European Journal of Education Studies
ISSN: 2501 - 1111
ISSN-L: 2501 - 1111
Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu
10.5281/zenodo.163824
Volume 2│Issue 8│2016
FACULTY MEMBERS’ VIEWS OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING:
A CASE STUDY OF QATAR UNIVERSITY
Alanood Mubarak Al-Thani1i,
Latifa A. Aziz A. A. Al-Meghaissib2,
Mohamed Ragab Abdelhakeem Ali Nosair3
Department of Psychological Sciences, College of Education, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
1
Department of Educational Sciences, College of Education, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
2
Department of Curricula, College of Education, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
3
Abstract:
Effective teaching (ET) has recently drawn attention within higher educational
intuitions owing to the need for greater accountability, and high quality learning
outcomes. The present study investigated Qatar University faculty member’s (QUFM)
perception of ET, characteristics, practices, and impediment, by assembling data from a
cluster sample of 75, using a quantitative approach. The methodology that was utilized
took the form of five research questions were answered using a basic descriptive and
inferential statistical approach. Results indicate that; 52% of QUFM consider the ET
term is ambiguous that means 48% of QUFM population are not contributing in
fulfilling the adapted strategy of education and learning excellency, which is based on
achieving ET. Moreover, the data revealed that 57.14% of QUFM’s instructional
knowledge is not at the acceptable rate. Finally, the results suggested that further
training in implementing ET concepts is required for most academic staff.
Keywords: effective teaching; teaching effectiveness; higher education instruction;
teacher perception of teaching
Introduction
Recently, ET has become a popular topic and a major issue among higher education
institutions (Fig. 1). As a consequence, for the need for greater accountability,
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transparency, improvements in the quality of the learning outcomes, in order to meet
the rising demand of quality education.
Most faculties are experts in the subject they teach, but many have had little or no
knowledge of teaching or training in how to teach, which can negatively affect teaching
and learning outcomes. Hence, there is a need to explore faculty perspectives on
effective teaching, which however, remains underexplored among faculty at many
institutions, including Qatar University (QU), in Doha, the first established -and the
only- national institution of higher education in the state of Qatar. There are now a
number of studies that have investigated ET; however, most of these studies have
mainly focused on student and administrator perceptions of it (Komos, 2011; Minor,
Onwuegbuzie, Witcher, & James, 2010), and little is known about faculty perspectives
(Alemu, 2014; Chang, McKeachie, & Lin, 2010).
According to the basic assumptions of learning theory, practices are based on
previous knowledge; therefore, it can reasonably be speculated that faculty who have a
strong pedagogical knowledge base will be more able to teach effectively as a result.
Thus, in order to promote better teaching and learning outcomes at QU, the university
in 2003 adopted an “education and learning excellency strategy” focused on using more
student-centred instructional techniques as an instructional approach of ET; since then,
QU has offered many professional development workshops and seminars in ET within
the university to help fulfil this strategy. The present study is the first to investigate the
outcomes of the strategy. It proceeds from the assumption that ET is both an art and a
science (Magsuga-Gage, Simonsen, & Briere, 2012), and that without formal
pedagogical preparation, university academics will be distinctly disadvantaged in the
effort to meet the ‘high-quality teaching’ expectations of university administrators and
students (Scott & Scott, 2015).
The need for this study arises from our professional desire to better serve QU
administrators and faculty to fulfil their remit of providing education and learning
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excellence. Therefore, the main task adopted by this study was to investigate Qatar
University faculty members’ (QUFMs’) views on the basic conceptual nature of ET, its
characteristics, related practices, and impediments to it.
Effective teaching: Definition of concept
The vagueness of the ET concept is likely part of what hinders higher education
institutions from enhancing their teaching and learning outcomes. However,
conceptualising ET effectively will require criteria for effectiveness. These might
include, for example, whether it addresses the objectives of education in general and of
teaching in particular, political and social needs, and best practices as defined by
educational professionals and scholars (Ko & Sammons, 2013); among the factors
potentially complicating the drawing of a clear concept of ET are the advent of the
Internet and the related technological innovations that have influenced instructional
environments (Scott, 2015). ET is also a multidimensional concept, highly personspecific (both teacher- and student-specific) and seldom observed; these conditions also
make it more difficult to describe and measure, a situation that leaves institutions
unable to incentivise, track, or demonstrate improvement in teaching quality (Wieman,
2015). Indeed, there is no consensus about what exactly effective teaching is (Beran &
Rokosh, 2009; Doyle, 2004; Seidel, 2007; Stronge, 2007) or how it should be measured
(Lumpkin & Multon, 2013).
Nevertheless, there have been attempts to conceptualise ET; Seidel (2007), for
example, defines it as the impact of teaching on the educational process, while Hayes
(2006) considers it to be the degree to which teaching takes account of students’
individual experiences and personal philosophies, and does not place too much
meaning in improvement of quantitative results. Another study (Isbell & Szabo, 2015)
defined ET as a teacher’s belief in her or his ability to impact student performance. This
may involve a range of teacher characteristics, extending from field knowledge and
experience with pedagogical techniques to being “fun and enthusiastic, demonstrat[ing]
fairness, honor[ing] learning processes” (Hill, 2014), etc. Ultimately, effective teaching
blends personality factors and ability factors, but the key factor remains the instructor’s
personality (Alemu, 2014).
