How to change and what to change? – Exploring university teachers’ conceptions of adaptive expertise in teaching

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to explore how faculty in business and related fields perceive adaptivity and their own adaptive expertise in a university based in Central Europe. We focused on the qualitatively different ways in which faculty members’ adaptive expertise can be conceptualised. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 participants, the transcripts were analysed using phenomenography. As a result, qualitatively different conceptions of adaptive expertise emerged, namely (1) Openness, (2) Abilities and (3) Actions – Attention and Reflections. The hierarchical levels within each aspect are also discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Adaptive expertise
• concepts of adaptivity
• phenomenographic approach
• academic development

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zsófia Zsuzsanna Frányó

Zsófia Zsuzsanna Frányó is an assistant lecturer in Budapest Business University and PhD student in Educational Sciences at Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary. Her research interests include academic development, faculty’s vision and mission in teaching and their conceptions of adaptive orientation in order to find ways for improving teaching in higher education.

Helga Dorner

Helga Dorner is an Associate Professor and Director at the Institute of Research on Adult Education and Knowledge Management at Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary. She researches teaching and learning and mentoring in higher education. She is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.