Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education
Date of this Version
2017
Document Type
Article
Citation
To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development (2017) 36(1)
Abstract
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 United States-educated (US-educated), and 139 were foreign-educated. The majority of the foreign-educated faculty were from Asia and Europe. Results showed that both US- 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 US-educated faculty. There was a statistically significant difference between US- and foreign-educated faculty in ranking the top qualities between and within demographic characteristics (that is, gender and discipline). This study provides a significant contribution to the literature on perceived qualities of excellent teaching between foreign- and US-educated faculty as well as important information for higher education administrators responsible for educational development.
Included in
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Higher Education Commons, Higher Education Administration Commons, Higher Education and Teaching Commons, Other Education Commons
Comments
License: CC BY-NC-ND