ET dimensionality
There is much diversity in the literature regarding the nature and number of
dimensions or components of effective teaching (Devlin & Samarawickrema, 2010). In
the 1950s, ET was a unidimensional concept attributed usually to teacher characteristics;
however, during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, scholars came to perceive it as a
multidimensional concept involving factors such as teacher’s disciplines, perception of
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the teaching process, professional skills (Ambrosino & Peel, 2011), and students’
thinking style (Zhang, 2004). Yon, Burnap, and Kohut (2002) identify nine dimensions
in all: format of the class, content of subject matter being covered, teacher’s
demonstrated knowledge or proficiency in subject matter, organisation of the
presentation of material, clarity of presentation, level of presentation, engagement of
audience/effective interaction between teacher and students, and effective use of visual
aids. Te-Sheng, Huei-Hsuan, and Mei-Mei (2011) and Chang et al. (2010) address six
dimensions: course design, class management, interpersonal relations, learning
assessment, technology usage, and instructional strategy. Komos (2011) identifies three
factors through an exploratory factor analysis: regard for the student, instructor
competence, and instructional proficiency, which together are found to explain over
half the variance in ET. Ko and Sammons (2013) focus on the teacher behaviours and
classroom processes that promote better student outcomes. More recently, Kalra, Negi,
and Chauhan (2015) identify two underlying (meta-)dimensions of ET: instructor
characteristics and taught educational content. In fact it is possible that teaching is so
broad a concept that ET requires multiple definitions or breaking down into multiple
types (as distinct from subcomponents) (Komos, 2011). Similarly, teaching in the higher
education requires complex, multidimensional knowledge of the content of a given
course as well as of how to teach it (Beckerman, 2010).
Characteristics of effective teaching practices
Effective teaching practices (ETPs) are any teaching practices that influence students’
learning. The literature on ETPs has revealed various main factors: some related to the
instructor’s personality traits, which is out of the scope of our study, and others to their
teaching practices, ability, experience, gender, or disciplinary teaching area. Previously
identified factors representing teaching practices include lesson clarity, instructional
variety, and instructor task orientation, engagement in the learning process and student
success rate (Alemu, 2014; Borich, 2010); class organisation, task setting, the nature of
task content, teaching skills, instructor–student interaction (Wray, Medwell, Fox, &
Poulson, 2000); also meaningful, in the case of indigenous students, integrating their
culture and the community they represent (Lloyd, Lewthwaite, Osborne, & Boon, 2015);
there are also factors related to instructor teaching ability, including being well
prepared and organised, making difficult subjects easy to learn, having more years of
teaching experience, encouraging questions from and discussion among students,
requiring students to think critically, giving frequent feedback on progress, expecting
students to become independent, maintaining strict control over the class, encouraging
students to learn in pairs/groups, using the latest computer technology in one’s
teaching, giving many quizzes and tests, lecturing (talking) for the entire class period,
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or assigning a lot of homework (Alemu, 2014). Teaching practice selection is generally
based on three approaches; theoretical, experiential, and subjective (that is, based on
trial-and-error). Instructors who adapt a theoretical approach implement practices
rooted to specific pedagogical-theoretical assumptions; these instructors will be more
sensitive to certain phenomena in the classroom, such as student learning styles,
motivation, etc., and will be more willing to adapt various teaching strategies in
response to those factors or needs. The experience-based approach represents a shift
from a theory-oriented to a practice-oriented approach – novice teachers sometimes
find themselves relying purely on (untheorised) experience because they are unable to
infuse theory into practice due to as yet undeveloped pedagogical skills (Lunenberg &
Korthagen, 2009). In the experience-based approach, the instructor may thus
unwittingly adopt instructional practices regardless of their appropriateness to class
conditions, leading to various potential concerns. The trial and error approach’s
practices, in contrast, are instructional practices unrooted in theoretical assumptions or
in experience, but based only on subjective selection.
Faculty teaching practices and their selection have long been assumed to be
influenced by training in graduate programmes; whether, when, and to what degree
departmental climates value and support educational innovation; and the presence and
nature of reward systems; however, the relationships of these factors with teaching
practices have rarely been empirically studied (Lattuca, Bergom, & Knight, 2014). The
research does indicate that there are specific teaching behaviours which, when
implemented appropriately in classrooms, tend to increase student engagement and
thus academic achievement, Teacher behaviour is critical among these, and has
beneficial effects via approaches to development of lessons, instruction methods or
presentation of material, and creation of positive learning environments that promote
active participation (Harbour, Evanovich, Sweigart, & Hughes, 2015). What teachers do
and how students perform intersect, making teachers a critical factor for determining
student success.
When teachers use effective practices, they maximise the probability that
students will be actively engaged in instruction. Student engagement is one of the most
well-established predictors of achievement; when students are more engaged in
academic instruction, they tend to have greater academic and also social success
(Harbour et al., 2015).
Maynes and Hatt (2012) provide a model that identifies characteristics believed
to be critical for a teacher’s conceptual focus on their students’ learning as opposed to
their own teaching: a professional growth perspective; passion and enthusiasm for the
content; pedagogical content knowledge; a rich instructional repertoire of strategies;
awareness of assessment for, as, and of learning; ability to read the body language of
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the learner; caring classroom management strategies’ and instructional efforts.
