Role of Transformative Pedagogy in Enhancing Learning Outcomes at Tertiary Level of Education

Abstract

Transformative pedagogy has become a popular strategy in higher education to promote deep learning and student participation. The existing literature points out that so-called student-centred and active learning methods are leading to an upturn in the students’ critical thinking, engagement and learning performance. Yet, there is a dearth of empirical descriptions of its overall effects on learning in the tertiary context. Therefore, the objective of our work was to investigate the significance and transformative pedagogy for improving students’ learning in terms of results. A quantitative research methodology was adopted, with research instruments in the form of standardized Likert-scale questionnaires through which data was obtained from 200 higher-education students. Descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the data. The results showed a general high level of accordance (M = 4.12) concerning the benefits of transformative pedagogy, which affected most on learning satisfaction (M = 4.22) and critical thinking ability (M = 4.20). The findings suggest that transformative teaching techniques can effectively facilitate students’ learning engagement and their learning outcomes. The discussion emphasizes the alignment towards findings from previous research that focuses on the discussion of active and reflective teaching strategies in the domain of higher education. This study suggests that transformative pedagogy is a powerful teaching strategy for improving student learning, student engagement and higher order thinking at the university level and in so doing supports the enhancement of quality in higher education.