Trained observers visited classes taught by university lecturers receiving either low, medium, or high student ratings. The observers estimated the frequency of occurrence of 60 specific, low-inference teaching behaviors. Significant differences among low-, medium-, and high-rated lecturers were found for 26 individual behaviors divided among seven categories of teaching. Group differences were largest for "attention getting" behaviors such as speaking expressively, moving about while lecturing, using humor, and showing enthusiasm for the subject. Factor analysis of individual teaching behaviors yielded nine interpretable factors, of which three (Clarity, Enthusiasm, and Rapport) differed significantly across groups, and all but one showed correlations with various teacher and course characteristics. Results are discussed with reference to the pivotal role of attention-getting behavior in classroom teaching, the validity of student instructional ratings, and the design of teaching improvement programs in higher education.Research over the last 20 years indicates that student ratings can provide reliable and valid information on the quality of college teaching. Although results are sometimes contradictory, the weight of evidence suggests that student ratings of a given instructor are reasonably stable across courses and time periods; are affected to only a minor extent by extraneous factors such as class size and severity of grading; are consistent with similar ratings made by alumni, colleagues, and trained classroom observers; and most important of all, are significantly correlated with more objective measures of teaching effectiveness such as student exam performance (McKeachie, 1979;,Although considerable research has been done on the reliability and validity of student ratings, much less is known as to the specific things that teachers receiving high or low ratings actually do in the college
Colleague ratings of 29 personality traits were studied in relation to student ratings of teaching effectiveness in a sample of 46 psychology teachers. Instructors were evaluated in six different types of university courses, ranging from freshman lecture classes to graduate research seminars. Major findings were as follows: (I) Rated teaching effectiveness varied substantially across different types of courses for a given instructor; (2) teaching effectiveness in each type of course could be predicted with considerable accuracy from colleague ratings of personality; and (3) the specific personality traits contributing to effective teaching differed markedly for different course types. It was concluded that psychology instructors tend to be differentially suited to different types of courses and furthermore that the compatibility of instructors to courses is determined in part by personality characteristics.
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