case study teachers perception

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• v.16(1); 2015 May

Case Study Teaching Method Improves Student Performance and Perceptions of Learning Gains †

Associated data.

• Appendix 1: Example assessment questions used to assess the effectiveness of case studies at promoting learning
• Appendix 2: Student learning gains were assessed using a modified version of the SALG course evaluation tool

Following years of widespread use in business and medical education, the case study teaching method is becoming an increasingly common teaching strategy in science education. However, the current body of research provides limited evidence that the use of published case studies effectively promotes the fulfillment of specific learning objectives integral to many biology courses. This study tested the hypothesis that case studies are more effective than classroom discussions and textbook reading at promoting learning of key biological concepts, development of written and oral communication skills, and comprehension of the relevance of biological concepts to everyday life. This study also tested the hypothesis that case studies produced by the instructor of a course are more effective at promoting learning than those produced by unaffiliated instructors. Additionally, performance on quantitative learning assessments and student perceptions of learning gains were analyzed to determine whether reported perceptions of learning gains accurately reflect academic performance. The results reported here suggest that case studies, regardless of the source, are significantly more effective than other methods of content delivery at increasing performance on examination questions related to chemical bonds, osmosis and diffusion, mitosis and meiosis, and DNA structure and replication. This finding was positively correlated to increased student perceptions of learning gains associated with oral and written communication skills and the ability to recognize connections between biological concepts and other aspects of life. Based on these findings, case studies should be considered as a preferred method for teaching about a variety of concepts in science courses.

INTRODUCTION

The case study teaching method is a highly adaptable style of teaching that involves problem-based learning and promotes the development of analytical skills ( 8 ). By presenting content in the format of a narrative accompanied by questions and activities that promote group discussion and solving of complex problems, case studies facilitate development of the higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive learning; moving beyond recall of knowledge to analysis, evaluation, and application ( 1 , 9 ). Similarly, case studies facilitate interdisciplinary learning and can be used to highlight connections between specific academic topics and real-world societal issues and applications ( 3 , 9 ). This has been reported to increase student motivation to participate in class activities, which promotes learning and increases performance on assessments ( 7 , 16 , 19 , 23 ). For these reasons, case-based teaching has been widely used in business and medical education for many years ( 4 , 11 , 12 , 14 ). Although case studies were considered a novel method of science education just 20 years ago, the case study teaching method has gained popularity in recent years among an array of scientific disciplines such as biology, chemistry, nursing, and psychology ( 5 – 7 , 9 , 11 , 13 , 15 – 17 , 21 , 22 , 24 ).

Although there is now a substantive and growing body of literature describing how to develop and use case studies in science teaching, current research on the effectiveness of case study teaching at meeting specific learning objectives is of limited scope and depth. Studies have shown that working in groups during completion of case studies significantly improves student perceptions of learning and may increase performance on assessment questions, and that the use of clickers can increase student engagement in case study activities, particularly among non-science majors, women, and freshmen ( 7 , 21 , 22 ). Case study teaching has been shown to improve exam performance in an anatomy and physiology course, increasing the mean score across all exams given in a two-semester sequence from 66% to 73% ( 5 ). Use of case studies was also shown to improve students’ ability to synthesize complex analytical questions about the real-world issues associated with a scientific topic ( 6 ). In a high school chemistry course, it was demonstrated that the case study teaching method produces significant increases in self-reported control of learning, task value, and self-efficacy for learning and performance ( 24 ). This effect on student motivation is important because enhanced motivation for learning activities has been shown to promote student engagement and academic performance ( 19 , 24 ). Additionally, faculty from a number of institutions have reported that using case studies promotes critical thinking, learning, and participation among students, especially in terms of the ability to view an issue from multiple perspectives and to grasp the practical application of core course concepts ( 23 ).

Despite what is known about the effectiveness of case studies in science education, questions remain about the functionality of the case study teaching method at promoting specific learning objectives that are important to many undergraduate biology courses. A recent survey of teachers who use case studies found that the topics most often covered in general biology courses included genetics and heredity, cell structure, cells and energy, chemistry of life, and cell cycle and cancer, suggesting that these topics should be of particular interest in studies that examine the effectiveness of the case study teaching method ( 8 ). However, the existing body of literature lacks direct evidence that the case study method is an effective tool for teaching about this collection of important topics in biology courses. Further, the extent to which case study teaching promotes development of science communication skills and the ability to understand the connections between biological concepts and everyday life has not been examined, yet these are core learning objectives shared by a variety of science courses. Although many instructors have produced case studies for use in their own classrooms, the production of novel case studies is time-consuming and requires skills that not all instructors have perfected. It is therefore important to determine whether case studies published by instructors who are unaffiliated with a particular course can be used effectively and obviate the need for each instructor to develop new case studies for their own courses. The results reported herein indicate that teaching with case studies results in significantly higher performance on examination questions about chemical bonds, osmosis and diffusion, mitosis and meiosis, and DNA structure and replication than that achieved by class discussions and textbook reading for topics of similar complexity. Case studies also increased overall student perceptions of learning gains and perceptions of learning gains specifically related to written and oral communication skills and the ability to grasp connections between scientific topics and their real-world applications. The effectiveness of the case study teaching method at increasing academic performance was not correlated to whether the case study used was authored by the instructor of the course or by an unaffiliated instructor. These findings support increased use of published case studies in the teaching of a variety of biological concepts and learning objectives.

Student population

This study was conducted at Kingsborough Community College, which is part of the City University of New York system, located in Brooklyn, New York. Kingsborough Community College has a diverse population of approximately 19,000 undergraduate students. The student population included in this study was enrolled in the first semester of a two-semester sequence of general (introductory) biology for biology majors during the spring, winter, or summer semester of 2014. A total of 63 students completed the course during this time period; 56 students consented to the inclusion of their data in the study. Of the students included in the study, 23 (41%) were male and 33 (59%) were female; 40 (71%) were registered as college freshmen and 16 (29%) were registered as college sophomores. To normalize participant groups, the same student population pooled from three classes taught by the same instructor was used to assess both experimental and control teaching methods.

Course material

The four biological concepts assessed during this study (chemical bonds, osmosis and diffusion, mitosis and meiosis, and DNA structure and replication) were selected as topics for studying the effectiveness of case study teaching because they were the key concepts addressed by this particular course that were most likely to be taught in a number of other courses, including biology courses for both majors and nonmajors at outside institutions. At the start of this study, relevant existing case studies were freely available from the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS) to address mitosis and meiosis and DNA structure and replication, but published case studies that appropriately addressed chemical bonds and osmosis and diffusion were not available. Therefore, original case studies that addressed the latter two topics were produced as part of this study, and case studies produced by unaffiliated instructors and published by the NCCSTS were used to address the former two topics. By the conclusion of this study, all four case studies had been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication by the NCCSTS ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/ ). Four of the remaining core topics covered in this course (macromolecules, photosynthesis, genetic inheritance, and translation) were selected as control lessons to provide control assessment data.

To minimize extraneous variation, control topics and assessments were carefully matched in complexity, format, and number with case studies, and an equal amount of class time was allocated for each case study and the corresponding control lesson. Instruction related to control lessons was delivered using minimal slide-based lectures, with emphasis on textbook reading assignments accompanied by worksheets completed by students in and out of the classroom, and small and large group discussion of key points. Completion of activities and discussion related to all case studies and control topics that were analyzed was conducted in the classroom, with the exception of the take-home portion of the osmosis and diffusion case study.

Data collection and analysis

This study was performed in accordance with a protocol approved by the Kingsborough Community College Human Research Protection Program and the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the City University of New York (CUNY IRB reference 539938-1; KCC IRB application #: KCC 13-12-126-0138). Assessment scores were collected from regularly scheduled course examinations. For each case study, control questions were included on the same examination that were similar in number, format, point value, and difficulty level, but related to a different topic covered in the course that was of similar complexity. Complexity and difficulty of both case study and control questions were evaluated using experiential data from previous iterations of the course; the Bloom’s taxonomy designation and amount of material covered by each question, as well as the average score on similar questions achieved by students in previous iterations of the course was considered in determining appropriate controls. All assessment questions were scored using a standardized, pre-determined rubric. Student perceptions of learning gains were assessed using a modified version of the Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) course evaluation tool ( http://www.salgsite.org ), distributed in hardcopy and completed anonymously during the last week of the course. Students were presented with a consent form to opt-in to having their data included in the data analysis. After the course had concluded and final course grades had been posted, data from consenting students were pooled in a database and identifying information was removed prior to analysis. Statistical analysis of data was conducted using the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance and calculation of the R 2 coefficient of determination.

Teaching with case studies improves performance on learning assessments, independent of case study origin

To evaluate the effectiveness of the case study teaching method at promoting learning, student performance on examination questions related to material covered by case studies was compared with performance on questions that covered material addressed through classroom discussions and textbook reading. The latter questions served as control items; assessment items for each case study were compared with control items that were of similar format, difficulty, and point value ( Appendix 1 ). Each of the four case studies resulted in an increase in examination performance compared with control questions that was statistically significant, with an average difference of 18% ( Fig. 1 ). The mean score on case study-related questions was 73% for the chemical bonds case study, 79% for osmosis and diffusion, 76% for mitosis and meiosis, and 70% for DNA structure and replication ( Fig. 1 ). The mean score for non-case study-related control questions was 60%, 54%, 60%, and 52%, respectively ( Fig. 1 ). In terms of examination performance, no significant difference between case studies produced by the instructor of the course (chemical bonds and osmosis and diffusion) and those produced by unaffiliated instructors (mitosis and meiosis and DNA structure and replication) was indicated by the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance. However, the 25% difference between the mean score on questions related to the osmosis and diffusion case study and the mean score on the paired control questions was notably higher than the 13–18% differences observed for the other case studies ( Fig. 1 ).

Case study teaching method increases student performance on examination questions. Mean score on a set of examination questions related to lessons covered by case studies (black bars) and paired control questions of similar format and difficulty about an unrelated topic (white bars). Chemical bonds, n = 54; Osmosis and diffusion, n = 54; Mitosis and meiosis, n = 51; DNA structure and replication, n = 50. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean (SEM). Asterisk indicates p < 0.05.

Case study teaching increases student perception of learning gains related to core course objectives

Student learning gains were assessed using a modified version of the SALG course evaluation tool ( Appendix 2 ). To determine whether completing case studies was more effective at increasing student perceptions of learning gains than completing textbook readings or participating in class discussions, perceptions of student learning gains for each were compared. In response to the question “Overall, how much did each of the following aspects of the class help your learning?” 82% of students responded that case studies helped a “good” or “great” amount, compared with 70% for participating in class discussions and 58% for completing textbook reading; only 4% of students responded that case studies helped a “small amount” or “provided no help,” compared with 2% for class discussions and 22% for textbook reading ( Fig. 2A ). The differences in reported learning gains derived from the use of case studies compared with class discussion and textbook readings were statistically significant, while the difference in learning gains associated with class discussion compared with textbook reading was not statistically significant by a narrow margin ( p = 0.051).

The case study teaching method increases student perceptions of learning gains. Student perceptions of learning gains are indicated by plotting responses to the question “How much did each of the following activities: (A) Help your learning overall? (B) Improve your ability to communicate your knowledge of scientific concepts in writing? (C) Improve your ability to communicate your knowledge of scientific concepts orally? (D) Help you understand the connections between scientific concepts and other aspects of your everyday life?” Reponses are represented as follows: Helped a great amount (black bars); Helped a good amount (dark gray bars); Helped a moderate amount (medium gray bars); Helped a small amount (light gray bars); Provided no help (white bars). Asterisk indicates p < 0.05.

To elucidate the effectiveness of case studies at promoting learning gains related to specific course learning objectives compared with class discussions and textbook reading, students were asked how much each of these methods of content delivery specifically helped improve skills that were integral to fulfilling three main course objectives. When students were asked how much each of the methods helped “improve your ability to communicate knowledge of scientific concepts in writing,” 81% of students responded that case studies help a “good” or “great” amount, compared with 63% for class discussions and 59% for textbook reading; only 6% of students responded that case studies helped a “small amount” or “provided no help,” compared with 8% for class discussions and 21% for textbook reading ( Fig. 2B ). When the same question was posed about the ability to communicate orally, 81% of students responded that case studies help a “good” or “great” amount, compared with 68% for class discussions and 50% for textbook reading, while the respective response rates for helped a “small amount” or “provided no help,” were 4%, 6%, and 25% ( Fig. 2C ). The differences in learning gains associated with both written and oral communication were statistically significant when completion of case studies was compared with either participation in class discussion or completion of textbook readings. Compared with textbook reading, class discussions led to a statistically significant increase in oral but not written communication skills.

Students were then asked how much each of the methods helped them “understand the connections between scientific concepts and other aspects of your everyday life.” A total of 79% of respondents declared that case studies help a “good” or “great” amount, compared with 70% for class discussions and 57% for textbook reading ( Fig. 2D ). Only 4% stated that case studies and class discussions helped a “small amount” or “provided no help,” compared with 21% for textbook reading ( Fig. 2D ). Similar to overall learning gains, the use of case studies significantly increased the ability to understand the relevance of science to everyday life compared with class discussion and textbook readings, while the difference in learning gains associated with participation in class discussion compared with textbook reading was not statistically significant ( p = 0.054).

Student perceptions of learning gains resulting from case study teaching are positively correlated to increased performance on examinations, but independent of case study author

To test the hypothesis that case studies produced specifically for this course by the instructor were more effective at promoting learning gains than topically relevant case studies published by authors not associated with this course, perceptions of learning gains were compared for each of the case studies. For both of the case studies produced by the instructor of the course, 87% of students indicated that the case study provided a “good” or “great” amount of help to their learning, and 2% indicated that the case studies provided “little” or “no” help ( Table 1 ). In comparison, an average of 85% of students indicated that the case studies produced by an unaffiliated instructor provided a “good” or “great” amount of help to their learning, and 4% indicated that the case studies provided “little” or “no” help ( Table 1 ). The instructor-produced case studies yielded both the highest and lowest percentage of students reporting the highest level of learning gains (a “great” amount), while case studies produced by unaffiliated instructors yielded intermediate values. Therefore, it can be concluded that the effectiveness of case studies at promoting learning gains is not significantly affected by whether or not the course instructor authored the case study.

Case studies positively affect student perceptions of learning gains about various biological topics.

Finally, to determine whether performance on examination questions accurately predicts student perceptions of learning gains, mean scores on examination questions related to case studies were compared with reported perceptions of learning gains for those case studies ( Fig. 3 ). The coefficient of determination (R 2 value) was 0.81, indicating a strong, but not definitive, positive correlation between perceptions of learning gains and performance on examinations, suggesting that student perception of learning gains is a valid tool for assessing the effectiveness of case studies ( Fig. 3 ). This correlation was independent of case study author.

Perception of learning gains but not author of case study is positively correlated to score on related examination questions. Percentage of students reporting that each specific case study provided “a great amount of help” to their learning was plotted against the point difference between mean score on examination questions related to that case study and mean score on paired control questions. Positive point differences indicate how much higher the mean scores on case study-related questions were than the mean scores on paired control questions. Black squares represent case studies produced by the instructor of the course; white squares represent case studies produced by unaffiliated instructors. R 2 value indicates the coefficient of determination.

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that teaching with case studies produced by the instructor of a course is more effective at promoting learning gains than using case studies produced by unaffiliated instructors. This study also tested the hypothesis that the case study teaching method is more effective than class discussions and textbook reading at promoting learning gains associated with four of the most commonly taught topics in undergraduate general biology courses: chemical bonds, osmosis and diffusion, mitosis and meiosis, and DNA structure and replication. In addition to assessing content-based learning gains, development of written and oral communication skills and the ability to connect scientific topics with real-world applications was also assessed, because these skills were overarching learning objectives of this course, and classroom activities related to both case studies and control lessons were designed to provide opportunities for students to develop these skills. Finally, data were analyzed to determine whether performance on examination questions is positively correlated to student perceptions of learning gains resulting from case study teaching.

