Perceived Instructional Effectiveness and Associated Teaching Dimensions

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Research in teaching effectiveness has identified specific instructional activities associated with student achievement. The present study sought to unify these results by determining the association between the global teaching dimensions suggested in Ryans (1960) (teacher creativity, organization, and understanding) and perceived instructional outcomes. The study used course/faculty ratings collected over a 3-year period from 1,819 students on 25 college instructors. The instructional categories were operationalized by creating factor scores based on principal components analyses of student responses on selected rating scale items. The outcome areas addressed were students’ perception of level of motivation, amount learned, and instructor effectiveness. Results from correlational analyses and an analysis of change scores indicated that teacher organization may have greater potential influence on overall effectiveness and amount learned, whereas teacher understanding was most associated with the level of effort. It was suggested that teachers give primary consideration during planning and instruction to those activities that are reflective of the level of instructional organization.