Towards a pedagogy for clinical education: beyond individual learning differences

Abstract

The development of teaching in higher education towards a more learner‐orientated model has been supported by the literature on individual learning differences and on learning styles in particular. This has contributed to the evolution of university pedagogy away from a medieval transmission model than runs counter to contemporary understanding of learning. However, rather than solving problems of classroom practice, recognition of student learning differences has amplified a number of tensions within the system that have not been adequately resolved in practical terms for academic staff. Such tensions complicate the professional lives of university teachers and as a consequence may lead to cycles of non‐learning as teachers retreat towards the familiar transmission of content. A reconceptualisation of university pedagogy towards an expertise model allows the variation between complementary chains of practice and networks of understanding to be exploited as a positive characteristic of the learning experience.

Keywords:

• university teaching
• pedagogy
• expertise
• learning styles
• threshold concepts
• concept mapping

Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by a teaching innovation grant from the College Teaching Committee, King's College London.