Compared with equivalent control questions about topics of similar complexity taught using class discussions and textbook readings, all four case studies produced statistically significant increases in the mean score on examination questions ( Fig. 1 ). This indicates that case studies are more effective than more commonly used, traditional methods of content delivery at promoting learning of a variety of core concepts covered in general biology courses. The average increase in score on each test item was equivalent to nearly two letter grades, which is substantial enough to elevate the average student performance on test items from the unsatisfactory/failing range to the satisfactory/passing range. The finding that there was no statistical difference between case studies in terms of performance on examination questions suggests that case studies are equally effective at promoting learning of disparate topics in biology. The observations that students did not perform significantly less well on the first case study presented (chemical bonds) compared with the other case studies and that performance on examination questions did not progressively increase with each successive case study suggests that the effectiveness of case studies is not directly related to the amount of experience students have using case studies. Furthermore, anecdotal evidence from previous semesters of this course suggests that, of the four topics addressed by cases in this study, DNA structure and function and osmosis and diffusion are the first and second most difficult for students to grasp. The lack of a statistical difference between case studies therefore suggests that the effectiveness of a case study at promoting learning gains is not directly proportional to the difficulty of the concept covered. However, the finding that use of the osmosis and diffusion case study resulted in the greatest increase in examination performance compared with control questions and also produced the highest student perceptions of learning gains is noteworthy and could be attributed to the fact that it was the only case study evaluated that included a hands-on experiment. Because the inclusion of a hands-on kinetic activity may synergistically enhance student engagement and learning and result in an even greater increase in learning gains than case studies that lack this type of activity, it is recommended that case studies that incorporate this type of activity be preferentially utilized.

Student perceptions of learning gains are strongly motivating factors for engagement in the classroom and academic performance, so it is important to assess the effect of any teaching method in this context ( 19 , 24 ). A modified version of the SALG course evaluation tool was used to assess student perceptions of learning gains because it has been previously validated as an efficacious tool ( Appendix 2 ) ( 20 ). Using the SALG tool, case study teaching was demonstrated to significantly increase student perceptions of overall learning gains compared with class discussions and textbook reading ( Fig. 2A ). Case studies were shown to be particularly useful for promoting perceived development of written and oral communication skills and for demonstrating connections between scientific topics and real-world issues and applications ( Figs. 2B–2D ). Further, student perceptions of “great” learning gains positively correlated with increased performance on examination questions, indicating that assessment of learning gains using the SALG tool is both valid and useful in this course setting ( Fig. 3 ). These findings also suggest that case study teaching could be used to increase student motivation and engagement in classroom activities and thus promote learning and performance on assessments. The finding that textbook reading yielded the lowest student perceptions of learning gains was not unexpected, since reading facilitates passive learning while the class discussions and case studies were both designed to promote active learning.

Importantly, there was no statistical difference in student performance on examinations attributed to the two case studies produced by the instructor of the course compared with the two case studies produced by unaffiliated instructors. The average difference between the two instructor-produced case studies and the two case studies published by unaffiliated instructors was only 3% in terms of both the average score on examination questions (76% compared with 73%) and the average increase in score compared with paired control items (14% compared with 17%) ( Fig. 1 ). Even when considering the inherent qualitative differences of course grades, these differences are negligible. Similarly, the effectiveness of case studies at promoting learning gains was not significantly affected by the origin of the case study, as evidenced by similar percentages of students reporting “good” and “great” learning gains regardless of whether the case study was produced by the course instructor or an unaffiliated instructor ( Table 1 ).

The observation that case studies published by unaffiliated instructors are just as effective as those produced by the instructor of a course suggests that instructors can reasonably rely on the use of pre-published case studies relevant to their class rather than investing the considerable time and effort required to produce a novel case study. Case studies covering a wide range of topics in the sciences are available from a number of sources, and many of them are free access. The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS) database ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/ ) contains over 500 case studies that are freely available to instructors, and are accompanied by teaching notes that provide logistical advice and additional resources for implementing the case study, as well as a set of assessment questions with a password-protected answer key. Case study repositories are also maintained by BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium ( http://www.bioquest.org/icbl/cases.php ) and the Science Case Network ( http://sciencecasenet.org ); both are available for use by instructors from outside institutions.

It should be noted that all case studies used in this study were rigorously peer-reviewed and accepted for publication by the NCCSTS prior to the completion of this study ( 2 , 10 , 18 , 25 ); the conclusions of this study may not apply to case studies that were not developed in accordance with similar standards. Because case study teaching involves skills such as creative writing and management of dynamic group discussion in a way that is not commonly integrated into many other teaching methods, it is recommended that novice case study teachers seek training or guidance before writing their first case study or implementing the method. The lack of a difference observed in the use of case studies from different sources should be interpreted with some degree of caution since only two sources were represented in this study, and each by only two cases. Furthermore, in an educational setting, quantitative differences in test scores might produce meaningful qualitative differences in course grades even in the absence of a p value that is statistically significant. For example, there is a meaningful qualitative difference between test scores that result in an average grade of C− and test scores that result in an average grade of C+, even if there is no statistically significant difference between the two sets of scores.

In the future, it could be informative to confirm these findings using a larger cohort, by repeating the study at different institutions with different instructors, by evaluating different case studies, and by directly comparing the effectiveness of the case studying teaching method with additional forms of instruction, such as traditional chalkboard and slide-based lecturing, and laboratory-based activities. It may also be informative to examine whether demographic factors such as student age and gender modulate the effectiveness of the case study teaching method, and whether case studies work equally well for non-science majors taking a science course compared with those majoring in the subject. Since the topical material used in this study is often included in other classes in both high school and undergraduate education, such as cell biology, genetics, and chemistry, the conclusions of this study are directly applicable to a broad range of courses. Presently, it is recommended that the use of case studies in teaching undergraduate general biology and other science courses be expanded, especially for the teaching of capacious issues with real-world applications and in classes where development of written and oral communication skills are key objectives. The use of case studies that involve hands-on activities should be emphasized to maximize the benefit of this teaching method. Importantly, instructors can be confident in the use of pre-published case studies to promote learning, as there is no indication that the effectiveness of the case study teaching method is reliant on the production of novel, customized case studies for each course.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

Acknowledgments.

This article benefitted from a President’s Faculty Innovation Grant, Kingsborough Community College. The author declares that there are no conflicts of interest.

† Supplemental materials available at http://jmbe.asm.org

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Original research article, a qualitative analysis of teachers’ perception of classroom pedagogical accompaniment program.

• 1 Department of Educational Foundations, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile
• 2 Faculty of Economics and Business, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile
• 3 Department of Languages, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile

The need to increase educational quality has led public policymakers to create and implement strategies for improving teachers’ skills. One such strategy, adapted in Chile, is the classroom accompaniment program, which has become a case of teacher professional development. The present study primarily seeks to understand public schoolteachers’ perception on classroom pedagogical accompaniment program (CPAP), and at the same time its effectiveness. This qualitative research is a case study framed within an interpretive paradigm, in which semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data. A content analysis was done with 4 categories and 10 subcategories of perceptions attributed to the program and its effectiveness by 13 teachers, 8 females and 5 males, belonging to four public educational establishments. The results show opposed perceptions about the existing accompaniment program. On one hand, some teachers rate it positively and consider it beneficial for them and their students, who also received adequate feedback. On the other hand, another group of teachers considered that there were no positive contributions to their work performance, with impacts including greater reticence during the in-class observation process. Thus, the study concludes that the initial orientations and instruction regarding the role of the observing teacher are fundamental for the classroom accompaniment process to be effective and that it can be a valuable tool to apply for improving teacher performance.

Introduction

Access to quality education for all children is one of the top priority issues driving much of the effort around education in Chile. However, expected learning improvements have not yet been achieved. The tendency for learning as per the National Education Quality Measurement System (Sistema de Medición de la Calidad de la Educación, SIMCE) test shows that language and math results have stagnated. Further, it was found that there was a negative gap persisting in school results between students from lower and higher socioeconomic levels ( Quaresma and Valenzuela, 2017 ; Muñoz-Chereau, 2019 ). This fact, on the one hand, presents a major national challenge to improve achievement results, and on the other hand, shows the need to review the implementation of reforms oriented toward improving education.

One of the major factors influencing public policy outcomes is teachers’ perceptions of proposed policy changes or reticence toward quality measurement systems and accountability. Furthermore, multiple studies indicate that the teacher is the key element in educational transformation and, consequently, in learning achievement ( Jackson et al., 2014 ; Ker, 2016 ; Duong et al., 2019 ; Roorda et al., 2020 ). Therefore, knowing teachers’ perceptions on the implemented policy measures is relevant for determining their impact or efficacy.

One of the programs implemented in Chile is the Pedagogical Accompaniment Program. This program seeks to provide technical and pedagogical support to teachers to help them improve the methodological practices with which they teach mathematics and language curriculum and content. However, for any program to be effective, it must recognize participants’ perceptions toward the same, given their impact on the success or failure of any intervention.

In this context, considering the aforementioned discussions, the objective of this study is to know the perceptions attributed by teachers in the Maule Region to the Classroom Pedagogical Accompaniment Program (CPAP) and its effectiveness. This is relevant considering that the efficacy of the program depends on teachers’ perceptions, and their understanding, which can guide the formulation of public policy in this area. In fact, studying the perceptions of teachers on the accompaniment program allows us to identify and highlight the key ideas that will favor a comprehensive understanding of this professional development strategy and guide initial teacher training. For this purpose, a case study methodology was used through semi-structured interviews, which were encoded and analyzed.

Background and Theoretical Groundings

Pedagogical accompaniment.

Pedagogical accompaniment is a strategy, which forms part of the professional development models centered on schools, fulfilling the challenge of breaking one of the greatest barriers in teaching: isolation and solitary work. According to Pirard et al. (2018) , this strategy is oriented toward continual teacher training to improve their teaching skills. This occurs through a process of classroom intervention aimed at leaving behind the strategies designed and implemented by experts and specialists from outside the school and instead of becoming a knowledge source, through peer experience, generating knowledge around learning and its context ( Vezub, 2011 ).

Haro (2014) indicated that pedagogical accompaniment is a strategy for collaborating with the teacher during the teaching process, principally by identifying weaknesses, lacks, and strengths observed in teaching practices and working to overcome difficulties in order to give better classes. In fact, evidences indicated that the practice of teacher accompaniment, along with others positively impacted teaching practices ( Leithwood, 2009 ; Jerez Yáñez et al., 2019 ).

In other words, pedagogical accompaniment is understood as a peer knowledge construction procedure, which can become a powerful pedagogical practice improvement tool. However, Batlle (2010) maintained that accompaniment imposed vertically from above would become a tool of destruction. On the contrary, if it is approached as a horizontal, peer-driven process where experiences are shared for mutual enrichment as a team, accompaniment becomes a tool for building ( Jerez Yáñez et al., 2019 ).

In fact, it is essential to ensure instances of teacher training, to support teachers in the use of acquired skills, to generate conditions for sharing ideas and practices, to show confidence in the work and progress of teachers, among other ideas that are reiterated by various authors ( DiGennaro Reed et al., 2018 ; Duong et al., 2019 ). This is favored by the practice and process of classroom accompaniment, where both the assessor and the teacher in charge can achieve common learning objectives of students ( Jerez Yáñez et al., 2019 ). Thus, evidence indicates that the teacher accompaniment strategy, interacting with other factors, has a positive impact on the improvement of teaching practices ( Vezub, 2011 ; Jerez Yáñez et al., 2019 ) and on student learning ( Berres Hartmann and Maraschin, 2019 ).

In the literature, there are researches, which demonstrate the impact of accompaniment programs on students and teachers, however, there are only a few studies evaluating the construction of the accompaniment programs based on the perceptions of the teachers. For example, Castro-Cuba-Sayco et al. (2019) studied the impact of the Strategic Learning Achievement Program in primary education students in Arequipa, concluding that it helped improve teachers’ professional practice and also contributed to students’ results in mathematics. In fact, they showed a high correlation between teacher competence and student achievement. Similarly, Berres Hartmann and Maraschin (2019) found that a pedagogical accompaniment program helped improve learning in children and the initial formation of pedagogy students.

It should be noted that according to Cardemil et al. (2010) the ultimate goal of intervention programs is to make educational quality a reality and that it is necessary to have classroom accompaniment involving observation followed by reflection on the events observed and seeking strategies to improve routines. Thus, observation and reflection are key elements in the accompaniment program.

Observation is used in various areas of human endeavors as a knowledge acquisition method. Classroom observation allows us to identify pedagogical practices, which contribute to student learning and aid teamwork, progressively improving relevant teaching practices. In other words, it aims to support the teaching and learning practices in the instructional process ( Eradze et al., 2019 ). It analyses the characteristics of the performance of teachers and their students in the real context in which the educational process takes place, avoiding making inferences about what actually happens in classrooms ( O’Leary, 2020 ).

On the contrary, the feedback of what has been observed is the sub process of teacher accompaniment, which considers a space for reflection and orientation with respect to what has been observed. The process of reflection is necessary for the accompaniment process to be effective for teacher training ( Rojas et al., 2019 ). The feedback process occurs when the results of the observation are shared, analyzed, and understood jointly between the teacher and the observer. Leithwood (2009) says that positive and constant feedback is one of the leadership actions with the greatest positive impact on teacher performance. Its usefulness comes from allowing teachers to identify their errors and successes, reorienting their practices and constituting a learning source for them ( Haro, 2014 ). Hence, the observation and feedback processes in the analysis of teachers’ perceptions of the classroom accompaniment program were considered to respond to the following research question of the study.

What are the schoolteachers’ perceptions on classroom pedagogical accompaniment program (CPAP) and its effectiveness?

Materials and Methods

The methodological design focuses on the qualitative interpretative paradigm, which allows the researchers to investigate social phenomena in the natural environment in which they occur, giving preponderance to the subjective aspects of human behavior ( Mihas, 2019 ). It was considered the most appropriate approach because it properly fulfils the coverage and comprehension of the studied phenomenon ( Alase, 2017 ). According to Arellano et al. (2018) , “it allows us to approach our everyday life and to understand, describe and sometimes explain ordinary phenomena from within.” The incorporation of this approach in the research allows us to know, describe and interpret, from the participants’ (teachers) point of view, the effectiveness of the program. Specifically, the design strategy known as a case study is used, which allows the selection of real scenarios, which constitute sources of information ( Yin, 2012 ; Mihas, 2019 ). This methodological decision makes it possible to highlight the perceptions of teachers on the Classroom Accompaniment Program.

Context of the Study

The teaching profession is currently recognized as being done and consolidated collaboratively; therefore, multiple pedagogical accompaniment programs have been implemented internationally ( Vezub, 2011 ; Roorda et al., 2020 ). In Chile, important efforts have also been made to improve teaching practices and general educational quality ( Escribano et al., 2020 ). In fact, education policymakers have come up with diverse strategies to improve educational quality and teacher performance. Among these, ideas such as the “National Induction and Mentoring System,” the “Teaching Teachers Network,” the “Shared Support Plan,” and “Classroom Advisory Programs” stand out.

The current study seeks to know the perceptions and the utility of the CPAP of the schoolteachers and the best way is to carry out a research listening to their voices for the improvement of teaching and learning. This further would provide information to the policy makers for taking policy decisions related to the educational quality.

In this context, in the Maule Region (Chile), through the support of a technical educational advisor, an implementation of the Classroom Accompaniment Program was carried out in 23 public schools for 1 year. This intervention consisted of supporting teachers in various public education establishments in the Maule Region, through this teacher accompaniment strategy. Specifically, this consisted in;

a) language and math classroom advisory, 90 min weekly for each teacher per class, throughout the year;

b) methodology course in language and didactics of mathematics through workshops of 2 h per month for each subject, throughout the school year;

c) delivery of teacher material: planners (annual-semester-class by class-unit tests-class guide), language, math, and delivery of student material: learning guides per class (language and math) and unit tests.

Participants

The Classroom Accompaniment Program was implemented in 23 public schools, of which four public schools were selected due to the diversity of their educational proposal. Three schools were from urban setup and one from rural area, wherein one from urban setup was exclusively a primary school, and the other three establishments were from both primary and secondary level. Each selected establishment responded to different educational and sociocultural needs. Within said establishments, the teachers interviewed were selected intentionally considering homogeneity and heterogeneity criteria of educational level and geographical locations. Two teachers from the rural setup, and 11 teachers from the urban schools were selected. Out of 11 teachers, 8 teachers were from two schools and 3 from one. Information was compiled on these 13 teachers, 8 females and 5 males, belonging to four public educational establishments. Each establishment represented a particular educational Project, manifesting the diverse reality of public education. The research technique applied was semi-structured interviews. This methodological decision makes it possible to investigate teachers’ perception of teaching, and its interpretation. Thus, it permitted learning about the study subject, the phenomenon under study, and about the concrete case in question ( Yin, 2012 ).

