Student Involvement as a Dimension of the Student-Perceived Teaching Behavior of Post Secondary Educators

Abstract

Although several studies of the student-perceived teaching behavior of postsecondary educators have recognized student participation as a dimension of teacher behavior, few, if any, of these studies specifically describe the instructor's involvement of students in the design and operation of an educational program. The Educational Description Questionnaire, which con tains items describing student involvement behaviors, was developed for this study to test the hypothesis that students perceive these behaviors as a dimension of teacher behavior. It was ad ministered to 961 students by seventy-four instructors in four two-year colleges. Factor analysis of each of the sixty items on the questionnaires identified student-involvement behavior as a significant factor. Further research on the student-perceived behavior of postsecondary educators should include items that describe student involvement behaviors.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bergevin, Paul. A Philosophy for Adult Education New York: Seabury Press, 1967.

Cole, J. William , and J. Conrad Glass.

"The Effects of Adult Student Participation in Program Planning on Achievement, Retention and Attitude."

Adult Education 27 (1977), 75-88.

Croft, Don B. , and Donald J. Cotter.

"The Goal of Classroom Instruction : Entertainment or Learning?"

Educational Considerations 1 (1974), 1-5.

Deshpande, Anant S., et al.

"Student Perceptions of Engineering Instructor Behaviors and Their Relationships to the Evaluation of Instruction and Courses."

American Educational Research Journal 7 (1970), 289-305.

Gibb, Cecil A.

"Classroom Behavior of the College Teacher."

Educational and Psychological Measurement 15 (1955), 254-263.

Hadley, Herschel N. Development of an Instrument to Determine Adult Educators' Orientation: Andragogical or Pedagogical Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Boston University, 1975.

Isaacson, Robert L., et al.

"Dimensions of Student Evaluations of Teaching."

Journal of Educational Psychology 55 (1964), 344-351.

Knowles, Malcolm S. The Modern Practice of Adult Education New York: Association Press, 1970.

"Innovations in Teaching Styles and Approaches Based Upon Adult Learning."

Journal of Education for Social Work 8(1972), 32-39.

10.

_. The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species Houston: Gulf Publishing Company, 1973.

11.

_. "Issues in Adult Learning Psychology." Adult Leadership 22(1974), 300-315.

12.

*_. Self-Directed Learning New York: Association Press, 1975.

13.

_. "Adult Learning Processes: Pedagogy and Andragogy." Religious Education 72 (1977), 202-211.

14.

London, Jack. "Program Development in Adult Education." In Handbook of Adult Education in the United States , edited by M.S. Knowles. Washington, D.C.: Adult Education Association of the U.S.A., 1960, pp. 66-76.

15.

McLoughlin, David.

"Participation of the Adult Learner in Program Planning."

Adult Education 22(1971), 30-35.

16.

Solomon, Daniel.

"Teacher Behavior Dimensions, Course Characteristics, and Student Evaluations of Teachers."

American Educational Research Journal 3 (1966), 35-47.

17.

Verner, Coolie , and Jindra Kulik.

"Programming."

Review of Educational Research 35 ( 1965), 177-184.

18.

Welden, Eugene J. Program Planning and Program Effectiveness in University Residential Centers Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Chicago , 1966.