What Constitutes Poor Teaching? A Preliminary Inquiry Into the Misbehaviors of Not-So-Good Instructors

Abstract

Across three phases, we investigated college students’ perceptions of poor college teaching to develop a typology of poor teaching behaviors. In Phase 1, students generated a list of qualities representative of poor teaching. In Phase 2, another group of students assigned behavioral correspondents to these qualities, resulting in a list of 15 poor teaching qualities and their attendant misbehaviors. Finally, in Phase 3, yet another group of students generated a “top 5” list of qualities and behaviors that their most ineffective teachers have exhibited. Across participants in Phase 3, the top 5 list included, in order, being disrespectful, offering unrepresentative and unfair student learning assessments, having unrealistic expectations for student learning, being less than knowledgeable on course content, and having poor communication skills. These findings provide practical guidance on which particular behaviors teachers should avoid adopting in their instructional repertoires.

What Constitutes Poor Teaching? Perspectives From Chinese College Students

“…Table 4 shows the remarkable consistency of these data across the three phases and provides a composite average across all three phases. Consistent with American students (Busler et al, 2017), Chinese students’ responses also reflected that a large percentage of their teachers have been excellent or above average. However, these data also indicate that for other teachers, there is ample room for improvement.…”

“…We compared the results between the Busler et al (2017) findings and the current study and found that U.S. and Chinese college students shared 17 categories of their perceptions of the characteristics of instructors. As shown in Table 1, there were three U.S. qualities (i.e., exams not representative of material covered, uninterested in the class, and inability to accept feedback) that Chinese students did not mention, while four qualities (i.e., unfair to students, unethical, poor teaching attitude, and poor classroom environment) that Chinese students reported as separate characteristics.…”

“…The last part of the survey asked participants to think of a “bad or ineffective teacher” they have had and to generate a list of at least three descriptors of the qualities that described these teachers. We gave students this definition of a bad or ineffective teacher: “A bad/ineffective teacher is an instructor from whom students do not learn much from their class experiences or do not enjoy the learning experience or both” (adapted from Busler et al, 2017, p. 331).…”

“…Although there have been numerous studies investigating the habits and practices of excellent teachers internationally (e.g., Buskist & Keeley, 2018b) as well as in China (e.g., Xu, 2018), there have been considerably fewer investigations into what constitutes poor teaching (e.g., Busler, Kirk, Keeley, & Buskist, 2017; Li, 2013). Poor teaching not only has a negative impact on student development but also affects a school’s reputation.…”

No Disrespect: Student and Faculty Perceptions of the Qualities of Ineffective Teachers

“…More recently, Busler et al (2017) attempted to create a typology of poor teaching qualities. Across three phases, the research explored undergraduates’ evaluations of what constitutes a poor teacher.…”