Developing an Instrument to Measure the Utilization of Principles of Teaching and Learning During Class Sessions*

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument, the Principles of Teaching and Learning Assessment (PTLA) to measure the frequency of use of principles of teaching and learning (Newcomb, McCracken, Warmbrod, & Whittington, 2004) during class sessions. The following research objectives guided the study: operationalize the principles of teaching and learning by developing concrete classroom observation criteria for each principle; establish face and content validity of the PTLA as measured using qualitative data from a panel of experts; establish reliability of the PTLA as measured through analysis of test-retest data; and write foundational premises for developing the PTLA. Grounded in Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development (1961), the study was further guided by a conceptual framework for studying cognitive levels of teaching and learning (Ewing and Whittington, 2007). An instrument for measuring the use of principles of teaching and learning during class sessions is needed for documenting teaching effectiveness. The PTLA will be used to facilitate data collection regarding professor behaviors and their relationship to student variables in teaching environments.However, researchers have stated that the same instructional methods are still used to teach

Instructors' Use of the Principles of Teaching and Learning During College Class Sessions

“…The purpose of the study was to describe instructors' frequency of utilization of the Principles of Teaching and Learning (Newcomb et al, 2004) during college class sessions, as measured using the Principles of Teaching and Learning Assessment (PTLA) (Foster & Whittington, 2010). It was concluded that the Principles of Teaching and Learning were utilized minimally in the college class sessions studied.…”

“…The PTLA (Foster & Whittington, 2010) was the instrument used to identify frequency of utilization of the PT&L (Newcomb et al, 2004) during the class sessions. Reliability for the PTLA was established using test-retest procedures (Ary, Jacobs, Sorensen Irvine, & Walker, 2014).…”

“…Content validity for the PTLA was established by a panel of experts (Foster & Whittington, 2010). The panel of experts consisted of the senior authors of Methods of Teaching Agriculture (Newcomb et al, 2004).…”

“…In accordance with the PTLA instrument protocol (Foster & Whittington, 2010), and after intra-and inter-rater reliability were established by the researchers, videotaped class sessions were observed, and frequency of use of the PT&L was tallied on six-minute intervals (Webb, 1970). As each PT&L was observed, the corresponding time interval of occurrence was indicated.…”

“…Step Three) rank the classrooms according to student achievement; and Step Four) determine the behaviors whose frequency of occurrence is related to achievement scores. Since step one was addressed by Foster and Whittington (2010), and Step Two was piloted though this study, completion of Step Three and Step Four are recommended for "Defin[ing] the criterion and find[ing] its predictors" (Doyle, 1977, p. 165) for the Newcomb et al(2004) Principles of Teaching and Learning.…”