University faculty members’ perceptions of their teaching efficacy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate faculty members' perceptions of teaching efficacy and their relation to faculty members' backgrounds. A questionnaire measuring six dimensions of teaching efficacy was distributed to faculty members at 17 universities in Taiwan, yielding 513 complete sets of responses. Faculty members felt efficacious, from the greatest to the least, in the following dimensions: course design, class management, interpersonal relation, learning assessment, technology usage, and instructional strategy. Faculty members of public universities show higher perceptions of their efficacy than do those of private universities. Faculty members in education report a higher level of efficacy than faculty members in other disciplines. Females score higher than males in class management and learning assessment. Faculty members with less than six years of teaching experience indicate lower perceptions of teaching efficacy in course design than other faculty members. Faculty members teaching courses completely matching their specialties feel more confident in their teaching than those teaching partially-matched courses. However, there is no significant difference between faculty members with teaching training and those without training experience.

College teaching preparedness : contributions of graduate student experiences

“…Overall, women were found to have higher levels of teaching efficacy, and not surprisingly, instructors from the College of Education reported higher levels of teaching efficacy as well (Fives & Looney, 2009). This study also corroborated the results of other studies, finding that faculty members in the education discipline had higher teaching efficacy than other disciplines, and that females had higher teaching efficacy, specifically in the areas of class management and learning assessment (Chang et al, 2011). While the results of the Fives and Looney study do add to the literature, the sample sized used (117 total) is not large enough for the statistical method used (principal component analysis), limiting the robustness of these findings.…”

“…It is interesting that these verbal persuasion experiences would be more influential than the direct teaching experiences, as the verbal persuasion category is reported to be the third most influential source of efficacy information (Bandura, 1977a(Bandura, , 1997. In a study of faculty members in Taiwan, no significant difference was found in teaching efficacy between faculty members with teaching training and those without (Chang, Lin, & Song, 2011).…”

Full Issue 6(3)

“…Additionally, one's teaching experience was positively related to selfefficacy (Chang, Lin, & Song, 2011;Yeo, Ang, Chong, Huan, & Quek, 2008) and job satisfaction (Thomason & La Paro, 2013). Therefore, confidence in one's teaching ability, significantly related to level of experience and job satisfaction, was identified by previous research as a contributing factor to burnout among teachers.…”

Stirring the Pot: Supporting and Challenging General Education Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty to Change Teaching and Assessment Practice

“…Challenges to authentic, or learning-centered, assessment include many of the same challenges encountered with learner-centered pedagogies or EBIPs. Just a few of these challenges include heavy reliance on grades as a proxy for learning (Wiggens, 1993), reliance upon student evaluations for teacher effectiveness (Fox & Hackerman, 2003), low self-efficacy in assessment design skills (Chang et al, 2011), and concerns about time to design and score (Webber, 2012). Yet it is widely agreed that authentic assessment is likely to support a primary goal of assessment-enhancing student learning by informing teaching practice and clarifying learning achievement for the student (Heywood, 2000;Webber, 2012;Wiggens, 1993).…”

“…The most common barriers cited are lack of time, training, and incentives (Andrews & Lemons, 2015;Brownell & Tanner, 2015;Henderson, Beach, & Finkelstein, 2011); felt tension in faculty identity as teacher versus researcher (Brownell & Tanner, 2015); and a lower sense of self-efficacy when attempting unfamiliar instructional strategies (Chang, Lin, & Song, 2011). The most common methods used by faculty developers and others to disseminate EBIPs to faculty lack "coordinated and focused efforts lasting over a period of time," "the use of performance evaluation and feedback," and a "deliberate focus on changing faculty conceptions"-all essential elements to reinforce adoption (Henderson et al, 2011, p. 972).…”