Teacher Expertise of Academics in Research-Intensive Universities: A Task-Based Approach

Abstract

To better support academics in their development as university teachers and to improve recognition of academics’ teaching achievements, a better understanding is needed of academics’ teacher expertise. The studies in this thesis contribute to advancing this understanding in three ways. Firstly, this thesis demonstrates the multifaceted nature of academics’ teacher expertise. The systematic review in this thesis shows that academics’ teacher expertise development involves six teacher tasks and at least three dimensions for expertise development in these tasks. Secondly, this thesis sheds light on how academics’ expertise development in various teacher tasks may be interrelated. Two studies with data about academics’ perceived teacher expertise advance our understanding of academics’ expertise development in various teacher tasks over time and as well as the relationships between the teacher tasks that play a role in this development. A general pattern for academics’ teacher expertise development over time was identified, although with individual exceptions. A subset of teacher tasks was experienced as closely connected. The other teacher tasks were experienced as more loosely coupled to this set of tasks and to each other. All tasks were found to be interrelated through mutually beneficial relationships, meaning that expertise in one task contributed to expertise in another and vice versa. Thirdly, the conceptual analysis in the final study of this thesis provides insight into how academics’ disciplinary knowledge relates to their development as university teachers. Academics’ disciplinary knowledge is not only important for academics’ understanding of the content they are teaching and how to best teach about this content, but also for their decisions about what content taught in the first place. The methodologies and instruments that were used in this thesis as well as the developed conceptualisation of academics’ teacher expertise and its development provide a foundation for future research. Insights from this thesis also provide suggestions for how academics’ teacher expertise development may be strengthened as well as for shaping policies for recognition and reward.