In the semi-structured guided interviews, four dimensions were considered: perception of the program, the use of the program material, the impact on student learning achievement, and the opinion on the contribution of the Program to their own work. The interview was useful for obtaining information on how teachers reconstruct and represent the classroom accompaniment experience. In other words, the interview technique provided deeper access to teachers’ own words and their perceptions regarding the phenomenon under study. Furthermore, through this technique, the interviewer had the possibility of clarifying doubts and focusing on the subject, intending to go deeper into the phenomenon.

It is also important to highlight that there was a variation over time in terms of observation/co-teaching. In a survey, 92% of the teachers who started the program participated actively in the observation and co-teaching process over the time period of the program. There was no formal negotiation between the observer and the co-teachers in the design of the program. However, this negotiation occurred spontaneously through a horizontal dialogue among the participants, which included betterment agreements to achieve quality learning of the accompanied teachers and students correspondingly.

Ethical Considerations

The study followed ethical protocols and was approved by the Ethics Committees both from Universidad Católica del Maule and Universidad de Talca. Researchers personally informed the teachers selected for this study and duly signed their consent form. The validation process of the applied instrument was also carried out through expert judgment.

Data Analysis

Data treatment was carried out through the content analysis technique, which consists of reducing information by means of interview encoding to organize and group contents related to one theme ( Krippendorff, 2018 ; Mihas, 2019 ). Systematization was carried out through the construction of integrating matrices of categories and subcategories. This process allowed the ordering of the significant segments that make up the information in the narratives to show the results as they were experienced and explained by the social actors. Initially, the analysis was done according to each source, taking into account the particularity of the guided interview, the informant, and the time at which the data was collected. The interview was carried out in the Spanish language, and the narratives were literally translated into English, to maintain the originality of the content. Data were transcribed and was grouped into categories and subcategories allowing for coding.

Subsequently, a systematic, rigorous, and exhaustive process was followed to reduce the data obtained and the judgment of the actors in order to arrive at a reasonable number of units of analysis that would allow them to be studied with precision and clarity ( Male, 2016 ; Mihas, 2019 ). Specifically, four categories were outlined to develop data analysis, focusing on the principal themes set out in the study: perception of the pedagogical accompaniment program, working materials for learning, impact on student learning achievement, and contribution of the program to their educational work ( Table 1 ). Each category is related to a series of subcategories that allow for a coherent link between the contributions from interviewees, literature review, and research objectives.

Table 1. Thematic analysis of categories and subcategories.

Data analysis allowed identifying relevant aspects of the intervention under study, and thus get closer to the perceptions that the teachers had of CPAP. This section is structured around different assessments of teachers regarding the four categories of analysis as identified in the previous section: perceptions regarding the CPAP, contributions of working materials for learning, impact on student learning achievement, and CPAP’s contribution to educational work. The above-mentioned is in line with the research question raised in the study and in coherence with the objective that seek to understand the perceptions attributed by public schoolteachers of the classroom accompaniment program and its effectiveness.

Classroom Pedagogical Accompaniment Program Perception

Teachers value the process as an instance of support for pedagogical work, to the extent, it provides guidance for improvement on part of the observer. In most narratives, the observer was present in the classroom, but in different roles. The first one was a more passive role where the observer avoided interrupting the development of the class and in the second one, the observer was active, who interacted with both, the students and the teacher, that is to say, he or she developed more of a co-teaching role. This affects the perception of the program.

“This person observed a couple of classes, and then started participating in them–participation in the sense of accompanying the teacher wherever improvement or changes could be carried out in class, as perceived by her.” (Math Teacher, School 2)

“I do not know if everyone was the same, but at least the person I got. I cannot remember her name. It was just another colleague who helped me. Later, during the feedback, following were her comments on my teaching “look, this is good, we can improve this other thing”—yeah, good, pretty good.” (Language Teacher 1, School 1)

It should be noted that the majority of teachers interviewed positively evaluated the classroom observation process, to the extent that the accompanying teacher collaborated in the teaching process as another teacher in the classroom. This could be considered as a confusion between the accompaniment strategy and an assistantship or co-teaching strategy.

“The other person participated more in basically accompanying the kids. She went around seeing if the kid was working, showed a positive attitude, pretty cheerful. Some things caught her attention, and she mentioned them, but finally later on she also told me all the good and bad about my class.” (Language Teacher 2, School 1)

“For me it was not accompaniment, it was supervising. I saw it like supervision, from the perception she had of my performance with the students… well, I did not see it as someone accompanying, because for me accompanying, accompaniment is also, it’s interacting with students, right? And intervening.” (Math Teacher, School 4)

Teachers recognized and valued the feedback process, emphasizing the importance of this feedback being provided in a timely and rigorous manner. In various narratives, teachers mentioned participating in feedback, showing how CPAP fulfilled the stages corresponding to the accompaniment process. However, in spite of this, their narratives showed animosity toward the action of the observer during the observation process. For instance:

“She came several times. Most times she was observing, she was supposed to be observing and after we finished the class she gave some instructions-let’s say some indications of what needed improvement, or the way the content should be presented.” (Math Teacher 2, School 1)

On the other hand, regarding the importance of the feedback process, teachers reiterated that the pedagogical accompaniment process fails to the extent that the feedback stage is ineffective or does not materialize. e.g.,

“There was no feedback, none, so when there’s no feedback, there’s nothing. I mean for me, I cannot say it was significant.” (Language Teacher 1, School 2)

“It was a great idea, a relief, I mean, a lesser load for us.” (Math Teacher 1, School 4)

They also emphasized that the intervention was conceived as a process of support for teaching as seen in the above comment. This understanding does not mean increasing the workload, but precisely the opposite.

Work Materials for Learning

The materials provided during the program were intended to be a tool for the development of the learning session, the context in which the reflective dialogue between peers takes place. In the case of the present study, the focus is centered on the interviewees’ views on the planning guides for the educational process. The opinions of the teachers are different with respect to the perception of the program. Some positively valued the delivery of abundant didactic material and the orientations from teachers who intervened in the accompaniment process. e.g.,

“I recall they did classes too, a demo class with all the parts of a class, so that generated lots of feedback. Professionally it was good because having another teacher from the same specialty in the classroom where you can share a learning experience is what helps you grow.” (Math Teacher 2, School 4)

“We teachers complain or complained that we did not have time to prepare material and those things, so I think from that point of view it helped.” (Language Teacher 2, School 2)

“The good thing is that the whole thing was put together, so it favored planning (…), so they went to the objective we needed, and then we just had to adjust a few things and not have to put together this entire plan.” (Language Teacher 2, School 1)

However, not all teachers used the material given by CPAP. This occurred for different reasons, either because they considered the materials not suitable for their students or because they did not fit in with their previous planning, e.g.,

“The guides, like I was saying, I used them, some of them. The folders they gave, some of us worked with them.” (Math Teacher 2, School 3)

“Let’s see, I used the ones I thought were pertinent for using…” (Language Teacher, School 3)

However, in the narratives a negative perception was frequently mentioned about the teaching materials that were given, maintaining that they were given to teachers at an inappropriate time, causing inconsistency with the material from the national curriculum or the traditional content sequence previously used by the teacher. As the following narratives indicate:

“The guides did not come in to fit the plan, so there was a lot of irregularity in how the guides and the tests are, or were ……I could not use them because I’m more structured with my classes, so what happened was, they would have the drama text up in the first unit and I did it in the last unit, so it did not come in order.” (Language Teacher 1, School 1)

In the same line, teachers highlighted the importance of contextualizing learning resources, insisting that each reality is diametrically distinct from the other and that therefore planning and supplies must respond to each reality. Focusing on this, the teachers insisted that the plans provided needed improvement, as they were standardized resources, which paid no attention to their students’ interests and learning styles. In this regard, some narratives had details such as:

“The way they’d planned and sent out these guides did not work in this reality, in this context … the students are used to their learning pace, and apart from that pace with these kinds of students you’ve got to constantly reinforce contents, something you did not see in the plans or guides.” (Math Teacher, School 2)

Furthermore, some teachers took on responsibility for the material provided, carrying out relevant contextual curricular adjustments and granting it the singularity, which would give significance and closeness to the application of the material with the students.

“I adapted, adjusted and changed it. It came in little notebooks, so each kid got one and all the semester’s guides went inside there. So before planning each class, I analyzed the plan, adapted it, and put in something really similar.” (Math Teacher 2, School 1)

From the above narration, it could be inferred that this type of attitude required time and inclination to prepare for the class.

Impact on Student Learning Achievement

Pedagogical accompaniment aims to improve student learning through optimization of teaching practice performance in classrooms. Teachers also find further implications. For instance, some indicate there was an advantage for students:

“Yes, yes, they did it, obviously the kids learned the content…” (Math Teacher 2, School 1)

“Achievement is always limited because there are some elements here that are part of student disinterest, and different factors that, that generate…, an effective and enthusiastic learning from the students.” (Math Teacher 1, School 1)

Meanwhile, other teachers move away from the premise suggesting that the accompaniment implementation lacks evidence of learning (e.g., SIMCE national quality test results) and also shows a negative perception of the implementation of the program. For instance:

“I still do not know what the impact was because they have not given any information about it, so up to now I do not know what the impact on the students was.” (Math Teacher 1, School 4)

“I think the kids did not learn with it, what they need is something fun and didactic, and there was not anything like that.” (Language Teacher, School 1)

Teachers consider learning to be a complex process involving multiple factors. Therefore, it is risky to relate this strategy to the learning achievement, even more so when, according to the teachers there was no evaluation of the program. Thus, they were unable to see the effect in the follow-up tests on student learning, as this narration illustrates:

“Achievement is always limited, because there are elements here from student disinterest, and from different factors which, which generate an, an ineffective and unenthusiastic learning from students.” (Math Teacher 1, School 1)

Teachers insist that the principal factor influencing learning achievement is teacher labor, and that they are responsible for the teaching-learning process.

“No, because it turns out that we brought the workshops, we brought the classes, we brought them in ready, they were planned by us.” (Language Teacher, School 3)

Some teachers were more radical when they indicated that the implementation of this program even impeded the student learning process.

“There was not any significant impact, because that year on the SIMCE, the kids did badly.” (Language Teacher 2, School 2)

As seen in the above narration, the teachers also emphasized the need for other strategy types involving motivational aspects synchronized with students’ interests.

Program Contribution to Educational Work

Regarding teachers’ vision about the contribution of the accompaniment program to improving their practice, it can be said that teachers were not indifferent. Some interviewees considered that intervention should improve various aspects to achieve positive impacts on pedagogical practice and student learning, while another group focused on relevant and significant aspects supporting their pedagogical work.

Specifically, some teachers had very critical impressions when they said that intervention fell short of expectations, basing their opinions on various reasons. The most reiterative arguments mentioned the lack of frequency of the accompanying teacher, the way they fulfilled an observation/supervision role, the insufficient or no feedback, bad coordination or non-fulfillment of CPAP development, and unfortunate attitudes or opinions on the part of these professionals, among various other opinions.

“The guides, yes, we could cut and paste, and do something, and at first that helped, but then later during classroom accompaniment we did not see any real contribution. Because, of course, the teacher’s in the room, observing…but there was not a follow up, like they do now, when they go into the classroom, there’s a chat, there’s a proposal, you want to improve.” (Math Teacher 3, School 4)

“No real contribution, it was not up to date, the teachers did not know about working in at-risk schools.” (Math Teacher 2, School 4)

“For me it did not help because I still had to do my plans.” (Math Teacher 1, School 1)

The above mentioned narratives make up a group of assumptions, which allow us to assume that implementation of the strategy evidently lacked rigor, or that the teacher union is resistant to change and/or criticism, which goes along with the accompaniment process. For example, this could be due to the lack of familiarity with the classroom accompaniment process, as shown by the uncomfortable attitude from the teacher and even the students with the mere presence of someone external within the classroom.

“Students were uncomfortable with her presence, because since they didn’t know her or why she came, the kids did not trust her and were uncomfortable with her presence.” (Math Teacher 1, School 1)

Some other narratives value the public policy initiative, describing it as a positive intervention and offering important suggestions about implementing future projects involving classroom intervention. In fact, some narratives highlight the efficacy of the program and the shared vision of various teachers regarding its contributions, such as the following:

“A kind of discipline support, as far as confirming your knowledge, and training for new strategies, introducing new instruments, just general didactics.” (Language Teacher 1, School 1)

“I think the essence of the program’s a great idea, there should be more programs, but with the rigor you need to enter a classroom.” (Math Teacher, School 3)

“It was an accompaniment. The general perception of CPAP was that it was positive, both for the didactic material and for the teacher interviews guiding our practice. The trainings were related with that type of classroom support too.” (Language Teacher, School 3)

“It was an accompaniment, the general perception of the program was that it was positive.” (Math Teacher, School 2)

“Since this accompaniment was for primary school, she went with us too. And this teacher showed us, gave us some tools, more than anything, all related with reading comprehension.” (Language Teacher 2, School 2)

Some participants thought of pedagogical accompaniment as an instrument allowing educators to be attentive to methodological changes arising in the professional development process. Thus, this group of teachers considered it to be an orderly, continuous process to improve teacher performance in classrooms to positively influence students’ learning process.

As previously explained, pedagogical accompaniment is a strategy for collaborating with the teacher in the teaching process, principally identifying weaknesses, lacks, and strengths observed in pedagogical practices and working to overcome difficulties to conduct better classes ( Haro, 2014 ). However, the current study results show that both the participating and accompanying teachers must have clarity about their roles, especially to carry out properly the classroom observation procedure and feedback to achieve the expected results for accompaniment. It was found that the perceptions of the teachers changes according to the role played by the accompanying teacher, with participation being well-evaluated and a negative evaluation when there was little feedback. This can be explained by the type of relationship existing between the teacher and the accompanier, as indicated by Jerez Yáñez et al. (2019) , who mention, if there is a horizontal relationship based on trust, respect, and quality, it facilitates the process of cooperation between the teacher and the assessor for the achievement of educational objectives.

In this sense, the teachers understand the CPAP process as a substantial support for their pedagogical work. This situation gives rise to guidelines for improvement on the part of the observer. However, in general, the interviewees’ narratives indicated little familiarity with the practice of classroom accompaniment, principally with classroom observation, a fearful and critical attitude regarding the observers’ actions, revealing tension and reluctance to expose their class to a third party. In this regard, Hamilton and O’Dwyer (2018) indicate that the assumptions and perceptions between teachers condition the collaboration between them. Thus, negative impacts from the program could be due to the teachers not desiring to receive feedback, which could lead to the failure of the intervention. This has been observed in other studies such as Rodríguez et al. (2016) , who found that problems with implementing accompaniment programs, such as the accompanying teachers’ profiles, negatively affected their effectiveness.

Perception of CPAP is noted to be positive when there is feedback. This is because the information received by teachers allows them to identify errors and successes, thereby reorienting their practice and constituting a learning source for them, which was perceived positively by the participating teachers. Furthermore, it reflects that teachers value peer contributions ( Miquel and Duran, 2017 ).

On the other hand, some teachers positively appraised the classroom observation process to the extent that the observer collaborated in the teaching process as an additional classroom teacher, confusing the accompaniment strategy with assistantship or co-teaching, or, in the cases where they received effective feedback, which supported teaching works. In this regard, Vezub (2011) indicates that the better the dialogue, in a climate of horizontality, interaction, personal disposition, and commitment, the greater the impact of this type of program. In fact, in some cases, the teachers’ perception of the accompaniment program is based on the domestic and affective bond formed with the professional “who accompanies,” showing a positive attitude toward the intervention when there is a liking for the observers’ actions. In other words, the greater the teachers’ willingness to be accompanied, the better their perception of the Program.

