A reality check on a medical college faculty’s perceptions

The teaching behaviour of medical college faculty members is presumed to be determined by their conceptions and perceptions on teaching. These perceptions and beliefs about learning-teaching activity develop from their own learning and teaching experiences as students as well as from their own teaching experiences. There are two approaches to teaching – one that is content oriented/teacher focused and the other is concerned with students’ conceptual change/student centred. The teacher-centred view on learning has come under increasing pressure and criticism. It is being replaced by a new paradigm, student-centred learning. Successful educational changes depend on what teachers do in real life and what they think. Investigations are needed to explore the linkages between teachers’ beliefs, thoughts, theories, perceptions, conceptions, knowledge and attitude on the one hand, and teacher behavior, classroom practices and student outcomes and professional success on the other hand .