Modelling teacher behaviour is considered one of the most effective teaching practices,
and a powerful way to influence students’ reasoning skills, behaviours, and actions
inside and outside of the classroom (Harbour et al., 2015). Modelling is particularly
important when teaching students to use cognitive learning strategies (Regan &
Berkeley, 2012). (Harbour et al., 2015) asserts that effective modelling should have a
narrow focus, directing students’ attention to the important aspects of desired skills and
behaviours. Feedback is another powerful practice for improving student achievement,
engagement, and behaviour (Harbour et al., 2015). Recent and prior research findings
emphasise that teaching excellence depends on the use of a range of effective teaching
dimensions and strategies (Hativa, Barak, & Simhi, 1999); it is an art and no easy
endeavour (Alemu, 2014). The common perception that having a doctorate is all that is
required to be an effective teacher (Scott & Scott, 2015) is a false; ETP is rooted in the
instructor’s personality traits, teaching skills, learning context, subject matter, students’
characteristics, and social, political, and cultural characteristics of the community,
among other factors (Major & Palmer, 2002).
Regarding perceptions of ET by faculty members’ gender and the effects on their
teaching performance, there has been little research (Jha & Singh, 2012). Chang et al.
(2010) stated that faculty gender and pedagogical knowledge are largely unexplored as
factors explaining faculty teaching efficacy. What research does exist presents mixed
results on effects of gender. Minor et al. (2010) reported that males tended to place more
weight on being an effective classroom and behaviour manager than did females,
corresponding to Hill’s (2014) idea that since students tend to prefer teachers similar in
age and gender to themselves, teaching practices vary across faculty members’ gender
(he also states that cultural factors such as teachers’ belief influence their teaching
practice). Other studies reveal gender differences in lecturing and active classroom
practice, varying by disciplinary area, but where, overall, the average female faculty
member spent 14% more class time on active classroom practice than her male
counterpart. However, other findings indicate that gender of faculty does not play a
significant role in the relationship between teachers’ beliefs and their actual practices
(Aliakbari & Heidarzadi, 2015). The case is still unclear and would benefit from
clarification; and QU, which is not a co-ed university, is a good case in which to
investigate whether male faculty differ systematically from females in their pedagogical
content knowledge and teaching practices.
Prior research on ET and disciplinary differences showed that the largest
disciplinary differences existed between physical sciences on the one hand and
humanities and social sciences on the other; faculty members in physical sciences, on
average, devote 10% less class time to active classroom practice than their counterparts
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in soft fields (Nelson Laird, Garver, & Niskodé-Dossett, 2011), suggesting that these
fields are less student focused (Stes, Coertjens, & van Petegem, 2010). However, in
physical sciences , females spent more class time on active classroom practices than
their counterparts in social sciences and humanities (Nelson Laird et al., 2011), and
active classroom practice also increased the more times an instructor had taught that
course (Nelson Laird et al., 2011).
Impediments to effective teaching
There are few studies at the tertiary level on ET impediments; however, reviews of
what literature does exist have shown that by far the most-cited obstacles are lack of
pedagogical knowledge (Torff, 2005; Hativa, Barak, & Simhi, 2001; Walls, Nardi, von
Minden, & Hoffman, 2002), inadequate teacher beliefs (Scott & Scott, 2015) and
expectations about teaching and learning practices (Sunal et al., 2001). Other
impediments relate to behaviour inside the class, such as inappropriate communication
skills (Sidelinger, Nyeste, Madlock, Pollak, & Wilkinson, 2015), tolerance of traditional
methods of teaching (Buskist, 2002), incapability or unwillingness to implement ET
methods (Jinkens, 2015), uncaring, lack of sense of humour, nor confirmation (Myers,
Goodboy, & Members of COMM 600, 2014). There are also impediments caused by the
environment, especially the faculty environment: teaching workload (Matney, 2001),
class size and administrative workload (Buskist, 2002), or lack of institutional
professional development support (Ambrosino & Peel, 2011; Buskist, 2002). Moreover,
high administrators and student expectations regarding teacher performance (Hativa et
al., 2001) also impede teaching efficiency lack of resources (Jinkens, 2015), overemphasis
on student evaluations in assessment of teaching, and infiltration of “big business”
perspectives in higher education (Buskist, 2002).
Another impediment emerges from the debate on research and teaching
excellence (Tang & Chamberlain, 2003). In addition, some administrative procedures
indirectly impede teaching effectiveness, such as focusing on research publishing as the
main criterion of academic excellence (Smith & Van Doren, 2004); this is in contrast to
some literature suggesting positive synergies between these two, and even suggesting
that teachers without strong research contributions are not qualified to teach (Tang &
Chamberlain, 2003). Other impediments related to demographic variables have also
been identified, including number of years of teaching, where older instructors may be
reluctant to adopt ET strategies (Nelson Laird et al., 2011) and instructor’s age
(Davidovitch & Soen, 2006).
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Methodology
The main objectives of the current study are to:
(1) Estimate the level of ET concept clarity among QUFMs in general, and across
genders and disciplines.
(2) Assess the extent of QUFMs’ belief in the effectiveness of ET across genders.
(3) Explore ET concept dimensions according to QUFMs’ perceptions.
(4) Identify important and/or effective teaching practices and impediments to them
as perceived by QUFMs.
(5) Provide useful information to QU administrators and instructors on the extent to
which the educational and learning excellence strategy that was adopted by QU
in 2003 has been fulfilled.
In order to address these objectives, the following research questions were formulated:
(1) To what extent is the ET concept clear among QUFMs? Does this extent vary
across genders or disciplines?