Teachers’ attitudes toward external intervention are also related to the dynamics of the educational institution, since the presence of a group of teachers who are interested in and open to this type of practice can positively influence their willingness to participate in the strategy and, therefore, their perceptions of it. It also occurs that when no culture of continuous learning is present, many obstacles are visualized for implementing accompaniment strategies among teachers, precipitating negative attitudes toward change.

Additionally, perceptions about low contributions from the program to students show that teachers expect short-term and instant results from public policies, even knowing that the effects of classroom accompaniment programs can be seen in students over the medium and long run ( Rodríguez et al., 2016 ; Berres Hartmann and Maraschin, 2019 ). This could be explained by the fact that the accountability system exerting pressure on teachers and may impact the vision of the education process ( Elacqua et al., 2016 ).

The preceding forms an array of presumptions, which allows us to assume that, on the one hand, the implementation of the strategy lacked the necessary rigor, or rather that it was necessary to work on the teachers’ disposition since they were reluctant to participate in this type of intervention with the openness that the accompaniment process needs. Furthermore, the results show the importance of adapting classroom accompaniment strategies to context. For instance, plans and inputs or materials should respond to the reality of the educational establishments, especially for those with lower learning. Thus, if an accompaniment program is implemented, it should not be standardized but adapted to different types of schools.

Finally, as a summary taken from the above-mentioned discussions, it can be stated that the CPAP is an effective tool for enriching the pedagogical work, which influences the learning process of the students. In agreement with the results obtained in the study, it can be highlighted that the accompaniment program of the teachers reveals three main steps for its successful implementation. The first being the mutual agreement between the two actors on the class-organization before its start to carry out the accompaniment process in the pedagogical program. The second being the observation of the class for the execution and development of the accompaniment program as agreed in the first step. Finally, the pedagogical dialogue between the actors that allows to the betterment of the teaching learning process based on the feedback and outcomes of CPAP. The later allows taking future pedagogical decisions in an optimal way.

The perceptions communicated by the interviewed teachers regarding the classroom accompaniment program are diverse, with the predominant idea being that classroom accompaniment is a useful strategy when implemented with the rigor needed in any intervention undertaken in the sensitive teaching-learning process. They also said that both parties; main teacher and the accompanier, need to have a shared vision of the program.

In the same way, teachers showed multiple visions about the initiation of the classroom accompaniment program and its effects. Many of the interviewees positively appraised the classroom observation process to the extent that the accompanying teacher collaborated in the teaching process as another teacher in the classroom. This represents a misconception of the strategy, confusing pedagogical accompaniment with an assistantship or co-teaching, which distorts perceptions of the process and its objectives. Thus, initial orientation and instruction about the role of the observing teacher are a priority for classroom accompaniment process effectiveness.

Regarding teachers’ vision about the contribution of the accompaniment program to improving their practice, the results indicate that there are diverse perceptions. One group of interviewees considered that the intervention needed to improve various aspects to positively impact in pedagogical practice. Another group highlighted relevant and significant aspects of support for their pedagogical work.

Regarding the use of material, the teachers’ critiques focused on the rigor of their development, highlighting the importance of learning resource contextualization. However, some teachers took on some responsibility regarding the material provided, carrying out the necessary curricular adaptations for their context. They also positively valued the support for reducing their workload by having class material available.

Regarding the impact of classroom accompaniment on student learning, the interviewed teachers highlighted that learning is a complex process involving multiple factors, emphasizing that the principal factor influencing learning achievement is teachers’ labor. They were primarily responsible for the teaching-learning process.

In general, the teachers who participated in this study considered the classroom accompaniment program to be a valuable initiative toward improving teaching. CPAP, as shared by the teachers, is expected to be implemented more rigorously and with attention to the educational context where it takes place. The teachers valued the process to the degree that it supplied tools for improving pedagogical practice, thereby affecting student learning. Therefore, it is concluded that this type of program can be carried out by considering the selection process of classroom observer, informing all actors of the process to reduce reluctance, providing adequate guidance on the actors’ roles, and adapting the contents of the program to the specific reality of the schools. That is to say, there could not be a standardized solution for peculiar realities.

Data Availability Statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics Statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Ethics Committee from Universidad Católica del Maule and Universidad de Talca. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

This research was supported by the Chilean National Agency for Research and Development (ANID) under Fondecyt Regular number 1170369 of the year 2017.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Rojas, C., López, M., and Echeita, G. (2019). Significados de las prácticas escolares que buscan responder a la diversidad desde la perspectiva de niñas y niños, Una aproximación a la justicia educacional. Perspect. Educ. 58, 23–46.

Roorda, D. L., Zee, M., and Koomen, H. M. Y. (2020). Don’t forget student-teacher dependency! A Meta-analysis on associations with students’ school adjustment and the moderating role of student and teacher characteristics. Attach. Hum. Dev. 23, 490–503. doi: 10.1080/14616734.2020.1751987

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Yin, R. (2012). Applications of Case Study Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Keywords : classroom accompaniment, professional development, co-teaching, teacher training, classroom observation, feedback

Citation: Arrellano R, García LY, Philominraj A and Ranjan R (2022) A Qualitative Analysis of Teachers’ Perception of Classroom Pedagogical Accompaniment Program. Front. Educ. 7:682024. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.682024

Received: 17 March 2021; Accepted: 20 May 2022; Published: 15 June 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Arrellano, García, Philominraj and Ranjan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Leidy Y. García, [email protected]

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Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A case study exploring teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of professional development on their implementation of culturally responsive pedagogy, self-efficacy, and student outcomes.

Cala M. Allison , Liberty University Follow

School of Education

Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)

Sharon Michael-Chadwell

culturally responsive pedagogy, cultural competence, professional development, self-efficacy, student outcomes

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Curriculum and Instruction | Education

Recommended Citation

Allison, Cala M., "A Case Study Exploring Teachers' Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Professional Development on Their Implementation of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Self-Efficacy, and Student Outcomes" (2023). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects . 4819. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/4819

The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the professional development program on their implementation of culturally responsive pedagogy, self-efficacy, and student outcomes at Wyatt Elementary School. The theories guiding this study were Bandura’s self-efficacy theory and the culturally responsive pedagogy framework. Combining these theoretical frameworks contributed to understanding how teachers internalize and implement culturally responsive pedagogy based on the knowledge obtained during professional development. This study utilized a single case study design to examine teachers’ perceptions at Wyatt Elementary School (pseudonym), an urban family school in the Mid-Atlantic United States. Data were obtained from interviews, focus groups, and document analysis. The data were analyzed using Yin’s five-phase approach to identify the prominent themes and develop a detailed case description. After data analysis, three themes emerged: (a) inefficacious professional development, (b) shared responsibility for cultural competency, and (c) multiple contributing factors to self-efficacy.

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A study on perception of teachers and students toward online classes in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi District

Asian Association of Open Universities Journal

ISSN : 2414-6994

Article publication date: 29 October 2020

Issue publication date: 1 December 2020

The study aims at analyzing the perception of teachers and students about online classes. The work tries to explain the opinions of students as regards the impact of online courses, their comfortability in its usag, and the support received from teachers in online classes along with teachers' opinions on efficacy, teaching practice followed and training received for an online class.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis was carried out using the data collected through two separate structured questionnaires for students and teachers in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi District in Karnataka. Data were recorded in SPSS and analyzed by using descriptive statistics.

The study reveals that students are comfortable with online classes and are getting enough support from teachers but they do not believe that online classes will replace traditional classroom teaching. It also finds that teachers are facing difficulties in conducting online classes due to a lack of proper training and development for doing online classes. Technical issues are the major problem for the effectiveness of the online classes.

Practical implications

Most of the colleges think of implementing online classes in their courses. Hence, it becomes essential to obtain the opinions of participants of online classes before applying for it. This study may help colleges to get a general view of online classes among teachers and students.

Originality/value

Internet and new technologies gained importance in all fields including the education sector which gave scope for online classes. In addition to this, the COVID pandemic worldwide has also added to the relevance of online classes. In this light, it is necessary to understand student–teacher perceptions regarding online classes.

• Online class
• Online tools

Kulal, A. and Nayak, A. (2020), "A study on perception of teachers and students toward online classes in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi District", Asian Association of Open Universities Journal , Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 285-296. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAOUJ-07-2020-0047

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Abhinandan Kulal and Anupama Nayak

Published in the Asian Association of Open Universities Journal . Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode .

1. Introduction

Change is constant and inevitable; therefore, anything in this world tends to be obsolete with every new advancement or development, and intelligence lies in the ability to adapt to change. E-learning is primarily referred to as the use of technology and network communication for teaching and learning. It is also referred to as a technology-enabled transfer of skills and knowledge to a large number of recipients ( Economic Times, 2020 ). It is one such fastest growing trend in the educational uses of technology ( Means et al. , 2013 ). The advent of the Internet and the world wide web has led educational institutions to change their learning techniques to meet the user demands in providing an ideal learning environment ( Xu and Ebojoh, 2007 ). An online class is a system where students can learn subjects, discuss issues with fellow students, clarify doubts with instructor and share material and check academic progress with help from internet-oriented technologies. Today, online classes are becoming so popular that they are likely to be expected in any formal education curriculum.

Moreover, increase in the COVID pandemic worldwide has also added to the importance of online classes. In India, there are more than 370m users are on the Internet and helping online education to grow at a fast pace. At present, more than 3bn users are using the e-learning platform ( Arora, 2017 ). Growing CAGR percentage of online education in India is approximately 19% by 2020 (Technavio's market research analyst prediction). According to the recent report of Coursera, one of the world's largest online education providers, out of 18m registered learners, 1.3m users are from India, making it the third-largest market for online learning after the US and China. Even though we witness rapid progress in e-learning, it remains at an early stage of development. In this scenario, the role played by teachers and students gains due importance as it is their perceptions and attitude, which is critical to motivation and learning ( Koohang and Durante, 2003 ). Ultimately it is the acceptance of students and teachers that helps in reaping the benefits of online classes. With this regard, the study tries to analyze the perceptions of teachers and students on the effectiveness of online courses over traditional classroom learning.

2. Objective of the study

The main objective of this study is to analyze the perception of teachers and students about online classes. This research tries to explain the opinions of students on the impact, comfortability and support of teachers in an online course, along with teachers' views on efficacy, teaching practice and training for an online class.

3. Literature review

The popularity of online classes in recent years leads to an increased number of online course offerings by schools and colleges ( Beatty and Ulasewicz, 2006 ; Li and Akins, 2005 ).In addition to this, technological advancement and student demand in online classes ( Bennett and Lockyer, 2004 ; Britt, 2006 ) have influenced colleges and universities to implement online classes along with the normal course. Here the noteworthy point is online classes are not compelled to schools to implement it but is considered as a modern tool for handling issues during the learning process ( Agustina and Cahyono, 2017 ).

Most of the universities are planning to invest in internet-based class and on recruiting and training faculty to teach online ( Floyd, 2003 ; Koehler et al. , 2004 ). One of the surveys suggests that online teachings will continue to increase significantly in educational as well as the corporate organization in future coming years ( Meyen et al. , 2002 ). Because of all these developments in education it is believed that online-based teaching is interactive ( Johnston et al. , 2005 ) and online teaching creates environments where students actively engage with the material and learn by practical activity ( Palloff and Pratt, 2013 ) and also refers to their understanding as they build new knowledge. Moreover, in the past decades, online classes are gaining so much importance all over the world, and it shifts the thought of colleges that “Online class is an Optional” to “Online class is necessary” ( Larreamendy-Joems and Leinhardt, 2006 ).

Many colleges implement online teaching in their course without proper planning, but they first introduced for faculty development program ( Abhinandan, 2018 ). The Internet has enabled the delivery of instruction at a lower cost than in face-to-face classroom teaching; thus, it provides more opportunities for learners to take courses ( Murday et al. , 2008 ). Many research was conducted to examine the behavior of teachers and students toward the online class. It observed that the main reasons for taking an online class by the students were “flexibility” and “self–control” within the learning environment, and they also perceived that online class would be a convenient method of teaching compared to traditional classroom learning. Here convenience based in terms “Price” and “self-directed learning” ( Armstrong, 2011 ) and students from the traditional method of schooling have feelings about the social aspects involved in online courses, but online students have had positive experiences – though the online courses have not always met their expectations in learning aspects and that both the learners perceive online learning as convenient though not necessarily conducive to their learning. Schools and colleges must consider the impact of online classes when online classes play an important role in the learning process ( Burns, 2013 ).

Even though students are the positive side of an online class, but other participants of an online class, i.e. teachers, have mixed opinions about online class. Teachers should analyze what is currently presented and what is the better way to present the way to subject to a complete understanding of course by examining “Faculty perceptions,” “training,” “mentoring,” and “best practices” ( Agustina and Cahyono, 2017 ; Dja'far et al. , 2016 ). Many faculties opined that through faculty development program one can became an effective online instructor and he/she can develop best career journey as mentorship ( Billings and Kowalski, 2008 ), and Conrad and Donaldson (2004) highlighted the importance of building a sense of community in online teaching from teachers' perspective. There is much research that supports the point of “Training and Development” for an effective conducting of online class ( DiPietro et al. , 2008 ). According to Ballew (2017) , 74% of the online instructor of K-12 opined that the promotion development program must be added to the school program to enhance the teaching ability of the instructor.

There are many researches explains that the limitations of online classes, which say that online classes are convenient, less costly and easy to access, so these factors made differences between online learning and face-to-face learning many students who are successful in the traditional classroom ( Kebritchi et al. , 2017 ) are not equally as successful in an online class ( Cheung and Kan, 2002 ; Tucker, 2001 ). In fact, students with a GPA score of less than 2.9 succeeded more in an online class than students with GPA scores of more than 2.9 ( Sugilar, 2017 ). Many students believed that degrees obtained through online classes are not valid as much as a traditional method of classroom teaching. This may affect the desire of students to enroll in online courses. So, there is a need for awareness programs regarding the importance of online learning ( Allen and Seaman, 2010 ; Bejerano, 2008 ).

For the effective conducting of an online class, there is a need of skills that students may need to handle online classes, such as: ability to learn revised learning practices, capacity to develop new vocabulary and ability to discuss with teacher in patience ( Eastmond, 1995 ; Gibbson, 1998 ; Kearsley, 2000 ). From all these reviews, it observed that there is a need for the study in the area of perception of teachers and students in online classes. After the outbreak of COVID 19 in the entire world, the online classes became compulsory for education institutions. Therefore, a survey was conducted to collect opinions of both tutor and pupil about online classes.

4. Research methodology

This study investigated the student–teachers' perception of an online class in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka. This study utilized a descriptive quantitative design to obtain the opinions of the respondents. The respondents of this study consisted of all the postgraduate and graduate students and teachers from different colleges in two districts. It identified that around 10,000 students are pursuing their course in these colleges. Teachers and students were selected for this study on a random basis. These students and teachers are from different academic fields like arts, science, commerce and humanities. The population also diversified in demographic profiles like age, gender and native place. Yates formula was used to select sample size from the total population. Simple random sampling techniques were used for the selection of the sample. The sample size consists of 68 teachers and 203 students from different colleges in the research area. This research study conducted two surveys; one is to the student population and the other to the teacher population.

Five-point Likert scale was used to collect the opinion of both teachers and students in the online class. Five-point Likert scale indicates with one being strongly disagreed and five being strongly agreed. After constructing a questionnaire, to know the feasibility of the questionnaire, a pilot study conducted and reviewed the questionnaire. A survey instrument with demographic questions for students, demographic questions for instructors, questions for students regarding perceptions of “Impact,” “Comfortability” and “Support from the teacher” and for instructors related to perceptions of “Teaching Practice,” “efficacy” and “Training and Development” was available. Questionnaires were distributed to participants by using Google form, and participants were informed that all opinions provided by them were kept confidential. The data were collected and recorded in a systematic way, later analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20. Collected data were categorized into demographic information, perception and tools used. Secondary sources are used for reviewing the concept and supporting the findings.

5. Demographic profile of the respondents

The demographic details of both teachers and students were collected to know their background like gender, education, number of years of offline and online teaching experience of teachers and gender, course pursuing, number of years in the online class of students. The following table explains the demographic background of the respondents.

