cognitive development stages, as in the process of cognitive development from the level of concrete operation to the level of formal operation. The third dimension is about where the knowledge artefact appears in the stages of teaching (from concept introduction to application). The analysis of the objects of study of the 12 teachers through their use of knowledge artefacts reveals how teachers provide the resource for facilitating learning as well as the advantages and disadvantages they show in the use of lecture-based teaching. Results reveal four patterns of teaching. The patterns show the differences among the 12 teachers in constructing the object of study in two respects. The first is in the descriptive characteristics of each dimension, such as the frequency and spread across the three epistemic levels and the four teaching stages. The second is the structural characteristics of the three dimensions, such as completeness and coherence of the four stages of teaching, the matching of the three epistemic levels with the four teaching stages, and the flexibility in the use of different teaching methods. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of the teaching adopted in these lectures were identified through a comparison of the characteristics of the object of study with the characteristics of learning underpinning the three dimensions related to the knowledge creation metaphor of learning. Advantages of teaching were shown in the diversity of the knowledge artefacts developed, and the heterogeneity of the personal knowledge teachers exhibited in the object of study. Teachers showcased their potential to shift their role from lecturer to learning activity designer which is significant for teaching reform in the e-learning age. The weakest points of teaching were in the facilitation of collective efforts in knowledge creation and the organization of the structure of teaching facilitating learning to actively apply knowledge. Implications of the study for teaching reform, the development of knowledge creation and the learning of students are discussed. The implications include strengthening the basic research on scholarship of teaching and learning, enhancing synergetic efforts at all levels (university-wide, departmental and individual teachers) for teaching reform, reforming the professional development work associated with academic development and enhancing support for shifts in students’ approach to learning.