ENGAGEMENT OF TEACHERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: IMPLEMENTING BLENDED LEARNING

Abstract

The teaching and learning environment has undergone changes. This social movement, as well as professional, impacts on the performance of the teacher, who takes on a different role, becoming a curator of content and mediator of the formative process, which often develops through active methodologies, pedagogical practices that put the student at the center of the formative process, transforming him into the protagonist of his learning. Among the several existing active methodologies, we find the blended learning, focus of the present study. With all these changes in the processes of learning and teaching, the teacher has had little time to think, to plan, and to understand, often, about his own role, which ends up influencing the level of teacher engagement in his activities. So, how do teachers engage in the transition from traditional to hybrid teaching in higher education? The research sought to identify the level of teacher engagement when experiencing the implementation of hybrid teaching, learning by projects and problem, in two higher courses. The objective was also to understand how teachers engage in a methodological change and to describe how students perceive this engagement. The data were collected through a weekly teacher apprenticeship and the application of the teacher engagement scale. We use the theoretical and descriptive analysis. The results showed that teachers were positively involved in the process of methodological transition, but that 20% still perceived that they were happier in the traditional model of teaching, demonstrating that a portion of teachers feel uncomfortable in this scenario.