Ways of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Representations in the panorama of law education at the Catholic University of Mozambique

Bianca Gerente, Ilidia Cabral

Resumo

Given the current demands in higher education that emphasize the need to change teaching and learning strategies, it is necessary to understand what is being done by teachers and students in a scenario that impels the progressive empowerment of student work and confronts teachers with the challenge of promoting in those skills, as well as techniques. Student success or failure is closely related to the organization of teaching institutions and the way teachers teach. This article aims to understand the representations that encompass the professors and students of the law course of the Catholic University of Mozambique (UCM) and their influence on how to teach, learn and evaluate this course. Methodologically it is a case study, of interpretative nature, being inserted in a research of eminently qualitative character. A questionnaire survey was applied to 153 students attending the third and fourth years of law school, in three of the faculties of UCM (Faculty of Tourism and Informatics Management, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences and Faculty of Law respectively). In addition, 23 teachers who teach subjects on this course also participated in the survey. A documentary analysis of the curricular program of the course and literature review were also undertaken. The study results indicate that UCM law teachers and students understand the teaching, learning and assessment process of this course from a different perspective. Teachers conceive of teaching as the transmission of knowledge. Their main challenges are: pedagogical training, research and student assessment. In turn, students believe that in order to develop their learning, teachers should interact more with students, investigate more and use advanced teaching methods, that is that teachers should appropriate the logic of teacher-student interaction.