Table 1 indicates the demographic profile of the respondents, which shows that females are major in respondents, i.e. teachers = 39(57.4%) and in students = 141(69.5%). Majority of the teachers (63.2%) are conducting online classes, and 73.9% of students are taking online courses. The majority of the teachers (45.7%) have a post graduation degree with NET qualification, and 60.9% of the respondents are young faculty having teaching experience less than five years. 80% of the teachers are conducting an online class for the first time because, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, it made most of the teachers start to take online classes. Responses were collected from the students of different fields of study where commerce students (56.6%) participated most in the survey. For making online classes, computer knowledge or Internet knowledge is essential. Therefore the researcher asked the students about the level of expertise in computer handling. The result showed that the majority of the students (67.9%) had a high level of computer knowledge.

6. Tools used for online class

There are enormous numbers of online class tools available in the market. Some of the tools are free, and some of the tools are premium. To know the popular tools used among participants, the researcher were asked to mention the tools they used for their online classes. For this question, participants can specify more than one option. The result of the matter are depicted in the following figure ( Figure 1 ).

From the above chart, we can quickly identify that among the many popular online tools available in India “Google classroom” is the most used ( N  = 107) and preferred tools for an online class in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada District. “Zoom App” is considered the second most popular ( N  = 86) and preferred tool for an online class. Even though Skype is the most popular online tool for communication, but here it is considered least using tools ( N  = 3). Here the interesting fact is that many academicians are using social network tools (WhatsApp) for online classes. This analysis explains that easy and convenient tools are used for online class irrespective of their purpose.

7. Students' perception of online class

It is students whose opinion matters most in the education system. Online classes may become a chunk of the future education system, but it cannot be carried for the future unless students accept it. Therefore, the survey asked students about comfortability, support from teachers and the impact of online class on their studies. To observe the selected variables, a questionnaire was constructed by asking statements on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed to evaluate our survey instrument. We performed EFA separately for “Impact,” “Comfortability,” and “Support.” Using eigenvalues more significant than one as the criterion ( Hayton et al. , 2004 ), each of the variables suggests a one-factor solution. After that, we removed items with factor loadings below 0.50.

Next, internal reliability tests were conducted for each variable based on the final items retained ( Table 3 ). EFA explains what items represent selected factors, and it suggests the removal of non-representation items for the factor. Table 2 explains the percentage of variance defined by each item and communality value.

Initially, in the questionnaire, we asked five statements related to “Impact of Online Class,” Seven statements related to “Comfortability,” and six statements that represent “Support.” EFA was conducted to reduce the number of items that less explains the respective factors. While doing the analysis, it finds that in the “Impact” factor, three statements describe 90.062% of the factor; therefore, the researcher removed other items. Here the value of communality, which explains us the extent of variance is considered for extracted factor (If the communality value less than 0.5 it would be removed from the factor). In the case of “Comfortability” out of seven items, three items explain 72.679% of the factor with communality value more than 0.5, and in “Support from the teacher” out of seven items, three statements describe 88.184% of the element, after conducting an EFA researcher conducted to reliability test for selected items of factor. Reliability analysis was undertaken to know the consistency in opinions among scale data. If the Cronbach's alpha values more than 0.6, then it is considered as reliable data; otherwise, there is a need for improvisation of data either by transformation or collecting more data. Table 3 shows the result of the reliability test.

This table explains that the internal reliability of each selected item is more than the standard alpha value (0.6); therefore, it can say that the opinions from the respondents are reliable. Table 4 explains students' perception of the impact of an online class, comfortability and support from eachers for an online class. According to Eastmond (1995) , students' comprehension, mindset and attitude toward online classes are essential aspects for the success of online teaching. It is crucial to create an opportunity for outside interaction between faculty and students ( Levine, 2005 ) to increase the motivation of students to learn. On this behalf, the researcher identifies the perception of students on three critical questions like impact of online class on students, is online class comfortable to students and whether students get enough support from teachers.

Positive perception:

(2) Negative perception:

Negative statements like, “I cannot concentrate longer time for online classes” ( M  = 3.13), “I feel puzzled and frustrated with the content delivered in online classes” ( M  = 3.27) and “Teachers are facing difficulty in the retention of students” ( M  = 3.41) make negative perception. A combined mean of positive perception and negative perception ( Table 5 ) tells us students perceived online classes as positive with a mean value of 3.9017, which is higher than negative perception mean value ( M  = 2.7907). Therefore, overall, students have definite opinions about online classes. Still, when we consider individually, students have a great precise idea about “Impact” and “Support from the teacher” than “Comfortability” (See Table 4 ).

8. Teachers' perception of online class

The other important pillar of online teaching is teacher. Their interest and skills in handling online classes are essential aspects. How did teachers perceive online classes, whether teachers are capable of handling online classes, these are the questions that arise before implementing it because some of the faculty members may not always have the competency to teach courses online ( Sims et al. , 2002 ). A cultural background constructs a different perception among teachers ( Buddhini and Charlotte, 2016 ). Therefore, the researcher felt that it is not unfair to collect opinions of both the participants, i.e. students and teachers. In addition to demographic information, the survey asked about the teachers' perception of their teaching practices, their general self-efficacy in teaching and technology and the professional development they received and expected to win. The items like “Teaching Practice” “Training and Development” and “Efficacy” are collected through five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 is strongly disagree and 5 is strongly agree. These items analyzed with detailed description are given by Lin and Zheng (2015) . After collecting data, the researcher conducted an internal reliability test that was done for seven items of “Teaching Practice,” 5 items of “Efficacy,” and six items of “Training and Support” variables, and elements of each variable showed Cronbach's value more than 0.6. As this questionnaire was well-constructed and verified in the previous research, Lin and Zheng (2015) , the researcher directly did the descriptive analysis. The result of the descriptive study is depicted in Table 6 .

From the results of the descriptive statistics, it appeared to us that teachers agree with the teaching practices they follow with a mean score of 3.6085, and they also believed that they have very much confidence in the effectiveness of online classes they conducted ( M  = 3.4093). But they are not satisfied with the training and support given by the institution. This result shows that teachers attended online classes without training or less training, and they are satisfied with their performance. Teachers communicating with their students regularly to engage them ( M  = 3.81) is the frequently used teaching practice along with “ I help students make connections between content and their lives,” which has a mean score of 3.63 ( N  = 43). For the effectiveness of an online class, most of the teachers set guidelines for communication and interaction ( M  = 4.07) so that no student misuse the online platform. Teachers rated average for professional development on organizing and structuring instructional content ( M  = 2.79) and professional development on online classroom management. By considering all statements for analysis, it was found that it can divide into positive perception and negative perception. The result of the combined mean of positive perception and negative perception are shown in Table 7 .

When considering the overall opinions of teachers about online class, it indicates that teachers have mixed opinions. The combined mean of negative perception ( M  = 3.3953) is more than the combined way of negative perception (3.2767). Even though the difference between the two is not significant, teachers have their reasons for disliking online classes. Some of the respondents expressed their opinion in the open-ended question, stating that they believe that “online class will increase unemployment or reduce the demand of teachers,” “Online class failed to fill the emotional attachment between teacher and student,” “Without providing proper infrastructure facility it is challenging to conduct online class” and they also opined that “It is challenging to conduct an online class for practical subjects.” Conclusively we can say that teachers are not supporting for implementing online classes without proper training and proper infrastructure facilities like network and computers.

9. Reasons for not conducting/preferring online class

However, online classes are value-added techniques for the modern education system and which has future prospectus. Many teachers and students do not believe in this aspect or not comfortable in an online class. Therefore, the survey asked reasons to teachers ( N  = 25) and students ( N  = 53) who were not conducting or preferring online classes.

Table 8 shows that the main reasons for teachers not conducting online classes are “Due to technical issues” and “Teacher believed that the Traditional Method of Teaching is a better method for effective teaching. In addition to this, some teachers also opined that they do not feel secure in private online tools like the Zoom app. They also believe that in an online class it is challenging to have an emotional attachment with students and vice versa.

Students' participation is an essential aspect of the successful implementation of online classes in the current education system. Many students believe that an online class has great transformation for the education system, and they prefer it because of its time and location flexibility and broad knowledge base. But some more students believe that online class cannot reach them, and they also stated reasons for rejection of online class. Table 9 explains the reasons for not taking online classes from the students' perspective.

Students opined that online class is not an effective method as classroom learning (82.4%), and they also have the opinion that it is complicated for them to grasp the online learning system. It observed from both teacher and students' views that lack of infrastructure for an online class like availability of smartphone or laptop and network issues are the major problem or reasons for the insignificance of online class among respondents.

10. Conclusion and recommendation

Online learning is an exciting new way to learn about almost anything. It has bought a positive impact on the lives of students as well as teachers. The increasing use of technology in the field of learning has improved the quality of education. Both students and teachers have optimistic views about online classes. However, there is always much room for improvement as far as online learning goes.

It is evident that online learning has more significant benefits like it fills the gap of literacy rate by reaching to the rural areas ( Ritimoni, 2018 ). Still, to effectively implement in a country like India, certain things have to be taken note of. This includes strengthening infrastructure facilities, improvement in Internet connectivity, development of rural areas, bringing changes in the attitude of students and teachers, etc. Colleges and other educational institutions are required to provide excellent training and support to both student and teachers regarding the usage of online classes that helps in increasing their comfortability. “No Smartphones or Laptop” is one of the major problems of rural students, and Network issues also add to the problem for rural teachers and students. One of the major problems faced by students from a rural area is teachers need to observe the transition in their roles, i.e. from merely being a transmitter of knowledge to the designer of the educational process. In traditional classroom learning, students are always said to be spoon-fed, but online classes necessitate a learner-centered environment that requires students to be self-motivated and self-directed. Colleges and teachers need to put any effort into changing the mindset of students. To achieve this goal, colleges or government has to take training and development programs to teachers as well as students regularly.

The study also proved that e-learning has a more significant role to play in the future, but it cannot be a replacement to traditional face-to-face classroom learning. A complete transition to online learning is quite tricky. However, we cannot ignore the benefits derived from e-learning. As such, there is a need to understand the obstacles that come in the way of accepting online learning and take corrective measures to overcome it.

Tools used for online class

Demographic profile of the respondents

Reliability analysis

Descriptive statistics of students' perception

Combined mean of positive and negative perception

Descriptive statistics for teaching practice, efficacy and training and support

Combined mean of positive and negative perception (teachers' perception)

Reasons for not conducting online class (Teachers' Perception)

Reasons for not preferring online class (students' perception)

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Home > Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects > Theses and Dissertations > 2240

Theses and Dissertations

What is teacher effectiveness a case study of educator perceptions in a midwest elementary school.

Christine Lynn Job

Date of Award

January 2017

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Pauline Stonehouse

Research has shown that teacher effectiveness is the most significant school-level factor impacting student achievement (McCaffrey, Koretz, Lockwood, & Hamilton, 2004; Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2005; Rockoff, 2004), and yet little is known about teacher and administrator perceptions of teacher effectiveness. Through this qualitative case study, I explored the perceptions of elementary school teachers and their principal regarding teacher effectiveness. I examined the extent to which there was a shared understanding of teacher effectiveness, if teachers and their principal perceptions were the same or different, and how teacher perceptions aligned to the teacher evaluation system used at this school. Semi-structured interviews, observations of classrooms and team meetings, and an analysis of authentic school documents were used in this in-depth study of one single. Shared and divergent perceptions between classroom teachers, their principal, and the teacher evaluation system were revealed.

The perceptions of teacher effectiveness are critical in supporting teacher growth. Our ever-changing classrooms and the students within them require that we continually update what effective and successful teaching looks like. This research will impact education by enabling teachers and administrators to reflect on their own understanding and vision of teacher effectiveness and plan for successful school improvement. This study is vital for educators striving to become more effective in increasing student achievement and for the school systems supporting this effort.

Keywords: teacher effectiveness, teacher evaluation, teacher improvement, school improvement

Recommended Citation

Job, Christine Lynn, "What Is Teacher Effectiveness? A Case Study Of Educator Perceptions In A Midwest Elementary School" (2017). Theses and Dissertations . 2240. https://commons.und.edu/theses/2240

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Gabriela Salinas and Jeeva Somasundaram

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

In April this year, Hein Schumacher, chief executive of Unilever, announced that the company was entering a “new era for sustainability leadership”, and signalled a shift from the central priority promoted under his predecessor , Alan Jope.

While Jope saw lack of social purpose or environmental sustainability as the way to prune brands from the portfolio, Schumacher has adopted a more balanced approach between purpose and profit. He stresses that Unilever should deliver on both sustainability commitments and financial goals. This approach, which we dub “realistic sustainability”, aims to balance long- and short-term environmental goals, ambition, and delivery.

As a result, Unilever’s refreshed sustainability agenda focuses harder on fewer commitments that the company says remain “very stretching”. In practice, this entails extending deadlines for taking action as well as reducing the scale of its targets for environmental, social and governance measures.

Such backpedalling is becoming widespread — with many companies retracting their commitments to climate targets , for example. According to FactSet, a US financial data and software provider, the number of US companies in the S&P 500 index mentioning “ESG” on their earnings calls has declined sharply : from a peak of 155 in the fourth quarter 2021 to just 29 two years later. This trend towards playing down a company’s ESG efforts, from fear of greater scrutiny or of accusations of empty claims, even has a name: “greenhushing”.

Test yourself

This is the fourth in a series of monthly business school-style teaching case studies devoted to the responsible business dilemmas faced by organisations. Read the piece and FT articles suggested at the end before considering the questions raised.

About the authors: Gabriela Salinas is an adjunct professor of marketing at IE University; Jeeva Somasundaram is an assistant professor of decision sciences in operations and technology at IE University.

The series forms part of a wider collection of FT ‘instant teaching case studies ’, featured across our Business Education publications, that explore management challenges.

The change in approach is not limited to regulatory compliance and corporate reporting; it also affects consumer communications. While Jope believed that brands sold more when “guided by a purpose”, Schumacher argues that “we don’t want to force fit [purpose] on brands unnecessarily”.

His more nuanced view aligns with evidence that consumers’ responses to the sustainability and purpose communication attached to brand names depend on two key variables: the type of industry in which the brand operates; and the specific aspect of sustainability being communicated.

In terms of the sustainability message, research in the Journal of Business Ethics found consumers can be less interested when product functionality is key. Furthermore, a UK survey in 2022 found that about 15 per cent of consumers believed brands should support social causes, but nearly 60 per cent said they would rather see brand owners pay taxes and treat people fairly.

Among investors, too, “anti-purpose” and “anti-ESG” sentiment is growing. One (unnamed) leading bond fund manager even suggested to the FT that “ESG will be dead in five years”.

Media reports on the adverse impact of ESG controversies on investment are certainly now more frequent. For example, while Jope was still at the helm, the FT reported criticism of Unilever by influential fund manager Terry Smith for displaying sustainability credentials at the expense of managing the business.

Yet some executives feel under pressure to take a stand on environmental and social issues — in many cases believing they are morally obliged to do so or through a desire to improve their own reputations. This pressure may lead to a conflict with shareholders if sustainability becomes a promotional tool for managers, or for their personal social responsibility agenda, rather than creating business value .

Such opportunistic behaviours may lead to a perception that corporate sustainability policies are pursued only because of public image concerns.

Alison Taylor, at NYU Stern School of Business, recently described Unilever’s old materiality map — a visual representation of how companies assess which social and environmental factors matter most to them — to Sustainability magazine. She depicted it as an example of “baggy, vague, overambitious goals and self-aggrandising commitments that make little sense and falsely suggest a mayonnaise and soap company can solve intractable societal problems”.

In contrast, the “realism” approach of Schumacher is being promulgated as both more honest and more feasible. Former investment banker Alex Edmans, at London Business School, has coined the term “rational sustainability” to describe an approach that integrates financial principles into decision-making, and avoids using sustainability primarily for enhancing social image and reputation.

Such “rational sustainability” encompasses any business activity that creates long-term value — including product innovation, productivity enhancements, or corporate culture initiatives, regardless of whether they fall under the traditional ESG framework.

Similarly, Schumacher’s approach aims for fewer targets with greater impact, all while keeping financial objectives in sight.

Complex objectives, such as having a positive impact on the world, may be best achieved indirectly, as expounded by economist John Kay in his book, Obliquity . Schumacher’s “realistic sustainability” approach means focusing on long-term value creation, placing customers and investors to the fore. Saving the planet begins with meaningfully helping a company’s consumers and investors. Without their support, broader sustainability efforts risk failure.

