This study examined the perception of academic stress among college students in a state college in the Philippines highlighting gender differences. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, an indigenous survey instrument was developed. A total of 1,210 college students chosen through systematic random sampling responded to the survey instrument. To determine gender differences among the respondents, independent samples t-test was used via SPSS version 15.0. Statistical analyses showed that male and female respondents differed significantly in their perceptions of subject, teacher, schedule, classroom, and expectation-related stressors but did not significantly differ in their perceptions of enrolment and admission, classmate, and financial- related stressors. Generally, no significant difference was found between male and female respondents in their perception of academic stressors, however using the mean scores as basis, female respondents scored higher compared to male respondents.

This study focused with the development and psychometric properties of a scale that measures teacher effectiveness in higher education. Extant literature on effective teachers served as bases for the construction of a 107-item initial scale and 497 higher education students served as participants. Results of the study showed that there were four dimensions of teacher effectiveness in higher education. These dimensions identified in the scale posses the psychometric properties of internal consistency and validity. The internal consistency estimate of the sub-scales using Cronbach coefficient α ranged from 0.707 to 0.968 while the overall internal consistency estimate of the scale was 0.972. On the other hand, validity was evaluated using factor analysis with items having factor loadings of 0.500 and above retained. Thus, the resulting Teacher Effectiveness Scale in Higher Education (TESHE) is a psychometrically sound scale that measures the multidimensional aspects of teacher effectiveness in higher education.

This study investigated expectations as sources of academic stress specifically among college freshmen. A total of 597 college freshmen enrolled in a state college in the Philippines during the First Semester of School Year 2011-2012 were asked to respond to the Academic Expectations Stress Inventory (AESI). AESI is a nine-item inventory with two domains: expectations of parents/teachers and expectations of self. This study specifically dealt on the responses to expectations as sources of academic stress and whether male and female college freshmen differed with reference to perceived parents/teachers' expectations, self-expectations, and academic expectations in general. Statistical analyses revealed that the means of responses of the college freshmen to the items in the AESI ranged from 3.091 to 3.746 with 1 as the minimum and 5 as the maximum response in every item. Also, male and female college freshmen significantly differed in perceived parents/teachers' expectations, self-expectations, and academic expectations in general.

Teachers are an important resource in any educational system and such is true to all levels of education, thus, what characteristics are associated with effective teachers in higher education? Said question prompted the conduct of this study. Specifically, this study identified characteristics associated with effective teachers in higher education which can later be used in the conduct of researches on teaching effectiveness. Extant literature on effective teacher characteristics published between the years 2000 to 2009 in the Philippines and abroad were reviewed and served as bases for the development of a 107-item questionnaire. The items in the questionnaire were initially grouped into six major themes identified during the literature review: Personality, Subject Matter Expertise, Relational Competence, Professional Competence, Teaching Style, and Classroom Management Style. The questionnaire was administered to 497 college students in a state college in the Philippines. The responses of the 497 college students in the 107-item questionnaire were subjected to Exploratory Factor Analysis. It was revealed that effective teacher characteristics in higher education can be further reduced into four major themes which were labeled as Teaching related Behavior, Relational Expertise, Subject Matter Expertise, and Personality. Labeling was done based on the common themes of items in each cluster.   Keywords - characteristics, effective teachers, exploratory factor analysis, higher education, state college, students’ perspective

Academic achievements as reflected in the General Weighted Averages (GWAs) of 412 high school students from a state college in the Philippines were correlated with their scores in the Academic Expectations Stress Inventory (AESI). This was done to see if link exists between GWAs and AESI scores. GWA is the average of grades in all subjects taken, whether passed or failed and serves as an indicator of students’ academic achievement in a given school year. It is reflected in the report cards of high school students. On the other hand, AESI is a nine-item inventory with two domains: expectations of teachers/parents and expectations of self. Statistical analyses showed that there are positive significant relationships between GWAs and scores in the AESI and are significant at the 0.01 and 0.05 levels.