Instructors in higher education are typically hired for teaching positions based on their research expertise in a particular area, understanding that subject matter expertise is necessary for teaching and instruction. What is sometimes overlooked and not given enough importance is that teaching is also a relational activity, and because of this, care can be considered to be a fundamental component of effective instruction. Research has shown that some faculty are hesitant in showing care to their students since this might suggest a lack of academic rigor and lessening expectations for students. It might also be that faculty view care as a concept that does not belong in higher education and is something that is more appropriate for younger children. Yet there is research in higher education which shows that implementing care to students motivates them to perform well in class, meet and exceed the goals set for them by the instructors, make constructive improvements and create overall ideal conditions for learning. Along with this, prior research on care in teaching has focused mostly on primary and secondary education levels, with far less attention given to care in teaching in higher education specifically, and little in the context of Engineering Education.
To advance our understanding of the potential value of care in teaching in higher education, this study presents an empirical case study of how care can be enacted in teaching in an Engineering Education classroom. The study draws on Tronto's political ethics of care framework, originally developed in the context of feminist theory and methodology, and operationalizes it in the teaching and learning setting by situating the context of the study in a first-year general engineering classroom in the department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. Since the purpose of the study is to understand what teaching behaviors can act as evidence of care, this context was selected as a likely scenario where these teaching approaches might be present. Virginia Tech is an R1 institution, the Department of Engineering Education values student-centered teaching, and the foundations of engineering course: ENGE 1216, is a project-based course where it may be more likely to see care being implemented in the teaching. Along with this, the three instructor participants that were chosen to bring light to this phenomenon have been recognized for their teaching expertise by being given teaching awards in the past, and also have experience in teaching this specific course, having taught it at least twice before.
This study used a case study approach and included two interviews with the instructor participants to understand their general beliefs about care as well as how they intended to implement care in relation to Tronto's ethic of care framework. It also included three observations of their classrooms, one for each phase of the semester, and looked at three years' worth of students' SPOT comments.
Tronto's framework includes four ethical elements: attentiveness, responsibility, competence, and responsiveness. Findings suggest that instructors' intentions with implementing care, their enactment of care in the classroom, and students' perception of what instructor behaviors they found to be most valuable to their learning, all have strategies and approaches that relate to each of the four ethical elements. The responsibility element iii was seen to have the most approaches and strategies. Findings also showed that despite different instructor backgrounds, beliefs and personalities, each instructor had relatively similar approaches to implementing care in relation to each of the four ethical elements, with some unique features for each instructor. There also seems to exist, a reasonable degree of alignment between instructors' intention with implementing care, their enactment of the care in the classroom, and what students commented was helpful.
This study took a framework developed in accordance with another discipline and operationalized it in a teaching setting. It has shown what teacher behaviors can act as evidence of care in the context of Engineering Education. The study has also disaggregated common instructor actions that usually tend to be conflated, to more specific behaviors to understand the impact each behavior can have in relation to care. It has also grouped common approaches and strategies together that instructors use, to show how when this is combined, is also a way of implementing care. There are a list of specific teacher approaches and strategies that instructors should be using that can satisfy each element in the care framework and can thus implement care in the classroom. / Doctor of Philosophy / With the idea that subject matter expertise is required for teaching and training, instructors in higher education are frequently chosen for teaching roles based on their research competence in a particular field. Care can be regarded as a vital element of good instruction because teaching is also a relational activity, which is sometimes disregarded and not given enough priority. According to research, some professors are reluctant to show their students that they care because doing so would imply lowering standards for students. Another possibility is that faculty believe that the concept of care is inappropriate for higher education and is more suitable for young children. However, studies in higher education demonstrate that providing care to students inspires them to perform well in class, fulfil and exceed the objectives set for them by the instructors, offer helpful adjustments, and generally foster the best learning environments. Additionally, earlier studies on care in teaching have mostly concentrated on the primary and secondary education levels, paying little to no attention to care in teaching, specifically in higher education or in the context of Engineering Education.
To better understand the value that care in teaching in higher education can have, this study chose a context where care being shown in teaching would be likely to be seen. Since the purpose of the study is to understand what teaching behaviors can act as evidence of care, a first-year general engineering classroom in the department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech was chosen. This is because Virginia Tech is an R1 institution, the Department of Engineering Education values student-centered teaching, and the foundations of engineering course: ENGE 1216, is a project-based course where it may be more likely to see care being implemented in the teaching. Along with this, the three instructor participants that were chosen to bring light to this phenomenon have been recognized for their teaching expertise by being given teaching awards in the past, and also have experience in teaching this specific course, having taught it at least twice before.
This study included two interviews with the instructor participants to understand their general beliefs about care as well as how they intended to implement care, ore specifically in relation to Tronto's ethic of care framework which was the theory that guided this study. It also included three observations of their classrooms so it could be seen how care was enacted, and looked at three years' worth of students' SPOT comments to understand what students described the instructors doing, that was most helpful for their learning.
The theory used for this study had four main elements to it: attentiveness, responsibility, competence, and responsiveness. The findings suggest that instructors' intentions with implementing care, their enactment of care in the classroom, and students' perception of what instructor behaviors they found to be most valuable to their learning, all have strategies and approaches that relate to each of these four elements. The responsibility element was seen to have the most approaches and strategies. An example of a strategy to be attentive is to be signal availability and emphasize proximity with the students, as well as checking in on them. Examples of approaches to satisfy these strategies would be to walk around the classroom as well as to ask students questions to see how they are doing. Findings also v showed that despite different instructor backgrounds, beliefs and personalities, each instructor had relatively similar approaches to implementing care in relation to each of the four elements, with some unique features for each instructor.
This study took a theoretical framework that was used in another discipline and was able to use this and show how the four elements that made up this framework could look like in a teaching setting. It has shown what teacher behaviors can act as evidence of care in the context of Engineering Education. The study has also broken down some instructor actions that usually tend to be grouped together, to more specific behaviorsto understand the impact each behavior can have in relation to care. It has also grouped common approaches and strategies together that instructors use, to show how when this is combined, is also a way of implementing care. There are a list of specific teacher approaches and strategies that instructors should be using that can satisfy each element in the care framework and can thus implement care in the classroom.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/116663 |
| Date | 14 November 2023 |
| Creators | Sunil Kumar, Siddharth |
| Contributors | Engineering Education, Case, Jennifer Margaret, Murzi Escobar, Homero Gregorio, Doolittle, Peter E., Soledad, Michelle Millete |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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