Questions for discussion

Read: Unilever has ‘lost the plot’ by fixating on sustainability, says Terry Smith

Companies take step back from making climate target promises

The real impact of the ESG backlash

Unilever’s new chief says corporate purpose can be ‘unwelcome distraction ’

Unilever says new laxer environmental targets aim for ‘realism’

How should business executives incorporate ESG criteria in their commercial, investor, internal, and external communications? How can they strike a balance between purpose and profits?

How does purpose affect business and brand value? Under what circumstances or conditions can the impact of purpose be positive, neutral, or negative?

Are brands vehicles by which to drive social or environmental change? Is this the primary role of brands in the 21st century or do profits and clients’ needs come first?

Which categories or sectors might benefit most from strongly articulating and communicating a corporate purpose? Are there instances in which it might backfire?

In your opinion, is it necessary for brands to take a stance on social issues? Why or why not, and when?

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International Edition

Current Social Sciences

ISSN (Print): 2772-316X ISSN (Online): 2772-3178

Technology-Mediated Task-based Instruction During COVID-19: A Case Study from Higher Education in Morocco

• Department of English Studies, Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Mohammed First University, Oujda, Morocco

• University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Volume 2, 2024

Published on: 25 January, 2024

DOI: 10.2174/012772316X264099231227114647

Background: Two interests come together in this article, both from the perspectives of teachers and students from the Department of English Studies at Mohamed First University, Morocco. One is the extent to which Task-Based Learning (TBL) can inform educational technology. The other related issue is the need to capitalise on the interactive connectivity of online learning in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic so as to reconsider the teacher-fronted classes that have long dominated higher education. It is noticed that the sudden shift into online learning has been accompanied by a respective perpetuation of the lecturing style; in-class lecture notes were transferred into PDF documents to be downloaded and memorized by students. Methods: After reviewing the relevant literature, we carried out a curriculum observation of the university’s e-learning platform, where professors and students of the English department undertook all their instructional and learning activities. In parallel, two questionnaires were administered. One questionnaire was addressed to (18) professors, and the other one targeted (155) students. In their totality, the contents of the questionnaires aim to investigate the participants’ perceptions of the unexpected move to e-learning, including questions of affordability, usability and methodology of presentation and application. The resultant quantitative data were used to test the major hypothesis that online instruction in the present context lacks a methodological framework that organizes the process of presenting and practising the assigned contents on the university’s elearning platform. Results: While results come as a mixture of the encouraging, the discouraging and, occasionally, the puzzling, teacher-centeredness is certainly the unchanged aspect of this online transitioning. With the absence of a methodological framework that informs online instruction, both students and teachers are found to miss the interactive prospects afforded by the existing e-learning platform. Thus, there is an imperative to reconsider the lecturing style and teacher-centredness in post-pandemic higher education in Morocco. Conclusion: Technology-mediated TBL methodology is proposed as a working alternative to the lecturing style dominant in the e-learning platform in the case under research and in similar universities elsewhere.

Keywords: TBL , e-learning , COVID-19 , teachers-centredness , technology-mediated , online learning.

Title: Technology-Mediated Task-based Instruction During COVID-19: A Case Study from Higher Education in Morocco

Author(s): Abdellah El Boubekri*Marilyn Lewis

Abstract: Background: Two interests come together in this article, both from the perspectives of teachers and students from the Department of English Studies at Mohamed First University, Morocco. One is the extent to which Task-Based Learning (TBL) can inform educational technology. The other related issue is the need to capitalise on the interactive connectivity of online learning in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic so as to reconsider the teacher-fronted classes that have long dominated higher education. It is noticed that the sudden shift into online learning has been accompanied by a respective perpetuation of the lecturing style; in-class lecture notes were transferred into PDF documents to be downloaded and memorized by students. Methods: After reviewing the relevant literature, we carried out a curriculum observation of the university’s e-learning platform, where professors and students of the English department undertook all their instructional and learning activities. In parallel, two questionnaires were administered. One questionnaire was addressed to (18) professors, and the other one targeted (155) students. In their totality, the contents of the questionnaires aim to investigate the participants’ perceptions of the unexpected move to e-learning, including questions of affordability, usability and methodology of presentation and application. The resultant quantitative data were used to test the major hypothesis that online instruction in the present context lacks a methodological framework that organizes the process of presenting and practising the assigned contents on the university’s elearning platform. Results: While results come as a mixture of the encouraging, the discouraging and, occasionally, the puzzling, teacher-centeredness is certainly the unchanged aspect of this online transitioning. With the absence of a methodological framework that informs online instruction, both students and teachers are found to miss the interactive prospects afforded by the existing e-learning platform. Thus, there is an imperative to reconsider the lecturing style and teacher-centredness in post-pandemic higher education in Morocco. Conclusion: Technology-mediated TBL methodology is proposed as a working alternative to the lecturing style dominant in the e-learning platform in the case under research and in similar universities elsewhere.

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Cite this article as:

Boubekri El Abdellah*, Lewis Marilyn, Technology-Mediated Task-based Instruction During COVID-19: A Case Study from Higher Education in Morocco, Current Social Sciences 2024; 2 : e250124226274 . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/012772316X264099231227114647

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Neuromarketing — Predicting Consumer Behavior to Drive Purchasing Decisions 

Buying decisions can be driven by unconscious choices. Learn about how neuromarketing uncovers what drives decisions to increase conversions and revenue.

Valerie Kirk

What drives a person to not only buy something, but to choose one product or service over the other? The usual answers that come to a marketer’s mind when asked that question include need, price, availability, and brand familiarity.

But what if it goes deeper than that? What if consumer decision-making is driven by biology — specifically neural activity in the brain?

This idea is the basis of neuromarketing — sometimes known as consumer neuroscience — a field of study that incorporates biology and brain activity to predict and even influence consumer behavior and purchase decisions.

The Science Behind Neuromarketing

While the term neuromarketing was first introduced in the early 2000s, consumer neuroscience began to emerge in the 1990s, when measuring brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machines became more accessible. 

Consumer neuroscience examines fMRI scans and electroencephalogram measurements of people’s brain activity when they are given or shown stimuli, such as an advertisement, product packaging, or something to drink. It could also include verbal prompts to monitor reactions. The brain activity seen on the scans shows what a person is feeling in that moment. 

Consumer neuroscience also includes physiological tracking — measuring facial expressions, eye movements, pupil dilation, heart rate, or other physical reactions people experience when given the stimuli. With eye tracking software, marketers can use heat maps to see what consumers are most drawn to in ad campaigns or websites and the journey they take to ultimately purchase something or disengage with digital assets. 

Examples of neuromarketing research include: 

• Serving Coca-Cola and Pepsi to subjects in an fMRI machine. When the drinks weren’t identified, the researchers noted a consistent neural response. But when subjects could see the brand, the part of their brains associated with emotions, memories, and unconscious processing showed enhanced activity, demonstrating that knowledge of the brand altered how the brain perceived the beverage. 
• Scanning the brains of test subjects while they tasted three wines, each labeled with a different price. Their brains registered the wines differently, with neural signatures indicating a preference for the most expensive wine. In actuality, all three wines were the same. 

Why is Neuromarketing Important?

By understanding what people react to based on biology and not conscious choices, marketers can essentially predict consumer behavior. When marketers can predict behavior, they can take steps to market their products — from the price to packaging to product marketing campaigns — in ways that elicit emotional responses and compel consumers to buy, thus increasing sales and revenue. 

There is a truth to neuromarketing that can’t be replicated by traditional marketing research tactics like focus groups. People may not always tell the truth in focus groups, or they say things they think others want to hear. 

Neuromarketing techniques remove the human choice element in market research and expose a person’s real and unfiltered responses. This helps marketers gain a more complete understanding of consumer motivation and buying behavior, which drives marketing decisions and budget spending.

How is Neuromarketing Used in Business Today?

Businesses are turning to neuromarketing to guide critical marketing decisions. In many cases, neuromarketing techniques are replacing traditional marketing research tactics. 

Here are five ways businesses are using neuromarketing to improve their marketing efforts and drive sales. 

1. Testing Ads 

Marketers can get true, unbiased responses to ad campaigns by showing different ads to test subjects and scanning their brain activity or tracking their eye movement while they view the ads. Based on the scans and other physiological and emotional reactions, they can determine which campaign — or which campaign elements — resonate more with consumers.  

2. Improving Packaging Design

When test subjects are given early prototypes of a product packaging, brain scans can help marketing and design teams gain insights into which version people are more likely to pick up and buy. Package design includes color, images, and size and shape. 

3. Enhancing Website and App Design 

Neuromarketing can help guide website and app design. Brain scans can show which design elements are more likely to engage users and drive clicks and purchases. Facial coding can also show how people view websites and apps, which can inform where to put different pieces of content. 

4. Informing Rebranding

From start to finish, neuromarketing can guide decisions on rebranding. This includes whether a rebrand is needed, which visual elements and messages work better for the new brand, and how to use the new identity in marketing tools and other brand assets. 

5. Optimizing Conversion Rates 

It’s estimated that 95 percent of decision-making is made unconsciously. Neuromarketing can help marketers understand what drives a person to make those unconscious choices to buy or not buy a product. Brands can then adapt their marketing materials and tactics to enhance elements that inspire people to buy.

DCE Professional & Executive Development Consumer Behavior Course:

Using Neuromarketing to Predict and Influence Customers

Examples of Neuromarketing in Action

• Through neuromarketing techniques, Frito-Lay learned that matte bags with pictures of potatoes did not trigger a negative consumer response, whereas shiny bags with pictures did. Based on those insights, they changed their chip packaging design. 
• The National Cancer Institute used fMRI scans to test three anti-smoking commercials that included a telephone hotline. The subjects were heavy smokers who indicated they wanted to quit. The National Cancer Institute ran all three ads, but the ad to which the test group reacted favorably corresponded to an increased hotline call volume when it ran.
• IKEA has designed their stores in a way that showcases everything they sell before a consumer can actually leave the store, thus increasing the likelihood of a purchase. The layout was developed using neuromarketing research.
• Neuromarketing research has shown that people react favorably to movement and speed. This knowledge guided FedEx to include a hidden arrow in its logo that represents quickness, which garners favorable reactions — and subconscious brand trust — among consumers.
• People also react favorably to color. Through research on brain activity, businesses know that the color red signifies strength. It’s easy to see why red is the favored logo color of so many iconic brands, including Coca-Cola, Target, McDonald’s, and Netflix.  

The Ethics of Neuromarketing

In general, people like to think that they make purchasing decisions — and really any decision — consciously after considering all of the options and facts. Neuromarketing exposes the fact that people can be influenced on an unconscious level. This realization can lead not only to privacy concerns but also to people feeling like they are being manipulated by brands they trust, which could make them avoid those brands entirely. 

For example , in 2015, one of the main political parties in Mexico used neuromarketing to learn more about voters’ interests and reactions to campaign ads. When the information leaked, there was a backlash from Mexican citizens. The candidate apologized, but the revelation likely cost him votes. 

Since the very first advertisement, businesses have been trying to persuade people to buy products. Neuromarketing uses the technology of the time to help marketers understand their customers better and deliver a more favorable experience. Currently, brain scans and physiological responses are being performed on test subjects who all have likely signed an informed consent document.

While it may seem like a logical progression of the marketing and advertising discipline, companies that use neuromarketing techniques should have robust and ethical protocols and a crisis communication plan in place in case of public backlash.

How to Study Neuromarketing

People working across marketing disciplines could benefit from understanding what drives consumer behavior. Harvard Division of Continuing Education Professional & Executive Development offers a 2-day Consumer Behavior Course: Using Neuromarketing to Predict and Influence Customers.

The course covers a wide range of topics to help participants understand the psychology of consumer behavior and how to apply it. Participants will come away with a new set of tools for creating marketing campaigns that effectively resonate with the consumer base, capture market share, and ultimately drive profits and sales.

The program includes a discussion on corporate responsibility, marketing ethics, and specific guidelines for utilizing psychological techniques while safeguarding consumer and societal well-being.

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About the Author

Valerie Kirk is a freelance writer and corporate storyteller specializing in customer and community outreach and topics and trends in education, technology, and healthcare. Based in Maryland near the Chesapeake Bay, she spends her free time exploring nature by bike, paddle board, or on long hikes with her family.

How to Determine What My Leadership Style Is

Determining your leadership style is key to the success of your team, your organization, and your growth as a leader.

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The Division of Continuing Education (DCE) at Harvard University is dedicated to bringing rigorous academics and innovative teaching capabilities to those seeking to improve their lives through education. We make Harvard education accessible to lifelong learners from high school to retirement.

• Open access
• Published: 31 May 2024

The role of medical schools in UK students’ career intentions: findings from the AIMS study

• Tomas Ferreira 1 , 3 ,
• Alexander M. Collins 2 , 3 ,
• Arthur Handscomb 3 ,
• Dania Al-Hashimi 4 &

the AIMS Collaborative

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  604 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

313 Accesses

19 Altmetric

Metrics details

To investigate differences in students’ career intentions between UK medical schools.

Cross-sectional, mixed-methods online survey.

The primary study included all 44 UK medical schools, with this analysis comprising 42 medical schools.

Participants

Ten thousand four hundred eighty-six UK medical students.

Main outcome measures

Career intentions of medical students, focusing on differences between medical schools. Secondary outcomes included variation in medical students’ satisfaction with a prospective career in the NHS, by medical school.

2.89% of students intended to leave medicine altogether, with Cambridge Medical School having the highest proportion of such respondents. 32.35% of respondents planned to emigrate for practice, with Ulster medical students being the most likely. Of those intending to emigrate, the University of Central Lancashire saw the highest proportion stating no intentions to return. Cardiff Medical School had the greatest percentage of students intending to assume non-training clinical posts after completing FY2. 35.23% of participating medical students intended to leave the NHS within 2 years of graduating, with Brighton and Sussex holding the highest proportion of these respondents. Only 17.26% were satisfied with the prospect of working in the NHS, with considerable variation nationally; Barts and the London medical students had the highest rates of dissatisfaction.

Conclusions

This study reveals variability in students’ career sentiment across UK medical schools, emphasising the need for attention to factors influencing these trends. A concerning proportion of students intend to exit the NHS within 2 years of graduating, with substantial variation between institutions. Students’ intentions may be shaped by various factors, including curriculum focus and recruitment practices. It is imperative to re-evaluate these aspects within medical schools, whilst considering the wider national context, to improve student perceptions towards an NHS career. Future research should target underlying causes for these disparities to facilitate improvements to career satisfaction and retention.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

The rapidly changing dynamics of modern healthcare require a comprehensive understanding of the driving forces behind the career trajectories of doctors. As the landscape of patient care, healthcare policy, and medical technology continues to evolve, so too do the career choices of emerging doctors. These choices, as research increasingly demonstrates, are not solely the product of personal inclination or market demand but are deeply influenced by their experiences in medical school [ 1 ].

In recent years, the recruitment and retention of doctors within the United Kingdom’s (UK) National Health Service (NHS) have emerged as pressing concerns, requiring a detailed analysis of the factors influencing the career intentions of medical students [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. To address this, the Ascertaining the career Intentions of Medical Students (AIMS) study — the largest ever UK medical student survey — delineated the career intentions and underlying motivations of students, highlighting a significant trend towards alternative careers or emigration, influenced predominantly by remuneration, work-life balance, and working conditions within the NHS [ 5 ].

Expanding upon the insights of the AIMS study, we seek to further explore the nuanced differences in career intentions among medical students, in relation to their institutional affiliations, and foster a dialogue concerning medical education and workforce planning in the UK, highlighting the role of medical schools in shaping career trajectories. It is posited that these educational institutions, with their diverse curricular designs and teaching philosophies, may play a pivotal role in shaping the prospective professional trajectories of their students. Furthermore, the distinct socio-economic and cultural environments in which these schools are situated, and those of the students they attract, may also contribute to the varied perspectives and career aspirations of students. Historically, the field of medical education has been subject to a variety of pedagogical philosophies, curricular reforms, and institutional priorities. These variations across medical schools, while often subtle, can result in significant differences in the way students perceive their roles, responsibilities, and opportunities within the broader healthcare ecosystem. Literature suggests that various elements including the culture of a medical school and its sociocultural context play a significant role in shaping the professional aspirations of its students [ 1 , 6 ].