(2) To what extent do QUFMs believe in the effectiveness of ET? Moreover, does it
vary within gender?
(3) What are the dimensions of ET according to QUFMs (procedural or theoretical
perspective)
(4) What teaching practices are effective as perceived by QUFMs?
(5) What are ET impediments as perceived by QUFMs? And which had the great
effect?
Data source and data collection
A quantitative approach to data collection was employed, consistent with the aim of the
study. Data were assembled from a cluster sample of 75 QUFMs (13% of the total N =
557). In all, 92 QUFMs were invited to participate (making the response rate 81.5%);
only participants who did not hold administrative positions were invited. Demographic
information for the participants is shown in Table 1. A survey method was used: a
paper questionnaire was distributed to participants in their departments, and follow-up
emails were sent thanking participants and encouraging them to complete an online
questionnaire as well, in order to increase response rate. The questionnaire consisted of
four sections (see Appendix 1). All questions were close-ended. Section 1 covered the
conceptual clarity of and the respondent’s belief in the effectiveness of ET, and included
two questions: responses were yes/no. Section 2 covered effective teaching dimensions,
chosen from the ET literature (Downing, 1994; Doyle, 2004; Guskey, 1988; McNaughton
et al., 2004; Qtami, 2004; Beran & Rokosh, 2009; Seidel, 2007; Tuckman, 1995). Responses
were based on a four-point categorical scale (“strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”).
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Section 3, on ET impediments, included 12 impediments; responses were meant to
indicate on a four-point categorical scale how much of an effect the participant felt the
impediment had (“None” to “Great”). Section 4, on ET practices, included six ET
practices chosen from the literature, which participants were asked to order according
to importance from their point of view, from more (rating of 1) to less (rating of 3)
important; each of the ratings was given to two practices. The questionnaire was
checked and revised by three curriculum and instruction professors from Cairo
University it was reliable.ii Kendall and Kappa Agreement coefficients were estimated
(Kendall, 0.85; Kappa, 0.67).
Data analysis
The five research questions were answered using basic descriptive and inferential
statistics. For objectives one and two, data were analysed descriptively and inferentially
using percentages and chi-squared. Percentage of agreement was calculated for ET
concept clarity, and 2*2 chi-squared was calculated to determine if an association
existed between gender or discipline (natural sciences and humanities) and instructors’
perceptions of ET clarity. For objective three, data were analysed inferentially using
exploratory factor analysis to explore their underlying dimensions. For objective four,
data were analysed descriptively using percentage and mode to determine the
important practices of ET as perceived by QUFMs. Finally, for objective five, data were
analysed descriptively using percentages to identify ET impediments as perceived by
QUFMs. For questions three, four, and five, only results for respondents who
comprehended the meaning of ET were retained, reducing the sample size to 35, (see all
tables in appendix 2).
Results
ET concept clarity among QUFMs and its associations with gender and discipline
To identify the clarity of the ET concept and any associations with gender and
discipline, frequencies and percentages were compared for answers to question one. As
reported in Table 2, and figure 2,3 slightly more than half (52%) of QUFMs thought ET
was unclear; the majority of them were male (56%) and from science disciplines (66.7%).
ii
Profs Yahia Atea Soliman, Zainab Ali Elnagar, and (Dean) Ali Algamal, College of Education, Cairo University
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A chi-squared test was performed for clarity of ET concept by gender, k2 (1, n = 74) =
1.18, p = .28, and discipline type, k2 (1, n = 74) =.80, p = .37; as seen, no associations were
found, suggesting that the rate of concept clarity of ET is similar across genders and
disciplines.
QUFMs’ belief in effectiveness of ET and its association with gender
With regard to QUFMs’ belief in ET and it is association with gender, the results for
question two, presented in Table 3, and figure 4 showed that the majority of QUFMs
(69%) did think ET was effective despite the concept’s lack of clarity. A chi-squared test
was performed belief in effectiveness of ET by gender, K2 (1, N = 74) = .955, p = .33; as
seen, no significant association was found (at p < .05). These results suggest that the rate
of believers in ET among QUFMs is similar across genders.
ET dimensions according to QUFM perception
To explore the underlying dimensions of the ET concept as perceived by QUFMs, as
addressed by question three in the questionnaire, an exploratory factor analysis was
conducted, assuming that no prior theory or model’s data were normally distributed;
extraction method was principal component, and for maximum likelihood, Kaiser’s
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criterion (eigenvalue > 1) was implemented. After culling one item with low item–total
correlation, the resulting 8-items measure was found to have a Cronbach’s alpha of .819.
Sampling adequacy was assessed by KMO and Bartlett’s test (0.71), showing approx.
chi-squared (102.35), sig .001 with df (28). To explore the factor structure, first, principle
component analysis was implemented; then, maximum likelihood was extracted based
on eigenvalue > 1, with unrotated factor solution; finally, to simplify the factor
structure, an oblique rotation (oblimin with Kaiser normalisation) was conducted. All
three extraction methods indicated a two-factor structure; eigenvalue cumulative
variance explained was (65.29%). The ET was conceived as multidimensional; the
extraction resulted in two factors (Student Achievement and Teaching Skills) -with sum of
squared loading ranging from .947 to -.034. Each factor contained 8 items; clustering of
items into factors was easily interpretable (see Table 4). Correlation between factors was
.26. Since the structure has few items, it should be considered at this point only a
preliminary structure for ET.
