Different Styles of Reasoning as Support for the Improvement in Teaching-Learning Process in the Physical Education Undergraduate Course

Abstract

The teaching-learning process in higher education depends on several factors which comprise the quality of education offered by teachers and comprehension by students. Owing to the importance of equilibrium between these factors, the different styles of thinking in first year undergraduate students of the Physical Education course are provided and correlated with the teachers’ methodological and pedagogical practices when they prepare their lectures. Teachers and students of the University Center of Maringá (CESUMAR) and the Ingá Institution for Higher Education (UNINGÁ) were evaluated through a descriptive study in which a sample group was given a questionnaire that assessed the students’ predominant style of thinking. Results, statistically processed through the correlation of responses from students and teachers, showed that teachers of first year undergraduate students of the Physical Education course are not in didactic agreement with the different teaching styles of thinking of the course’s students. Probable causes are presented. It has also been suggested that an adjustment by both groups is mandatory, preferably within the styles of reasoning described, so that teaching aspects could be improved.