This manuscript seeks to identify and characterise these differences, with a focused analysis on how various medical schools in the UK might be influencing the career preferences and intended paths of their students. These findings may hold significant implications for various stakeholders within the healthcare sector. Policymakers could find guidance for strategic investments and resource allocation to areas anticipated to experience shortages, while educationalists could gain an opportunity for reflection on the potential influence of their institutions on student aspirations, thereby considering necessary adjustments. Furthermore, it affords insights for improved recruitment strategies, critical to ensuring the NHS’s continued role in the UK.

Study design

The AIMS study was a national, cross-sectional, multi-centre study of medical students conducted according to its published protocol and extensively described in its main publication [ 5 , 7 ]. Participants from 44 UK medical schools recognised by the General Medical Council (GMC) were recruited through a non-random sampling method via a novel, self-administered, 71-item questionnaire. The survey was hosted on the Qualtrics survey platform (Provo, Utah, USA), a GDPR-compliant online platform that supports both mobile and desktop devices.

Participant recruitment and eligibility

In an attempt to minimise bias and increase the survey’s reach to promote representativeness, a network of approximately 200 collaborators was recruited across 42 medical schools – one collaborator per year group, per school – prior to the study launch to disseminate the study. All students were eligible to apply to become a collaborator. This approach aimed to obtain a representative sample and improve our findings’ generalisability. The survey was disseminated between 16 January 2023 and 27 March 2023, by the AIMS Collaborative via social media (including Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and LinkedIn), word of mouth, medical student newsletters/bulletins, and medical school emailing lists.

Individuals were eligible to participate in the survey if they were actively enrolled in a UK medical school acknowledged by the GMC and listed by the Medical School Council (MSC). Certain new medical schools had received approval from the GMC but were yet to admit their inaugural cohort of students, so were excluded from the study.

Data processing and storage

To prevent data duplication, each response was restricted to a single institutional email address. Any replicated email entries were removed prior to data analysis. In cases where identical entries contained distinct responses, the most recent entry was kept. Responses for which valid institutional email addresses were missing were removed prior to data analysis to preserve the study’s integrity.

The findings of this subanalysis, and the AIMS study, were reported in accordance with the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) guidelines [ 8 ].

Quantitative data analysis

Descriptive analysis was carried out with Microsoft Excel (V.16.71) (Arlington, Virginia, USA), and statistical inference was performed using RStudio (V.4.2.1) (Boston, Massachusetts, USA). Tables and graphs were generated using GraphPad Prism (V.9.5.0) (San Diego, California, USA). ORs, CIs and p values were computed by fitting single-variable logistic regression models to explore the effect of various demographic characteristics on students’ career intentions. CIs were calculated at 95% level. We used p  < 0.05 to determine the statistical significance for all tests.

Study population and exclusion

All current students of all year groups at UK medical schools recognised by the GMC and the MSC were eligible for participation. Brunel Medical School and Kent and Medway Medical School were excluded from this current analysis due to the limited number of respondents from these institutions ( n  < 30), to avoid misrepresenting the career intentions and characteristics of their broader student populations.

Ethical approval

Ethical approval was granted by the University of Cambridge Research Ethics Committee (reference PRE.2022.124) on the 5th of January 2023. Prior to completing the survey, all participants provided informed consent. Participating medical schools were contacted prior to data collection to seek support and request permission to contact their students.

Demographics

In total, 10,486 students across all 44 UK medical schools participated in the survey. To enable comparison of students’ career intentions between medical schools, only 42 medical schools were considered due to the sample size gathered. The average number of responses per medical school was 244, with a median of 203 (IQR 135–281). Participants had a median age of 22 (IQR 20–23). Among the participants, 66.5% were female ( n  = 6977), 32.7% were male ( n  = 3429), 0.6% were non-binary ( n  = 64), and 16 individuals chose not to disclose their gender. A detailed breakdown of participant characteristics, including gender, ethnicity, previous schooling, and course type, is illustrated in Supplemental Figs.  1 a-d.

A total of 303/10,486 (2.89%, CI: 2.59, 3.23%) medical students intended to leave the profession entirely, either immediately after graduation ( n  = 104/303, 34.32%, CI: 29.20, 39.84%), after completion of FY1 ( n  = 132/303, 43.56%, CI: 38.1, 49.19%), or after completion of FY2 ( n  = 67/303, 22.11%, CI: 17.8, 27.12%). Figure  1 illustrates the distribution of these students throughout UK medical schools as a percentage of total response numbers per school. The medical schools of Cambridge, Oxford, and Imperial College medical schools had the highest proportion of students intending to leave the profession altogether.

Proportion of Medical Students Intending to Leave the Profession Across UK Medical Schools. The figure depicts the percentage of students at each UK medical school who intend to exit the medical field entirely. Percentages are calculated as a proportion of total respondents from each individual school

Furthermore, 32.35% of participating medical students ( n  = 3392/10,486, CI: 31.46, 33.25%) expressed intentions to emigrate to practise medicine, either immediately after graduation ( n  = 220/3292, 6.49%, CI: 5.71, 7.36%), after completion of FY1 ( n  = 1101/3292 32.46%, CI: 30.90, 34.05%) or after FY2 ( n  = 2071/3292, 61.06%, CI: 59.40, 62.68%). Figure  2 a demonstrates the distribution of these intentions across UK medical schools, relative to total response rates per school. Notably, Ulster University had the highest proportion of students considering emigration (45.45%), in contrast to Edge Hill, where 19.64% held similar intentions. Among students intending to emigrate, 49.56% ( n  = 1681, CI: 47.88, 51.24%) planned a return to the UK after a few years abroad, while 7.87% ( n  = 267, CI: 7.01, 8.83%) expected to return after completing their medical training abroad. The remaining 42.57% ( n  = 1444, CI: 40.92, 44.24%) expressed no plans to return to practise in the UK, as demonstrated in Fig.  2 b.

Proportion of Medical Students Intending to Emigrate Across UK Medical Schools (a) and Return Prospects (b). a illustrates the proportion of students from each UK medical school who intend to emigrate for medical practice, relative to total respondents from each school. b delineates the return prospects among students planning to emigrate

Of the 8806 respondents intending to complete both FY1 and FY2, 48.76% ( n  = 4294, CI: 47.72, 49.81%) planned to enter specialty training in the UK immediately thereafter; 21.11% ( n  = 1859, CI: 20.27, 21.98%) intended to enter a non-training clinical job in the UK (commonly comprising an ‘F3’ year, including a junior clinical fellowship or clinical teaching fellowship, or in locum roles). These ‘non-training’ roles, although valuable for gaining clinical experience, are largely standalone posts which do not contribute to accreditation within medical specialties. The school with the highest proportion of responses indicating plans to enter specialty training immediately after FY2 was Edge Hill (64.29%), whereas at Cardiff only 25.62% shared this intention. Cardiff students were also most likely to plan to enter non-training clinical posts after FY2, at 29.06%. Students from the University of Buckingham were, by far, the least likely to look to pursue non-training posts (2.70%). Figure  3 a and b present the distribution of these intentions across UK medical schools.

Distribution of Post-Foundation Programme Career Intentions Among UK Medical Students by School. a illustrates the proportion of students at each UK medical school intending to enter specialty training immediately following the Foundation Programme. b presents the proportion of students planning to enter non-training clinical roles (comprising ‘F3’ year roles, junior clinical fellowships, clinical teaching fellowships, or locum positions) in the UK after FY2

In total, 35.23% (3695/10,486) of medical students intend to leave the NHS within 2 years of graduating, either to practise abroad or leave medicine. Respondents from Brighton and Sussex Medical School expressed this intention most often (47.78%), whilst those from Aston Medical School were the least likely to do so (20.77%) (Fig.  4 ).

Proportion of UK Medical Students Intending to Leave the NHS Within 2 Years of Graduation, by School

To better ascertain the medical student population’s sentiments towards working in the NHS, respondents were asked to share their degree of satisfaction with several factors. Likert scale matrices were employed, with options ranging from ‘Very satisfied’ to ‘Not at all satisfied’. An important aspect was students’ overall satisfaction with the prospect of working within the NHS, with which only 17.26% of students were either satisfied or very satisfied. This figure varied substantially by institution as illustrated in Fig.  5 . Surveyed students from Barts and the London, Liverpool, and King’s College London GKT schools of medicine were the most dissatisfied, with dissatisfaction rates of 76.07, 72.48 and 66.84% respectively. Conversely, students from Aberdeen (43.27%), Buckingham (34.78%) and Ulster medical schools (33.33%) were those least dissatisfied with the prospect of working in the NHS.

Medical Students’ Overall Satisfaction with the Prospect of Working in the NHS, by School. The figure illustrates the variation in levels of career satisfaction across UK medical schools

Principal findings

This study identified considerable institutional variation in students’ career intentions and sentiment about their future careers.

Our results show that, in each UK medical school, over a fifth of participating medical students intend to leave the NHS within 2 years of graduation – and in some medical schools, this figure was approximately half. Nationally, this figure surpassed a third of surveyed medical students. Most would-be leavers plan to emigrate, many permanently, while a notable minority of respondents plan to leave the profession altogether. Here, we consider possible reasons for these trends, and offer potential means of adapting medical schools to avert the loss of these medics from the NHS workforce.

The levels of satisfaction among medical students concerning their prospective employment within the NHS displayed marked disparities, influenced potentially by institutional factors. In certain schools, up to 76% of students expressed dissatisfaction with the prospect of a career within the NHS, contrasted with the 48% recorded in others. The national average of 60% dissatisfaction is concerning and warrants further investigation to identify the underlying causes of this marked variability across different medical schools. Understanding the specific factors influencing medical students’ satisfaction levels could be critical in developing strategies to improve their perceptions of careers in the NHS.

Differing career sentiment between medical schools

Many differences exist between medical schools, some inherent or incidental, and others the result of decisions taken by medical faculties. Naturally, there is variation by geography, in the clinical environments and patient populations to which students are exposed, or in differences in the NHS between the UK’s devolved nations. The composition of the student body, in terms of various demographic characteristics also differs considerably between schools (Supplemental Figs.  1 a-d). Additionally, despite meeting minimum standards set by the GMC, medical schools are distinct in their curriculum delivery and priorities, culture, and other factors. This ‘hidden curriculum’ can be influential in students’ outlook towards medicine and their careers [ 9 ]. Medical schools’ autonomy extends to setting local recruitment practices, leading to differences in entry requirements and favoured attributes for which candidates are selected [ 10 ].

Curriculum focus and its influence

Certain faculties may favour students for academic potential or other attributes that may not necessarily correspond to their aptitude or interest in clinical medicine. At these schools, medical curricula may be more science-focused, such as by employing the ‘traditional’ model of medical education which firmly separates preclinical and clinical studies. During the early years of study, in which clinical exposure is low, students may find themselves detached from the medical field and begin considering alternative careers. This may be especially true where intercalated degrees form mandatory components of the curriculum – the receipt of which would enable pursuit of graduate roles or postgraduate degrees. Moreover, some institutions emphasising academic achievement may offer academic opportunities which could further distance those enrolled from the profession. For instance, previous graduates of MB/PhD programmes, an option to intercalate a PhD degree offered by only a limited number of universities, have gone onto careers in academia, industry, and business [ 11 , 12 ].

Recruitment practices

Despite the inherent importance of academic ability, it is important to recognise that a ‘good’ doctor requires a balance of various attributes including empathy, resilience, and communication skills. Furthermore, a clear understanding and realistic expectations of the profession are critical. The possible discrepancy between academic aptitude and the day-to-day reality of medical practice may be a contributing factor to the observed trends of students contemplating leaving the profession. Therefore, ensuring a balanced and holistic approach in selection processes could contribute to cultivating a workforce committed to pursuing medical practice in the NHS long term. Currently, prospective students undergo varying forms of interviews, which, due to their brevity and the substantial volume of applications, may not adequately capture a candidate’s realistic expectations and motivations towards a medical career. To increase the robustness of the selection process, medical schools should consider revisiting the structure of their interview processes, potentially incorporating methods to more accurately assess applicants’ understanding and enthusiasm for a medical career within the NHS more accurately. This approach could include comprehensive discussions focusing on the complexities and realities associated with a medical career [ 13 ]. Moreover, there are relevant differences in institutions’ selection criteria, with some valuing extracurricular activities, while some place greater emphasis on personal statements more, and others prioritise results achieved in admission exams [ 10 ]. Implementing such changes in the recruitment process can be a proactive step towards retaining talent within the NHS and encouraging more students to envisage a fulfilling career within the medical profession.

Institutional reputation

Respondents from institutions which place highly in national and international university rankings exhibited a greater propensity to consider leaving the profession [ 14 , 15 ]. Notably, the universities of Cambridge (8.59%), Oxford (8.26%), and Imperial College London (8.24%) led this trend. Attending these, and other, historically prestigious schools, may boost non-clinical career opportunities, so their students may be attracted to the perceived benefits of alternative careers over those in clinical practice. This institutional reputation may have initially attracted some students, for whom the career opportunities outside clinical practice now offer more compelling options compared to working in the NHS. This, coupled with growing reports of doctors looking to leave the health service, may partly explain the trend observed [ 3 ]. However, it is important to note that this phenomenon is neither new nor limited to the UK, with a 2001 study identifying growing numbers of medical students in the United States intending to pursue non-clinical, non-academic careers over time [ 16 ]. Notably, only four schools had 0% of students intending to leave the profession.

Demographic influences

Moreover, the composition of the student body, particularly in terms of demographic makeup may represent another potential influence on career intentions. For instance, if data indicate that students from certain demographics were more likely to pursue a certain career path, a school with a higher proportion of such students may appear to exhibit a similar inclination. It is important to note that these tendencies may be reflective of broader societal and demographic differences, rather than factors intrinsic to the respective institutions. A deeper analysis of demographic nuances may elucidate the intricate interplay of background and career choices, offering valuable insights for future policy and institutional strategies. Furthermore, it would be prudent to recognise that certain students, particularly those from widening participation backgrounds, may have limited agency regarding the career pathway they pursue. For some, this limitation may be financial in nature or due to caring responsibilities, while for others it may be more strongly related to the awarding gap [ 17 ].

Proposed solutions and future directions

Our findings underscore the need to explore the reasons for the observed disparities in students’ career sentiment across medical schools. Using this information, medical courses may be adapted to improve students’ feelings about their future medical careers in the NHS or otherwise. As students’ perspectives are guided by their educational experiences, undergraduate training they deem suboptimal could contribute to a diminished enthusiasm for a career in medicine. Higher standards of teaching may increase interest and engagement in the medical profession, while inadequate teaching quality could engender frustration and disillusionment. Unsatisfied students may opt to pursue alternative careers or relocate to destinations where they perceive education and training standards to be higher [ 18 ]. To substantiate this, further studies could endeavour to quantify perceptions towards teaching standards at medical school and the impact of teaching quality on students’ career choices, potentially guiding improvements in curriculum design and faculty development.

It is important to note that many respondents will have been studying medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, medical schools had the difficult task of balancing infection risk with maintaining educational standards. Centres will have differed in their approach, and negative experiences - educational or otherwise - from this period may have adversely influenced students’ attitudes towards medicine [ 19 ].

Furthermore, the structure or variety of clinical placements used by some medical schools could more effectively convey a positive outlook of medical careers or the NHS. This is often contingent on the clinical environments in which medical students rotate. For instance, limited exposure to certain specialties or sub-specialties—only available at select centres—may inadvertently obscure potentially rewarding career paths. Similarly, limited opportunities in rural medicine, public health, or other non-hospital-based pathways may also achieve the same effect [ 20 ]. Spaces and learning opportunities may also be shared with increasing cohort sizes or, depending upon geography, with students from other medical schools, potentially diluting learning opportunities [ 21 ]. Staffing levels, workplace culture and health outcomes also vary geographically, both within and between the UK’s devolved nations [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. These factors inform students’ perceptions of the career and may contribute to their decision-making. To mitigate this, medical faculties would benefit from establishing or expanding student feedback mechanisms. The objective is to identify factors affecting training experiences and to ensure equitable access across the UK, irrespective of the medical school attended.. Such engagement may also reveal which career paths are under-explored in individual medical curricula. In response to students’ views, or from faculties’ own understanding of where these deficits may lie, schools may consider offering means of addressing this, such as through optional specialty taster days.

