Dissonance in Experience of Teaching and its Relation to the Quality of Student Learning

Several recent studies on student learning in higher education reported on 'dissonant' forms of contextualised learning engagement. The focus of the present study is on 'dissonant' forms of teaching and their relation to student learning. This relatively large--scale research programme involved surveys of approximately 8829 students and 408 university teachers across 51 different units of study. The data were analysed using a combination of cluster and factor analyses. In units of study in which students report a higher quality learning experience (deep approaches to learning and perceptions of the learning environment that afford such approaches), the relationship between approaches to teaching and perceptions of the teaching context are consonant and coherent for the more senior teachers. In units of study in which students report a lower quality learning experience (surface approaches and perceptions affording such approaches), the relationship between approaches to teaching and perceptions of the teaching environment are more dissonant and incoherent. There is dissonance in the manner in which many teachers in higher education experience their teaching. When more senior teachers report these dissonant experiences of teaching, their students adopt approaches to learning aimed at reproduction rather than understanding. It thus appears that similar structural relations between aspects of student experiences of learning apply to teachers' experiences of teaching.