Constructive alignment has emerged as a powerful curriculum design idea, but little is known of the extent to which the effectiveness of this idea is a function of qualitative variation. This article introduces a model of qualitative variation in constructive alignment, and uses the results from known alignment studies to test the model. The…

The aims of the present study are twofold: firstly, to explore dimensions in the regulation of teaching in a multidisciplinary sample of university teachers, and secondly, to analyse factors related to the regulation of university teaching. Seventy-three university teachers representing several disciplines participated in the study. These teachers…

There has been a growing research debate over the relations between university teaching and research. This paper contributes to that debate by describing the variation in the way university academics' experience research, then linking that empirical evidence with previous work to explicate the relations between variation in research, teaching, and…

Uses a phenomenographic perspective to interpret and integrate the results of relational research in analyzing the experiences of teaching and learning in higher education. Describes conditions associated with two qualitatively different approaches to teaching that are associated with differences in the quality of student learning. Argues that…

Examined dissonant forms of teaching and their relation to student learning. Found that in units of study, students report a higher quality learning experience (deep approaches), and the relationships between approaches to teaching and perceptions of the teaching context are consonant and coherent for the more senior teachers. In units of study in…

This book attempts to link research on college students' experience of learning with ideas from research on teachers' experience of teaching in higher education. The first chapter provides an overview of the research and of the book. Chapter 2 presents a theoretical model and defines its concepts, including experience, variation, awareness,…

This paper describes how research into approaches to university teaching, from a relational perspective, has been used to develop an inventory to measure the key aspects of the variation in approaches to teaching. The Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI) is one of several that derive from the research perspective applied by Marton and colleagues…

Two studies with 143 and 74 students, respectively, investigated the relationship between qualitative differences in learning outcomes, perceptions of learning environment, and students' personal approaches to study in nursing education. Results suggest environments perceived to encourage deep approaches to learning will facilitate higher quality…

Examined the conceptions of teaching and learning of a group of 24 lecturers in first-year college physics and chemistry in Australia, and how those conceptions related to their approaches to teaching. Strong relations were found between conceptions of teaching and approaches to teaching, though relations between conceptions of teaching and…