Studies of master teaching have investigated a set of qualities that define excellent teaching. However, few studies have investigated master teachers' perspectives on excellent teaching and how it may differ from other faculty or students. The current study investigated award-winning teachers' (N ¼ 50) ratings of the 28 qualities on the teacher behavior checklist. There was substantial overlap in the importance placed upon various teaching qualities among award-winning teachers and other faculty. However, excellent teachers placed more value upon being prepared and forming rapport with students. Full professors placed more importance on several teaching qualities than associate and assistant professors. Teaching training programs should include broad definitions of excellent teaching that incorporate components that some faculty may otherwise overlook.

This study identifies views of foreign‐educated faculty who teach in American universities on what constitutes excellence in teaching based on different demographics using the online version of the Teacher Behavior Checklist. Faculty from 14 institutions within the Southern Regional Educational Board (SREB) were asked to rank the top 10 of 28 teacher qualities of excellent teaching. The final faculty sample consisted of 448 participants, of which 309 were U.S.‐educated, and 139 were foreign‐educated. The majority of the foreign‐educated faculty were from Asia and Europe. Results showed that both U.S.‐ and foreign‐educated faculty agreed on eight qualities as the most important for excellent teaching, although in different order. “Knowledgeable” and “enthusiastic” were generally ranked the number 1 and 2 top qualities. Foreign‐educated faculty tended to rank “confident,” “effective communicator,” and “encourages and cares” significantly higher than U.S.‐educated faculty. There was a statistically significant difference between U.S.‐ and foreign‐educated faculty in ranking the top qualities between and within demographic characteristics (i.e., gender and discipline). This study provides a significant contribution to the literature on perceived qualities of excellent teaching between foreign‐ and U.S.‐educated faculty as well as important information for higher education administrators responsible for educational development.

Engaging students in learning is a basic principle of effective undergraduate education. Outcomes of engaging students include meaningful learning experiences and enhanced skills in all learning domains. This chapter reviews the influence of engaging students in different forms of active learning on cognitive, psychomotor, and affective skill development.

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