Some didactic characteristics of teaching at the University of Maribor: Students‘ perspective

Milena Ivanuš Grmek, Marija Javornik Krečič and Sabina Ograjšek

Summary:  In recent years, the Slovenian higher education area has undergone several changes related to the Bologna process and student-centred learning initiatives, coming from individuals in the field of education and beyond. Therefore, we decided to focus on the views of the students of the University of Maribor on the introduction of higher education. Specifically, we focused on examining students’ views on the use of teaching methods and forms in higher education. In the present study, 212 students from both undergraduate (f = 96) and postgraduate (f = 116) study programs from all seventeen faculties of the University of Maribor participated. Results of our research show that the main method of teaching in higher education is the method of lectures, followed by the case method and method of demonstration. Students also evaluated, that when choosing a teaching method, professors take in to account the content of the class and their goals. Students’ answers about the teacher’s use of teaching forms indicate that higher education teachers and associates use different teaching forms in lectures than in tutorial classes, namely, according to students, frontal learning predominates in lectures, and group learning in tutorial classes.