Important ET practices as perceived by QUFMs
To identify which ET practices QUFMs perceived as important, ranked percentages
derived from question four were compared, as shown in Table 5. And figure 5. The
most important practice was regarded to be lesson clarity (62.9%); less important were
assessment method variety (82.86%), appropriateness of technology integration
(57.14%), stress on lesson importance (68.57%), student–student interaction (57.14%),
and instructional variety (34.29%).
These data reflects a general agreement among participants that only lesson
clarity is an effective practice to achieve ET, and a lack of interest in using other
practices, especially different assessment methods, stressing lesson importance, and
integrating technology in instruction.
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ET impediments as perceived by QUFMs, with effect sizes
Question six of the questionnaire addresses impediments to ET and the extent to which
these impediments are a concern for QUFM; responses are summarised in Table 6 and
figure 6. The results showed that a large majority of participants believe that the biggest
impediments to ET are lack of teaching skills (82%), overloading with administrative
tasks and non-teaching responsibilities (60%), and difficulty of achieving the balance
between appropriate teaching style and covering all aspects of the theoretical content of
the course (60%). Additionally, moderate impediments included insufficient vocational
training programmes provided for effective teaching practice (54.3%), adopting
teaching strategies selectively without realising the rationale or background (45.7%),
and administrators’ high expectations of instructor performance (40%). Finally, research
publication expectations were considered only a low impediment. (22.9%).
Discussion
This study investigated QUFMs’ actual views on effective teaching, using a quantitative
approach, in order to determine the extent to which the institution’s educational and
learning excellence strategy adopted in 2003 had been effective. In the next subsections,
the most important findings of each question will be discussed.(Van Huy, Dunne, &
Debattista, 2013).
ET concept clarity by gender and discipline
Results of previous studies on the relationship between gender of faculty and their
beliefs about teaching and their actual practices are mixed. Aliakbari and Heidarzadi
(2015) indicated that this relationship is not gender bound, while other studies, such as
Minor et al. (2010), Hill (2014), and (Stes, Coertjens, & van Petegem, 2010), do locate
effects. Our results suggested that ET concept clarity among QUFMs is similar across
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genders and disciplines (that is, we found no significant differences). However, overall,
the rates were fairly low, with less than half (48%) of respondents having a clear idea of
the meaning of ET.
QUFMs’ belief in ET and association with gender
With regard to QUFMs’ belief in ET and its association with gender, the results showed
that the majority of QUFMs (69%) do believe in the effectiveness of ET despite their lack
of clarity on the concept, with no gender effect. This finding is in line with the
indication of Aliakbari and Heidarzadi (2015) that male teachers were not significantly
different from females in terms of the relationship between their beliefs and actual
practices. Since there is a significant relationship between teachers’ beliefs and their
actual practices (Inprasitha & Changsri, 2014), it can be inferred that QUFMs will be
likely to strive after teaching effectiveness. However, the question is whether these
teacher can choose appropriate instructional practices for their subject, learners, and
environment. They may, for example, be drawn to practices they know more about,
which they may be better able to apply as a result, but that also implies that if a teacher
has more knowledge of more instructional practices, he/she may be better equipped to
compare and contrast them, and to choose the most appropriate practice (Liu, Jones, &
Sadera, 2010).
ET dimensions according to QUFMs
The results of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) yielded two dimensions that identified
perceived components of effective teaching – Student Achievement and Teaching Skills.
Since the structure only yielded a few items it should be considered at this point only a
preliminary structure of ET. These results are in line with Ko and Sammons (2013), who
identify two quite similar factors – student learning outcomes and teacher behaviours –
and partly in line with Ambrosino and Peel (2011) and Komos (2011), which addressed
three factors through an exploratory factor analysis: regard for the student, instructor
competence, and instructional proficiency.
Important ET practices according to QUFMs
The rankings of important ET practices derived from question four in the questionnaire
indicate that more than half of the participants believe that lesson clarity (62.9%) and
instructional variety (22.9%) are the most important ET practices; these findings are in
line with previous research from Alemu (2014) and Hativa, et al. (1999), who emphasise
regarding these findings a complicating fact: that teaching excellence achieved by lesson
clarity and instructional variety use different effective teaching strategies. Also
interesting is the low importance given to technology integration and student–student
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interaction (57.14%), which is not consistent with prior research findings that have
shown that these practices are strongly connected to effective teaching (Ertmer,
Ottenbreit-Leftwich, Sadik, Sendurur, & Sendurur, 2012). Kim, Kim, Lee, Spector, and
DeMeester (2013) reported that beliefs about effective ways of teaching and technology
integration were positively correlated. Moreover, Al-Ghazo (2008) found that most
faculty members had positive attitudes toward the integration of technology and
viewed it to be an important practice. QUFMs’ perception of integrating technology into
teaching practices as less beneficial could be attributed to barriers preventing them from
doing so, such as their own lack of preparation to integrate technology in class,
institutional environment and (lack of) support, and general attitudes and beliefs
toward technology. The low importance ascribed to student–student interaction is not
in line with what Harbour, Evanovich, Sweigart, and Hughes (2015) indicate: that
student–student interaction leads to more engagement in learning and to greater
academic and social success because learners are able to function as an effective
knowledge source for each other (Zhao & Bitchener, 2007). The low importance ranking
given this factor here could be attribute to course organisation; Suryati (2015) found that
shows that teachers spent 93% of their teaching time on teacher–student interaction and
only 7% facilitating student–student interaction.
