Effective Teacher Characteristics in Higher Education from Students’ Perspective: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

Abstract

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

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“…In addition to teaching style and the teacher"s characteristics changes along with technological, social and culture changes (Walklin, 2002). Effective style of learning and teaching at higher studies demands robust knowledge of the subject matter (Calaguas, 2012). Theory of mental self-government is largely adopted by the researcher to comprehend the notion of effective style of teaching at different educational levels (Li, 2004).…”

“…Punctual: One of the main perceived elements of effective teaching according to university students is the characteristic of punctuality. Previous research studies also has the view that punctuality is considered to be one of the main characteristics of effective teachers (Calaguas, 2012). The participants also responded about other behavioral characteristics of effective teaching including sense of belonging, providing equal opportunity to each student to participate in class activities.…”

Characteristics and Methods of Effective Teachers: A Qualitative Study of Students’ Perspective

“…In addition to teaching style and the teacher"s characteristics changes along with technological, social and culture changes (Walklin, 2002). Effective style of learning and teaching at higher studies demands robust knowledge of the subject matter (Calaguas, 2012). Theory of mental self-government is largely adopted by the researcher to comprehend the notion of effective style of teaching at different educational levels (Li, 2004).…”

“…Punctual: One of the main perceived elements of effective teaching according to university students is the characteristic of punctuality. Previous research studies also has the view that punctuality is considered to be one of the main characteristics of effective teachers (Calaguas, 2012). The participants also responded about other behavioral characteristics of effective teaching including sense of belonging, providing equal opportunity to each student to participate in class activities.…”