When academy meets industry: A case study of team teaching between academic and industrial teachers

Due to the rapid change in the world technology and the growth of national economy, the traditional curriculum design in technological and vocational education is difficult to meet the industrial demands. There is a growing awareness that the traditional teaching technique cannot meet students´ academic needs or their future employment requirements. To enhance the quality of education, the Ministry of Education of the R.O.C. builds a bridge between industry and Technological and Vocational Education institutions for the establishment of partnership and collaboration projects. Through the industry-academy cooperation, academic and industrial teachers operate common course, students experience more than one teacher in the same classroom. Team teaching can be an effective alternative to the traditional solitary teacher´s self-reflection upon what he/she is doing in the classroom. It can enhance both teachers´ professional knowledge and students´ learning efficiency. The purpose of this study was to investigate the case school teachers´ and students´ recognition effects of the operational process of team teaching. A self-developed questionnaire was used to explore the perspective of teachers and students randomly selected from case school in Taiwan. Completed questionnaires from 764 students and 21 teachers formed the basis of our empirical analysis. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations about team teaching were made to the educational authorities and teachers.