Responding to a global world in higher education: blended learning and team teaching in tertiary pre-service teacher education

Advanced technology and expectations for flexible learning are changing the nature of teaching and learning within the higher education environment. This has created an imperative for more innovative approaches to education which respond to a global world. As a result, two lecturers in a tertiary pre-service teacher education unit in an Australian university, implemented a contemporary framework that included blended learning and team teaching practices. This model of practice has evolved over a number of years. In order to build an evidence-base for this approach a mixed-method research project was developed to inform the content and delivery of the unit.

A pre and post unit survey was used in this research project as the primary data and will be presented to exemplify the main themes. This data was triangulated by classroom observations, student work samples and researcher journals. This paper will report on the overall progress of this research project and how the blended learning and team teaching approach has affected the planning, content and delivery of learning material. Results have indicated that the blended learning and team teaching approach improved the overall classroom experience, catered to diverse learning styles, encouraged peer collaboration and networking and facilitated a greater sharing of resources.