Impediments to effective teaching
The results showed that the large majority of participants believe that lack of teaching
skills (82%), overloading of administrative tasks (60%), and difficulty achieving balance
between an appropriate teaching style and covering all aspects of course content (60%)
are the main impediments to ET. These findings are in line with previous research
showing that teaching skills are both an important ET characteristic (Wray, Medwell,
Fox, & Poulson, 2000), and one of the most important factors in instructor teaching
ability (Alemu, 2014). Existing literature on ET impediments has shown that the most
frequently cited is lack of pedagogical knowledge and skills (Ambrosino & Peel, 2011;
Torff, 2005; Buskist, 2002; Hativa, Barak, & Simhi, 2001; Walls, Nardi, von Minden, &
Hoffman, 2002; Sidelinger, Nyeste, Madlock, Pollak, & Wilkinson, 2015; Jinkens, 2015).
With regarding to overloading faculty with administrative tasks, Buskist (2002)
similarly but more broadly reported that a major impediment is caused by the
environment surrounding faculty, especially the institutional environment. And
difficulty achieving balance between appropriate teaching style and covering content is
in line with Beckerman (2010), who reported that teaching in higher education requires
complex, multidimensional knowledge of content as well as of how to teach it. It can be
inferred from these results that QUFMs would most likely view the main ET
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impediments as external factors affecting their teaching practices, placing the
responsibility on university administration to alleviate these constraints.
Limitations and future research directions
There are some limitations to this study’s approach that should be mentioned. First, it
was quantitative only; it will also be important to include Qualitative analysis of
QUFMs’ views on pedagogy to fully understand their opinions. Second, the EFA results
should be considered only preliminary results regarding the structure of ET, since the
items are very few; further analyses are needed to fully understand ET. Additionally,
many variables identified as meaningful for ET in previous studies were not included in
this discussion. Last, due to potential limitations in the representativeness of the sample
(only one faculty member from pharmacy and four from engineering) and the level of
detail of data analysis (descriptive), caution is needed in generalising these results to
other faculties or universities. To fully understand ET, future studies may include more
variables that can provide more information and deep insight. There is a need to
explore internal and external factors that influence ET practices and instructional
strategies, using a larger-sample, qualitative follow-up study. Based on the results of
this study, such additional studies should begin by constructing a primary model of
five variables needing examination: pedagogical knowledge, emotional aspects of
teaching, dimensions of instructional practices, relative effectiveness of instructional
practices, and instructional impediments.
Conclusion
The study sheds light on aspects of ET as perceived by QUFMs. Overall, the findings
remained largely consistent with those of previous studies. More than half (52%) of
QUFMs think what specifically the ET concept referred to remained ambiguous; this
seems to imply that around half of QUFMs may be having trouble implementing RT.
Moreover more than half of QUFMs’ may not have adequate instructional knowledge,
because the clarity of the ET concept depends heavily on the quality of the instructor’s
pedagogical knowledge. The majority of QUFMs (69%) value teaching effectiveness,
and it is likely they will be willing to use practices they believe are most effective;
further, they believe ET enhances faculty instructional proficiency and increases student
achievement level, making it clearly effective for teaching. QUFMs’ perception of the
best ET practices was skewed heavily toward lesson planning and use of a variety of
instructional methods rather than other practices; lack of teaching skills (82%) was
evaluated as the largest ET impediment. Participants also believed that ET impediments
are external factors, especially emerging from university administration and strategy.
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Moreover, the findings suggest that it is important to ensure that QUFM and
administrators fully understand ET as a concept, and to have procedures in place for
improving teaching and learning outcomes. Lastly the results suggest that the term
“ET” remains ambiguous for most respondents, showing the need for further training
in implementing ET concepts for most academic staff.
Author information
Dr. Alanood is an Assistant Professor of educational psychology- psychological
assessment and evaluation at Qatar University. She received her master and PHD
degree form Umm-al-Qura University college of Education psychology Department in
KSA. Graduated study focused on Equivalence of computerized and traditional
versions of RSPM Among college students at Qatar University in Addition to the effect
of test anxiety, computer anxiety, and attitude toward computer. She has been teaching
since 2009, she is teaching research methods, and other psychological courses, she was a
Member of Faculty senate for 2years, and Educational College general core column
courses coordinator for 1year, research methods course coordinator until now, Quality
assurance committee 3years. Recently she is the head of assessment and evaluation
center (still in preparation phase). She has a member ship in the National Council on
Measurement in Education (NCME) since. 1/10/2013, and APA Member ship (Number
38782115), She has the British Psychological Society license as a Test User & Assistant
Test User Level A & B: Occupational & Ability (321676). An important focus of her
research has been developing assessment tools, exploring effects of item forms on test
score. She has also worked extensively in the development of item bank in many
courses specially Research methods course.
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9979-9873
Dr. Mohammed Ragab is an Assistant Professor of Educational Sciences at Qatar
University; he received his master and PHD from Ain Shams University in Egypt.
