Track: Education and Impact
Research aim: Adopting a qualitative approach, this research explores the development of communities of practice among lecturers in tertiary education. Specifically, the research explores how communities of practice might develop in a third level teaching environment; the type and nature of communities of practice that might develop and if those communities of practice have a resulting impact on teaching and learning.
Background and rationale:
Numerous research studies in Higher Education have called for increased collaboration and the development of various forms of Community of Practice (CoP) among academics (for example, McLaughlin and Talbert, 2001; Louis and Marks, 1998 and Darling and Hammond, 1997). Communities of practice are voluntary groups of people who, sharing a common concern or a passion, come together to explore these concerns and ideas and share and grow their practice (Mercieca, 2016).
In a review of research studies on the benefits of CoP, Vescio et al. (2008) conclude that CoP result in educators who become more student-centred and that greater collaboration and continuous learning among academics results in an enhanced learning culture in the classroom. Levine and Marcus (2010) consider the effects of different types of collaboration among teachers and conclude that collaboration in the areas of assessment and pedagogical approaches may be more effective than others forms of collaboration. Despite these identified advantages however, more recent research indicates that in Higher Education, academics are often still isolated in their practice, and individualism, rather than collaboration, is the norm (Mercieca, 2016).
Methodology: To explore this issue, a case study approach was adopted, with the academic staff of one department in CIT forming the “case” for the research. The case study research method is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context (Yin, 1984: 23) and thus was considered particularly suited to this research. For the collection of empirical data for this case study, surveys, observation and interviews were used.
Key results and contributions:
Analysis of the empirical data indicated a distinct lack of CoP at the beginning of the research phase. In keeping with much of the literature in the area, academic staff reported working independently of others and having little opportunity to engage or collaborate with colleagues. The findings of this research indicate that academic staff would welcome, and benefit from, a more collaborative approach to teaching, learning and research. Areas for such collaboration identified from the research include, but are not limited to:
- Teaching methods
- Assessment strategy
- Research pursuits
CoPs in these areas were formed and preliminary results indicate a lecturing community that is more motivated and energised. Collaborative working relationships are observed, with resulting attention afforded to teaching and assessment methodologies, and as a consequence it is predicted, improvements in student learning. Further exploratory studies are required in this regard to enhance pedagogy in tertiary education.
Developing_Communities_of_Practice_in_Tertiary_Education_-_Final.pdf 