Dr. Keith Trigwell, Reader in Higher Education, Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for the Advancement of University Learning at the University of Oxford, and co-editor of the International Journal of Higher Education delivered a stimulating address at the UWI/Guardian Premium Teaching Lecture on Friday 30 September, 2005. Dr. Trigwell spoke to a capacity audience at the Learning Resource Centre of the St. Augustine Campus that included Mr. Rory O’Brien, CEO-Designate, Guardian Holdings Ltd. and Guardian Life of the Caribbean Ltd., representatives of The University of the West Indies, and members of the teaching fraternity and the wider public.

The Campus Principal, Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie, pointed out that the topic was timely because of the increased numbers of students who are expected to attend publicly-funded tertiary level education institutions, given that tuition fees will be paid in full from next January.

The Teaching in Excellence Awards at the three Campuses of the UWI are an important initiative by Guardian Holdings and Guardian Life and Ms. Maria Rivas-McMillan, Group Vice President, Corporate Communications, GHL, pointed out that the UWI/GHL partnership across the West Indies is a reflection of its deep commitment to excellence in the region.

Dr. Trigwell discussed issues relating to quality teaching and the relationship between teaching and learning. He emphasized the importance of taking into account the conceptions that both teachers and students have of teaching and learning, the teaching environment and the learning environment. In dealing with the issue of Information Transmission, he pointed out that, in teacher focused transmission, the teacher emphasizes the process, i.e. the required management system and other tools, which entail considerable organization and presentation skills. He suggested that student-focussed teaching, which requires active student involvement and participation in learning and therefore a commitment by teachers to this mode of teaching, is the most effective form of teaching. In this system, staff operate under the assumption that students construct their own knowledge. The teacher is therefore required to involve the student and challenge current ideas through questions, discussion and presentation. In other words, the aim is to engage the student fully in his education.

A teacher can be most effective by understanding the perception and reaction of the student to the teaching and learning contexts and thereby tailor his teaching methods most appropriately. Indeed, good teachers are good learners. They recognize the contexts in which they are operating and demonstrate effectively their ability to transmit knowledge. Moreover, they must engage in the scholarship of teaching, i.e., they must develop expertise in the scholarship and literature of teaching so that they can communicate their interest in, and enthusiasm for, teaching if they are to have a marked impact on those with whom they interact.

Dr. Trigwell emphasized the importance of the “deep approach’ to learning in which students focus on the overall meaning or message in a class session, text or situation. They attempt to relate ideas together and construct their own meaning, usually in relation to their own experience. This is in contrast to the “surface approach” in which students focus on the details and information in a class session or text. They try to memorise these details in the form that they appear in the class or text or to list the features of the situation so that they can pass the examinations. In other words, the critical appreciation of texts and ideas is central to a sound education.

The issue of quality teaching in the university environment was also addressed. Dr. Trigwell indicated that the qualitative dimension of the teaching by the individual lecturer was as important as the quantitative aspect – such as the number of books and published papers – and urged that it be taken into account in assessment exercises. In other words, the effectiveness of the teaching methods of the individual should be an important consideration when judging him.

There was a general consensus that Dr. Trigwell’s lecture had served to remind the teaching fraternity of the important fundamentals that are necessary to facilitate quality teaching. Moreover, the results of his ground-breaking research, especially that the University of Sydney in Australia and the University of Oxford, that he shared with his audience bolstered his arguments that attention to the student must be at the heart of successful teaching strategies.