Graduated study focused on curriculum and instruction of Social sciences. His master
theses focused on "The Effectiveness of a Developed Unit in Applied Geography for
Secondary Students in Egypt", and his PHD focused on "The Effectiveness of a
Suggested Program for the Preparation of Geography Teachers at the Faculty of
Education in light of some Technological Innovations". He has been teaching since 2006,
He taught curriculum and instruction from 2006 to 2013 at Ain Shams University and in
2013 for one Semester in Jazaan University in Saudi Arabia. He later moved to Qatar
University to work as an associate professor. His major research interests are; utilizing
recent trends in effective teaching and measuring their effectiveness, applications of
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Alanood Mubarak Al-Thani, Latifa A. Aziz A. A. Al-Meghaissib, Mohamed Ragab Abdelhakeem Ali Nosair FACULTY MEMBERS’ VIEWS OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING: A CASE STUDY OF QATAR UNIVERSITY
technology inside the classroom, teacher preparation programs and in-service teacher
training. http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0038-7025
Dr. Latifa A. Aziz is an Assistant Professor of Educational Sciences at Qatar University;
she received her master and PHD degree form Umm-al-Qura University college of
Education, curricula and teaching methods art education in KSA. She is a member of
the Commission on the Status Art Education standards at public schools, her research
interests, curriculum and instruction, art therapy, and environmental education.
http://orcid.org/000-0002-92400-0903
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Appendix 1. The questionnaire
Effective Teaching Questionnaire
This questionnaire aims to identify effective teaching aspects as perceived by Qatar
University faculty members. The date will be used for research purposes only. The
research team thanks you in advanced for you cooperation.
Demographic Data:
Gender: Male
Female
College:
Shareaa and Islamic studies:
Arts & sciences:
Education:
Engineering:
Major:
Years of teaching: <6
6-10
11-15
16-20
>20
Number of attended workshops in effective teaching:
Business & economics:
Law:
Pharmacy:
Section 1: Clarity of and Belief in Effective Teaching
Questions:
Yes
1.
Do you think the effective teaching concept is unclear?
2.
Do you believe in effective teaching?
No
Section 2: Effective Teaching Definitions
These items represent definitions of effective teaching; indicate your degree of agreement with each by
ticking (P) the appropriate response.
Item
Strongly
Agree
1.
Agree
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Effective teaching is the impact of teaching on
the learning process.
2.
Effective teaching means increasing students’
learning.
3.
Effective teaching is adopted by educators and
specialists.
4.
Effective teaching related to teaching skills
rather than student achievement.
5.
Effective
teaching
transforms
learning
objectives to behavioural objectives and relates
them to the content of learning material.
6.
Effective teaching includes the beliefs, culture,
and views of the society.
7.
Teaching is effective when it links the meaning
of previous and current knowledge.
8.
Effective teaching is a set of continuous acts
performed by the teacher in the learning
environment to achieve teaching objectives
without wasting time or effort.
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Section 3: Impediments to Effective Teaching
Please indicate the importance of the following impediments to effective teaching by
ticking (P) the appropriate response.
Impediment
1.
Teacher’s lack of pedagogical knowledge.
2.
Large classes.
3.
Teacher’s unwillingness to implement ET methods
4.
Lack of resources.
5.
Lack of proper training.
6.
Administrative workload and lack of time.
7.
Teaching workload.
8.
High expectations of administrators.
9.
Gain pedagogical beliefs and knowledge through trial-and-
Importance
None
Low
Moderate
Great
error.
10. Difficulty of achieving balance between the appropriate
teaching style and covering all aspects of the theoretical
content of the course .
11. Consider research publications as a criterion for academic
excellence, rather than teaching effectiveness .
12. Complexity of the content, which makes it too difficult to be
converted into procedural activities.
Section 4: Effective Teaching Procedures
Please order the following procedures according to their importance in achieving
effective teaching, from your point of view.
Procedure
1.
Instructional variety
2.
Integrate technology properly
3.
Lesson clarity
4.
Stress lesson’s importance
5.
Student–student interaction.
6.
Using various assessment methods
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Alanood Mubarak Al-Thani, Latifa A. Aziz A. A. Al-Meghaissib, Mohamed Ragab Abdelhakeem Ali Nosair FACULTY MEMBERS’ VIEWS OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING: A CASE STUDY OF QATAR UNIVERSITY
Appendix 2
Table 1: Participant demographic data (n = 75)
n
%
Gender
n
%
Attended ET workshop
Male
57
76
Non
15
20
Female
18
24
<6
5
6.7
Missing
0
6–10
26
34.6
11–15
16
21.4
Discipline
Shareaa and Islamic studies
9
12
16–20
3
4
Arts & sciences
25
33.4
>20
10
13.3
Business & economics
17
22.7
Education
12
16
<6
10
13.3
Engineering
4
5.3
6–10
5
6.7
Law
7
9.3
11–15
20
26.7
Pharmacy
1
1.3
16–20
14
18.7
Missing
0
>20
25
33.3
Missing
1
1.3
75
100
Years of teaching
Discipline
Science
9
12
Humanity
66
88
Total
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Table 2: ET concept clarity among QUFMs and its associations with gender and discipline
(n = 75)
Do you think the concept of ET is unclear?
