gms | German Medical Science

Purpose: This study aims to improve classroom settings and research questions are:

1.

Do teaching beliefs and intention influence professors’ actions in classrooms?

2.

Which teaching perspectives are accepted or rejected by medical professors?

3.

Do medical professors’ teaching perspectives vary according to position or gender?

Methods: The Teaching Perspectives Inventory(TPI) test comprises 45 items regarding beliefs, intention, and actions based on five perspectives (Transmission, Apprenticeship, Developmental, Nurturing, and Social reform). Cronbach’s alpha among the five perspectives was .92, and it was .89 among belief, intention, and action. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. Descriptive statistics, a GLM univariate model, one-way ANOVA, and independent samples t-tests were performed.

Results:

1.

Teaching beliefs and intention significantly influence professors’ actions from the perspectives of transmission (F=2.337, p=.006), nurturing (F=2.753, p=.001), and social reform (F=2.640, p=.002).

2.

The apprenticeship teaching perspective is accepted by 54.9% of the respondents, 17.6% accepted nurturing, 14.3% accepted transmission, 7.7% accepted social reform, and 5.5% accepted developmental. The social reform teaching perspective is rejected by 44.0% of the respondents, 25.0% reject developmental, 21.4% reject transmission, and 8.3% and 1.2% reject nurturing and apprenticeship, respectively.

3.

There is no significant difference with respect to position, but there is a significant gender difference regarding the perspectives of transmission (male>female, t=-2.897, p=.005) and apprenticeship (female>male, t=-2.002, p=.049).

Conclusion: Teaching beliefs and intention influence professors’ actions in classrooms. The test results can provide professors with opportunities to reflect on their lectures and are useful data for improving the teaching-learning process and setting a direction for faculty development programs.