Where higher proportions of students expressed interests in either relocating to work abroad or in leaving the profession entirely, there may be benefit in fostering a culture of mentorship and guidance around medical careers. Mentorship can support students to navigate systems used during applications for increasingly competitive specialty training programmes [ 26 , 27 ]. Guidance from medics acquainted with these processes can support students to pursue their preferred specialty and could consequently reduce attrition by improving their perceived career prospects.

Findings in context

The AIMS study highlighted a wide range of factors which contribute to medical students’ career sentiment and their intended career trajectory [ 5 ]. Here, we explored the role of medical schools in this complex equation and, although influential, this must be considered in that wider context. While national policy reform addressing factors such as remuneration and working conditions are required to reverse current trends in students’ career intentions, the strategies proposed in this manuscript may serve to address regional disparities.

Limitations

Despite the AIMS study constituting the largest ever study of UK medical students, due to the methods of dissemination, the number of students who saw the invitation to participate in the study is unknown, and therefore we are unable to calculate the response rate. Consequently, the sample may have been subject to selection bias, possibly driven by greater response rates among students with existing interests in this subject. Additionally, the questions in our survey instruct students to be definitive even when they might not yet have formulated their career plans, a not-improbable situation, particularly for those in the early years of medical school.

Moreover, being a cross-sectional study, it is not possible to comment on changes to medical students’ career sentiment with time. Although informed by their undergraduate training and experiences therefrom, at the time of participation, respondents had not yet worked as medical doctors. As such, their opinions may change once immersed in the career and working in the health service. In anticipation of this limitation, the questionnaire sought consent for a planned follow-up study, to which a 71.29% positive response rate was captured. It is hoped that this study’s findings may be validated by tracking changes in sentiment over time.

Importantly, there was also variability in the number of responses achieved from each medical school. This occurred despite recruitment of a large medical student collaborator network. This discrepancy might be attributed to various factors, including the approach of dissemination undertaken by university or medical school administrators, the design of clinical placements, or the presence and influence of local student societies, among other considerations. To avoid potential misrepresentation due to inadequate sample sizes, we opted to exclude data from the two medical schools that obtained fewer than 30 responses.

While the broader trends of medical students intending to leave the NHS within 2 years of graduating are concerning, the variation in career sentiment across UK medical schools requires consideration. This analysis implicates a complex interplay of factors—ranging from curriculum focus and cohort demographics to recruitment strategies, teaching quality, and clinical experience—in shaping these career intentions. Such variation in career sentiment between institutions may be indicative of deeper issues, possibly rooted in educational approaches and experiences at undergraduate level - on which the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic should be noted.

It is evident that approaches taken to recruitment, educational framework, and support within medical schools require reassessment. Subsequent investigations should examine the underlying causes of disparities in career sentiment by institution, aiming to cultivate resilience, dedication, and - critically - professional fulfilment among the future medical workforce in the UK.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request once all planned subsequent analyses are completed.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all students that participated in this study.

The AIMS Collaborative.

Tomas Ferreira 1 , Alexander M. Collins 2 , Rita Horvath 1 , Oliver Feng 4 , Richard J Samworth 4 , Mario K Teo 6 , Crispin C Wigfield 6 , Maeve K Mulchrone 7 , Alisha Pervaiz 8 , Heather A Lewis 7 , Anson Wong 7 , Buzz Gilks 1 , Charlotte Casteleyn 9 , Sara Kidher 10 , Erin Fitzsimons-West 1 , Tanzil Rujeedawa 1 , Meghna Sreekumar 1 , Eliza Wade 11 , Juel Choppy-Madeleine 8 , Yasemin Durmus 12 , Olivia King 10 , Yu Ning Ooi 8 , Malvi Shah 9 , Tan Jit Yih 13 , Samantha Burley 1 , Basma R Khan 4 , Emma Slack 1 , Rishik S Pilla 14 , Jenny Yang 1 , Vaishvi Dalal 8 , Brennan L Gibson 7 , Emma Westwood 9 , Brandon S H Low 6 , Sara R Sabur 9 , Wentin Chen 7 , Maryam A Malik 9 , Safa Razzaq 10 , Amardeep Sidki 10 , Giulia Cianci 15 , Felicity Greenfield 3 , Sajad Hussain 3 , Alexandra Thomas 11 , Annie Harrison 16 , Hugo Bernie 3 , Luke Dcaccia 11 , Linnuel J Pregil 13 , Olivia Rowe 11 , Ananya Jain 17 , Gregory K Anyaegbunam 8 , Syed Z Jafri 18 , Sudhanvita Arun 4 , Alfaiya Hashmi 19 , Ankith Pandian 15 , Joseph R Nicholson 20 , Hannah Layton-Joyce 21 , Kouther Mohsin 7 , Matilda Gardener 3 , Eunice C Y Kwan 18 , Emily R Finbow 4 , Sakshi Roy 22 , Zoe M Constantinou 13 , Mackenzie Garlick 3 , Clare L Carney 23 , Samantha Gold 24 , Bilal Qureshi 25 , Daniel Magee 26 , Grace Annetts 25 , Khyatee Shah 27 , Kholood T Munir 14 , Timothy Neill 22 , Gurpreet K Atwal 28 , Anesu Kusosa 18 , Anthony Vijayanathan 14 , Mia Mäntylä 8 , Momina Iqbal 27 , Sara Raja 29 , Tushar Rakhecha 3 , Muhammad H Shah 22 , Pranjil Pokharel 30 , Ashna Anil 31 , Kate Stenning 21 , Katie Appleton 18 , Keerthana Uthayakumar 28 , Rajan Panacer 32 , Yasmin Owadally 17 , Dilaxiha Rajendran 33 , Harsh S Modalavalasa 15 , Marta M Komosa 13 , Morea Turjaka 18 , Sruthi Saravanan 27 , Amelia Dickson 24 , Jack M Read 24 , Georgina Cooper 26 , Wing Chi Do 34 , Chiamaka Anthony-Okeke 35 , Daria M Bageac 24 , David C W Loh 28 , Rida Khan 19 , Ruth Omenyo 31 , Aidan Baker 34 , Imogen Milner 23 , Kavyesh Vivek 17 , Manon Everard 36 , Wajiha Rahman 14 , Denis Chen 26 , Michael E Bryan 34 , Shama Maliha 26 , Vera Onongaya 31 , Amber Dhoot 17 , Catherine L Otoibhi 35 , Harry Donkin-Everton 14 , Mia K Whelan 24 , Claudia S F Hobson 37 , Anthony Haynes 20 , Joshua Bayes-Green 35 , Mariam S Malik 28 , Subanki Srisakthivel 24 , Sophie Kidd 28 , Alan Saji 11 , Govind Dhillon 16 , Muhammed Asif 38 , Riya Patel 30 , Jessica L Marshall 20 , Nain T Raja 29 , Tawfique Rizwan 38 , Aleksandra Dunin- Borkowska 17 , James Brawn 23 , Karthig Thillaivasan 9 , Zainah Sindhoo 27 , Ayeza Akhtar 25 , Emma Hitchcock 36 , Kelly Fletcher 38 , Lok Pong Cheng 37 , Medha Pillaai 28 , Sakshi Garg 15 , Wajahat Khan 12 , Ben Sweeney 20 , Ria Bhatt 39 , Madison Slight 40 , Adan M I Chew 32 , Cameron Thurlow 41 , Kriti Yadav 39 , Niranjan Rajesh 39 , Nathan-Dhruv Mistry 16 , Alyssa Weissman 37 , Juan F E Jaramillo 30 , William Thompson 42 , Gregor W Abercromby 20 , Emily Gaskin 4 , Chloe Milton 43 , Matthew Kokkat 36 , Momina Hussain 26 , Nana A Ohene-Darkoh 39 , Syeda T Islam 33 , Anushruti Yadav 31 , Eve Richings 44 , Samuel Foxcroft 44 , Sukhdev Singh 32 , Vivek Sivadev 40 , Guilherme Movio 30 , Ellena Leigh 45 , Harriet Charlton 44 , James A Cairn 45 , Julia Shaaban 23 , Leah Njenje 43 , Mark J Bishop 44 , Humairaa Ismail 30 , Sarah L Henderson 44 , Daniel C Chalk 20 , Daniel J Mckenna 26 , Fizah Hasan 43 , Kanishka Saxena 32 , Iona E Gibson 44 and Saad Dosani 38 .

1 School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

2 School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.

3 Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.

4 Sheffield Medical School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.

5 Statistical Laboratory, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

6 Department of Neurosurgery, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, UK.

7 School of Medicine, University of Birmingham, Birmingham.

8 School of Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow.

9 UCL Medical School, University College London, London.

10 School of Medicine, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.

11 School of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.

12 School of Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.

13 School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.

14 GKT School of Medical Education, King’s College London, London, UK.

15 School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.

16 School of Medicine, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.

17 Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK.

18 Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.

19 St George’s, University of London, London, UK.

20 Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, Plymouth University, Plymouth, UK.

21 School of Medicine, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.

22 School of Medicine, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK.

23 School of Medicine, Swansea University, Swansea, UK.

24 School of Medicine, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.

25 Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

26 School of Medicine, Keele University, Keele, UK.

27 Lincoln Medical School, University of Nottingham, Lincoln, UK.

28 School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.

29 School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.

30 School of Medicine, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.

31 School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.

32 School of Medicine, Aston University, Birmingham, UK.

33 School of Medicine, University of Sunderland, Sunderland, UK.

34 School of Medicine, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.

35 School of Medical Education, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK.

36 Hull York Medical School, Hull and York, UK.

37 School of Medicine, University of Buckingham, Buckingham, UK.

38 School of Medicine, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.

39 School of Medicine, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.

40 School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.

41 Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton and Sussex, UK.

42 School of Medicine, Ulster University, Coleraine, UK.

43 School of Medicine, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, UK.

44 Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM) Programme, Universities of St Andrews and Dundee, Scotland, UK.

45 School of Medicine, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK.

TF is the guarantor.

Queens’ College, University of Cambridge. The institution has had no role in the design of the study, nor collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

• Tomas Ferreira

School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK

Alexander M. Collins

Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Tomas Ferreira, Alexander M. Collins & Arthur Handscomb

Sheffield Medical School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

Dania Al-Hashimi

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• , Alexander M. Collins
• , Rita Horvath
• , Oliver Feng
• , Richard J. Samworth
• , Mario K. Teo
• , Crispin C. Wigfield
• , Maeve K. Mulchrone
• , Alisha Pervaiz
• , Heather A. Lewis
• , Anson Wong
• , Buzz Gilks
• , Charlotte Casteleyn
• , Sara Kidher
• , Erin Fitzsimons-West
• , Tanzil Rujeedawa
• , Meghna Sreekumar
• , Eliza Wade
• , Juel Choppy-Madeleine
• , Yasemin Durmus
• , Olivia King
• , Yu Ning Ooi
• , Malvi Shah
• , Tan Jit Yih
• , Samantha Burley
• , Basma R. Khan
• , Emma Slack
• , Rishik S. Pilla
• , Jenny Yang
• , Vaishvi Dalal
• , Brennan L. Gibson
• , Emma Westwood
• , Brandon S. H. Low
• , Sara R. Sabur
• , Wentin Chen
• , Maryam A. Malik
• , Safa Razzaq
• , Amardeep Sidki
• , Giulia Cianci
• , Felicity Greenfield
• , Sajad Hussain
• , Alexandra Thomas
• , Annie Harrison
• , Hugo Bernie
• , Luke Dcaccia
• , Linnuel J. Pregil
• , Olivia Rowe
• , Ananya Jain
• , Gregory K. Anyaegbunam
• , Syed Z. Jafri
• , Sudhanvita Arun
• , Alfaiya Hashmi
• , Ankith Pandian
• , Joseph R. Nicholson
• , Hannah Layton-Joyce
• , Kouther Mohsin
• , Matilda Gardener
• , Eunice C. Y. Kwan
• , Emily R. Finbow
• , Sakshi Roy
• , Zoe M. Constantinou
• , Mackenzie Garlick
• , Clare L. Carney
• , Samantha Gold
• , Bilal Qureshi
• , Daniel Magee
• , Grace Annetts
• , Khyatee Shah
• , Kholood T. Munir
• , Timothy Neill
• , Gurpreet K. Atwal
• , Anesu Kusosa
• , Anthony Vijayanathan
• , Mia Mäntylä
• , Momina Iqbal
• , Sara Raja
• , Tushar Rakhecha
• , Muhammad H. Shah
• , Pranjil Pokharel
• , Ashna Anil
• , Kate Stenning
• , Katie Appleton
• , Keerthana Uthayakumar
• , Rajan Panacer
• , Yasmin Owadally
• , Dilaxiha Rajendran
• , Harsh S. Modalavalasa
• , Marta M. Komosa
• , Morea Turjaka
• , Sruthi Saravanan
• , Amelia Dickson
• , Jack M. Read
• , Georgina Cooper
• , Wing Chi Do
• , Chiamaka Anthony-Okeke
• , Daria M. Bageac
• , David C. W. Loh
• , Rida Khan
• , Ruth Omenyo
• , Aidan Baker
• , Imogen Milner
• , Kavyesh Vivek
• , Manon Everard
• , Wajiha Rahman
• , Denis Chen
• , Michael E. Bryan
• , Shama Maliha
• , Vera Onongaya
• , Amber Dhoot
• , Catherine L. Otoibhi
• , Harry Donkin-Everton
• , Mia K. Whelan
• , Claudia S. F. Hobson
• , Anthony Haynes
• , Joshua Bayes-Green
• , Mariam S. Malik
• , Subanki Srisakthivel
• , Sophie Kidd
• , Alan Saji
• , Govind Dhillon
• , Muhammed Asif
• , Riya Patel
• , Jessica L. Marshall
• , Nain T. Raja
• , Tawfique Rizwan
• , Aleksandra Dunin-Borkowska
• , James Brawn
• , Karthig Thillaivasan
• , Zainah Sindhoo
• , Ayeza Akhtar
• , Emma Hitchcock
• , Kelly Fletcher
• , Lok Pong Cheng
• , Medha Pillaai
• , Sakshi Garg
• , Wajahat Khan
• , Ben Sweeney
• , Ria Bhatt
• , Madison Slight
• , Adan M. I. Chew
• , Cameron Thurlow
• , Kriti Yadav
• , Niranjan Rajesh
• , Nathan-Dhruv Mistry
• , Alyssa Weissman
• , Juan F. E. Jaramillo
• , William Thompson
• , Gregor W. Abercromby
• , Emily Gaskin
• , Chloe Milton
• , Matthew Kokkat
• , Momina Hussain
• , Nana A. Ohene-Darkoh
• , Syeda T. Islam
• , Anushruti Yadav
• , Eve Richings
• , Samuel Foxcroft
• , Sukhdev Singh
• , Vivek Sivadev
• , Guilherme Movio
• , Ellena Leigh
• , Harriet Charlton
• , James A. Cairn
• , Julia Shaaban
• , Leah Njenje
• , Mark J. Bishop
• , Humairaa Ismail
• , Sarah L. Henderson
• , Daniel C. Chalk
• , Daniel J. Mckenna
• , Fizah Hasan
• , Kanishka Saxena
• , Iona E. Gibson
•  & Saad Dosani

Contributions

T.F. responsible for conceptualisation. T.F. responsible for obtaining funding and ethical approval. T.F. responsible for collaborator recruitment and management. T.F. responsible for project administration. All authors responsible for writing the manuscript. All authors responsible for editing and revising the manuscript. T.F. responsible for supervision. T.F. is the guarantor. All authors have read and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tomas Ferreira .

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Ethical approval was granted by the University of Cambridge Research Ethics Committee (reference PRE.2022.124) on the 5th of January 2023. Informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Ferreira, T., Collins, A.M., Handscomb, A. et al. The role of medical schools in UK students’ career intentions: findings from the AIMS study. BMC Med Educ 24 , 604 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05366-6

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Received : 08 October 2023

Accepted : 28 March 2024

Published : 31 May 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05366-6

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