Gender
Yes
No
Missing
n
%
n
%
32
56.1
25
43.9
0
57
76
Female
7
38.9
10
55.6
1
17
22.7
Missing
0
0
0
0
1
1
1.3
39
52
35
46.7
1
75
100
N
%
N
%
N
N
%
6
66.7
3
33.3
0
9
12
33
50
32
48.5
0
65
86.7
0
0
0
0
1
1
1.3
39
52
35
46.7
1
75
100
Male
Total
Discipline
Science
Humanities
Missing
Total
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Total
n
%
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Alanood Mubarak Al-Thani, Latifa A. Aziz A. A. Al-Meghaissib, Mohamed Ragab Abdelhakeem Ali Nosair FACULTY MEMBERS’ VIEWS OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING: A CASE STUDY OF QATAR UNIVERSITY
Table 3: QUFMs’ belief in effectiveness of ET and its association with gender (n = 75)
Do you believe in ET?
Gender
Yes
n
No
%
n
%
Missing
Total
n
n
Male
41
71.9
15
26.3
1
56
Female
11
61.1
7
38.9
0
18
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Table 4: Summary of exploratory factor analysis results for ET concept dimensions, using
maximum likelihood (n = 35)
Structure Matrix
Factor Loadings
Item
1. Effective teaching is the impact of teaching on the learning process (Seidel,
2007)
2. Effective teaching means increasing students’ learning (Doyle, 2004)
3. Effective teaching is adopted by many educators and specialists (Tuckman,
1995)
4. Effective teaching involves teaching skills rather than focusing on student
achievement (Doyle & Whitely, 1978)
5. Effective teaching transforms learning objectives into behavioural objectives
and relates them to the content of the learning material. (Guskey, 1988)
6. Effective teaching includes the beliefs, culture and views of the society.
(McNaughton et al. , 2004)
7. Teaching is effective when it links the meaning of previous knowledge and
the current. (Downing, 1994)
Teaching
Student
skills
learning
.329
.597
.358
.933
.485
.580
-.034
.340
.784
.139
.711
.261
.947
.235
.697
.216
3.6
1.6
45.053
20.242
8. Effective teaching is a set of continuous acts performed by the teacher at the
learning environment to achieve teaching objectives without wasting time or
effort. (Qtami, 2004)
Eigenvalues
% of variance
Extraction method: Maximum likelihood.
Rotation method: Oblimin with Kaiser normalisation.
Note: Factor loadings over .40 appear in bold.
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Alanood Mubarak Al-Thani, Latifa A. Aziz A. A. Al-Meghaissib, Mohamed Ragab Abdelhakeem Ali Nosair FACULTY MEMBERS’ VIEWS OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING: A CASE STUDY OF QATAR UNIVERSITY
Table 5: Ranking Important ET practices as perceived by QUFMs
Ranking order
1
ET practices
2
n
%
22
62.9
8
22.9
2- Instructional variety.
8
22.9
14
3- Student-student Interaction.
7
20.0
4- Stress on lesson's importance.
3
5- Integrate technology properly
6- Using various assessment methods.
1- lesson clarity
n
Missing
3
%
n
%
n
%
4
11.43
1
2.86
35
100
40.0
12
34.29
1
2.86
35
100
6
17.1
20
57.14
2
5.71
35
100
8.6
3
8.6
24
68.57
5
14.29
35
100
1
2.857
12
34.3
20
57.14
2
5.71
35
100
0
0
4
11.43
29
82.86
2
5.71
35
100
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n
Total
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Alanood Mubarak Al-Thani, Latifa A. Aziz A. A. Al-Meghaissib, Mohamed Ragab Abdelhakeem Ali Nosair FACULTY MEMBERS’ VIEWS OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING: A CASE STUDY OF QATAR UNIVERSITY
Table 6: ET impediments as perceived by QUFMs, with effect sizes
Effective teaching impediments
1. Lack of teaching skills.
4. Adopting teaching strategies in a selective approach without realising the rationale
or background.
6. Teacher’s unwillingness to adapt new teaching methods for fear of failure.
7. Lack of time prevents the teacher from discovering new methodologies in the
field.
9. Difficulty of achieving balance between the appropriate teaching style and
covering all aspects of the theoretical content of the course.
10. Complexity of the content, which makes it too difficult to be covert it into
procedural activities.
11. Overcrowded classes.
15. Consider research publication as a criterion for academic excellence, rather than
teaching effectiveness.
16. Overloading of administrative tasks and non-teaching jobs assigned to the
teacher.
17. High expectations of administrators regarding teacher's performance.
19. Insufficient to vocational training programs provided for effective teaching
practice.
20. Lack of integrated support of the education institution to provide positive
atmosphere for achieving effective teaching.
Non
n
Low
%
n
Moderate
%
n
Great
%
n
Missing
%
n
Total
%
0
0
0
0
5
14.3
29
82.9
1
2.9
35
1
2.9
1
2.9
16
45.7
16
45.7
1
2.9
35
1
2.9
4
11.4
12
34.3
17
48.6
1
2.9
35
1
2.9
4
11.4
9
25.7
19
54.3
2
5.7
35
1
2.9
5
14.3
21
60.0
7
20.0
1
2.9
35
2
5.7
7
20.0
15
42.9
10
28.6
1
2.9
35
0
0
3
8.6
12
34.3
17
48.6
3
8.5
35
8
22.9
8
22.9
10
28.6
8
22.9
1
2.9
35
0
0.0
2
5.7
11
31.4
21
60.0
1
2.9
35
4
11.4
10
28.6
14
40.0
6
17.1
1
2.9
35
0
0.0
5
14.3
19
54.3
9
25.7
2
5.7
35
2
5.7
8
22.9
11
31.4
11
31.4
3
8.5
35
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