Teaching methods through the eyes of Bulgarian students from three generations

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18543/tjhe.2870
Keywords: teaching methods, methods of presentation, lecturer’s behaviour, generations, education, Gen Z, Gen Y, Gen X

Abstract

This article aims to identify the attitudes of different generations regarding certain aspects of the teaching approaches used during the education of economic disciplines. The analysis primarily draws on a scientific review of previous studies in both international and Bulgarian contexts, focusing on the attitudes of lecturers and the perceptions of students from the three generations involved in the educational process. A descriptive research strategy is employed to support the thesis. A survey was conducted using a questionnaire to implement the descriptive method. With a population size of 37,403 students, the respondents formed a sample size of 662 respondents, achieving a confidence level of 99.056% and a margin of error of 3.78%. The results are presented using two-dimensional distributions in the form of cross-tabulations. The ordinal relationships between the categories of a given variable are represented using ordinal (rank) scales, applying Kendall’s tau-b and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients. The calculations were carried out using IBM SPSS software. The study found no significant correlation between the characteristics of different generations and their preferred teaching methods. At the same time, generational traits did not influence attitudes towards acquiring new knowledge and skills during the educational process.

Received: 27 October 2023
Accepted: 3 April 2025

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Author Biographies

Dragomir Iliev, Tsenov Academy of Economics, Bulgaria

He is currently an associate Professor, Ph.D., in the “International Economic Relations” department at the Tsenov Academy of Economics. He was the director of the Center for Distance Learning and the Center for Quality, Accreditation and Digitization of Education at “D. А. Tsenov” Academy of Economics. His research interests are in the field of international economics, international business, international marketing, project management, economic integration. He has competences and qualifications in the field of distance and blended learning. He has over 65 scientific publications. Since 2013, he has been on the Editorial Board of the Electronic Magazine “Dialog”. He participated in 16 projects (national and international), 7 of them as a manager. He is a member of the Union of Scientists in Bulgaria.

Daniela Ilieva, "Angel Kanchev" University of Ruse, Bulgaria

She is currently a head assistant professor, Ph.D., in the Department of Economics and International Relations at “Angel Kanchev” University of Ruse. Hers research interests are in the field of marketing, sustainable marketing, innovations, international business and marketing, electronic and distance learning in economics, generation Z. She has over 33 publications in the field of marketing, regional development and the knowledge economy. She is a member of the Union of Scientists in Bulgaria.

Zhelyo Zhelev, Tsenov Academy of Economics, Bulgaria

He is currently a senior assistant in the Department of Control and Analysis of Economic Activity at the Tsenov Academy of Economics. In 2018 he obtained his PhD. In the same year, he took the position of Coordinator at the Distance Learning Center at the same educational institution, where he is currently working. His research interests are in the field of taxation, tax control, transfer pricing, financial intelligence, etc. He has participated in more than 5 national and international projects. As an author and co-author, he has participated in more than 20 scientific publications. He is a reviewer of over 30 scientific publications indexed in Scopus and WoS. He is a member of the Editorial Review Board of the International Journal of E-Business Research (IJEBR). He is a member of the Union of Scientists in Bulgaria.

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Published
2025-06-30
How to Cite
Iliev, Dragomir, Daniela Ilieva, and Zhelyo Zhelev. 2025. “Teaching Methods through the Eyes of Bulgarian Students from Three Generations”. Tuning Journal for Higher Education 12 (1). https://doi.org/10.18543/tjhe.2870.
Issue
Vol. 12 No. 1 (2025): Generational differences in University Students: Challenges or opportunities?
Section
Articles

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