DIMENSIONADO 1_Tubos de drenaje

An analysis of these categories of description in terms of their structural and referential components is presented in Table 5.1. In presenting the outcome space, it is worth emphasizing again that category includes the previous one. This table highlights the nature of the logical ordering of the categories of description, from the least to the most complete category. In addition to presenting the structural and referential elements of the categories, there is a suggestion of a hierarchy. For example, Category V would not preclude teaching as having a thorough economic content knowledge, but would suggest that there is more to teaching Economics 1 than just the teacher’s identity as a knower. Table 5.1 further presents details about the hierarchical ordering of the five categories of description on two planes. According to the table, Level 1 has Categories I and II as focusing on the teacher (teacher-centred, content-oriented). Level 2, on the other hand, comprises Categories III, IV and V. These categories are student-centred, learning-oriented with Category V as the most powerful of the ways in which lecturers at ‘the University’ understand teaching Economics 1.

emphasis is on the teaching of Economics 1, as the lecturers’ understanding of their role in facilitating the Economics 1 curriculum. On the other hand, Categories III, IV and V go beyond just teaching Economics 1 and focus on students’ learning of Economics 1. So the first level focuses on the lecturers and their teaching depends on their own professional knowledge as Economists. Their concern within the teaching roles is centred more on the issues of the curriculum and the formal requirements of this curriculum. Elaborating further on the second level, the lecturers’ understanding goes beyond just teaching the Economics 1 curriculum, with emphasis on students’ learning brought to the foreground of these categories. Accordingly, teaching Economics 1 curriculum supports students’ knowledge of economics concepts and representation skills, which in turn relates the economics knowledge to their own experience and context, and finally supports students’ thinking like economists.

Table 5.1: Categories of Description: Lecturers’ ways of understanding teaching Economics 1

Category Referential Aspect

Structural Aspect

Hierarchical Structure

Internal Horizon External Horizon

Teaching Economics 1 as having a thorough knowledge of the content

teaching as being a professional economist

teacher’s professional knowledge and identity as an economist

teaching as being a professional economist

LEVEL 1:

TEACHING ECONOMICS 1 FOCUSES ON THE TEACHER

1A: Teaching depends on the teacher’s own professional knowledge as an Economist. 1B: Teaching concerns the issues of the curriculum and the formal educational requirements.

Teaching Economics 1 as transmitting the content of the textbook, assessing correctly, and students being able to pass exam according to the curriculum teaching as transmitting economics economics curriculum content teaching as transmitting economics

Teaching Economics 1 as helping students learn key Economics concepts, and developing students’ ability to use appropriate representations (knowledge constructs and skill constructs of Economics 1) teaching as developing understanding of economics constructs economics constructs; representations (graphs, equations) teaching as developing understanding of economics constructs LEVEL 2:

TEACHING FOCUSES ON STUDENTS’ LEARNING

2A: Teaching supports students’ knowledge of economics concepts and representational skills

2B: Teaching supports students relate Economics knowledge to their own experience and context

2C: Teaching supports students thinking like Economists, being Economists

Teaching Economics 1 as helping students’ acquire economic knowledge by making this relevant to students’ own context and experience.

teaching as making economics knowledge relevant for the students

economics knowledge, real-life examples

teaching as making economics knowledge relevant for the students

Teaching Economics 1 as helping students think like

teaching as developing students’ economics Conceptual understanding, teaching as developing students’

5.4 Conclusion

Five categories of description emerged from the analysis of the lecturers’ transcripts. These range from the least complete category of description, ‘teaching as having a thorough knowledge of the content’, to a more complete category, ‘teaching as helping students think like economists’. A way of showing this completeness of the categories of description is by combining the characteristics of all of the categories into one as follows:

Teaching as helping students think like economists, by acquiring economic knowledge relevant to students’ own context and experience, in terms of learning key economics concepts and developing appropriate representations of these with the help of the text book and one’s own thorough knowledge of the content as an academic economist.

The focus gradually shifts away from the lecturers’ professional knowledge as economists, which is teacher-centred, to grounding the students as active participants in building on the learning requirements of the Economics 1 curriculum. The experience expressed started with an understanding that having a thorough knowledge of the content is important to the textbook grounded in the curriculum as the crux of the early categories. Progressively, the categories evolve such that they indicate the teachers’ practice as supporting students in understanding concepts in Economics 1. Ultimately, relating students’ learning to their real-life situation, their experience is about helping them become thinkers, ‘thinking like Economists’. The Economics 1 curriculum is a significant feature across the five categories of description. This drives the lecturers’ experience of teaching Economics 1. In the next chapter, the structure and logic employed here will guide the presentation of the analysis of the data analysis from the tutors’ interviews.

CHAPTER SIX

A PHENOMENOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF TUTORS’ WAYS OF

EXPERIENCING TUTORING ECONOMICS 1

6.1 Introduction

The objective of this chapter is to present the qualitatively different ways in which tutors involved in teaching Economics 1 at ‘the University’ experience tutoring Economics 1. As such, this chapter attempts to answer the research question 2, ‘What are the qualitatively different ways in which tutors at ‘the University’ understand teaching Economics 1?

This chapter is structured in three parts. The first part presents the categories of descriptions, describing, illustrating and discussing them with extracts from the tutors’ interview transcripts to elaborate on each category. The tutors’ extracts used to illustrate the five categories of description will be denoted with the letter ‘T’ to mean ‘tutor’. Each of the seven tutors has been labelled as T1 to T7. Afterwards, an outcome space presents the referential and structural aspects of each of the categories. In the same way as I did with lecturers in chapter five, I conclude the chapter by emphasising the importance of the Economics 1 curriculum across the five categories of description.

6.2 Tutors’ Ways of Understanding Tutoring Economics 1 at ‘the