Impact of institute and person variables on teachers' conceptions of learning and teaching.
BACKGROUND
Teachers' conceptions of learning and teaching are important for faculty development to result in enduring changes in teaching practices. Until now, studies on these conceptions have mostly focused on traditional, lecture-based curricula rather than on small-group student-centred educational formats, which are gaining ground worldwide.


OBJECTIVE
To explore which factors predict teachers' conceptions in student-centred curricula.


METHODS
In two Dutch medical schools with 10 and 40 years of student-centred education, teachers were asked to fill out the Conceptions of Learning and Teaching (COLT) Questionnaire to assess their 'teacher-centredness', 'appreciation of active learning' and 'orientation to professional practice'. Next, we quantitatively assessed the relations of teachers' conceptions with their personal and occupational characteristics and institute.


RESULTS
Overall response was 49.4% (N = 319/646). Institute was the main predictor for variance in all three scales, and discipline, gender and teaching experience significantly explained variance in two of the scales. More than 80% of the variance was not explained by these factors.


CONCLUSIONS
Longer exposure to a student-centred curriculum was associated with fewer teacher-centred conceptions, greater 'appreciation of active learning' and stronger 'orientation towards professional practice'. In line with studies on lecture-based curricula, discipline, gender and teaching experience also appeared important for teachers' conceptions in student-centred curricula. More research is necessary to better understand the influence of institute on the three teachers' conceptions scales.
a VU University Amsterdam , the Netherlands.
Johanna C G
JCG
Jacobs
b Maastricht University , the Netherlands.
Arno M M
AMM
Muijtjens
c Maastricht University Medical Centre , the Netherlands.
Scheltus J
SJ
Van Luijk
b Maastricht University , the Netherlands.
Cees P M
CPM
Van Der Vleuten
a VU University Amsterdam , the Netherlands.
Gerda
G
Croiset
a VU University Amsterdam , the Netherlands.|d St Lucas Andreas Hospital , the Netherlands.
Fedde
F
Scheele