A newly constructed attitude questionnaire was distributed to 1,504 students in 76 classes in conjunction with a regular instructor evaluation form to determine if the attitude of the professor, as perceived by the student, plays a significant role in the performance rating of professors. It was found to do so, and 10 Commandments are presented to improve a professor’s attitude. Four significant factors (Attitude, Presentation Skills, Reliability, and Learning Skills) were identified that are correlated with overall teaching effectiveness.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abrami, P. C.
, & Mizener, D. A. (1985). Student/instructor attitude similarity, student ratings and course performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 693-702.
2.
Allport, G.
(1935). Attitudes. In C. Murchinson (Ed.), Handbook of social psychology (pp. 798-844). Worchester, MA: Clark University Press.
3.
Ambady, N.
, & Rosenthal, R. (1993). Half-a-minute: Predicting teacher evaluations from thin slices of nonverbal behavior and physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 431-441.
4.
Bruner, J. S.
, & Tagiuri, R. (1954). The perception of people. In G. Lindzey (Ed.), Handbook of social psychology (pp. 634-654). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
5.
Burdsal, C. A.
, & Bardo, J. W. (1986). Measuring student’s perceptions and teaching dimensions of evaluation. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 46, 63-79.
6.
Caldwell, J.
, & Jenkins, J. (1985). Effects of the semantic similarity of items on student ratings of instructors. Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 383-393.
7.
Cashin, W. E.
(1988). Student ratings of teaching: A summary of the research (IDEA Technical Report Number 20). Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University, Center for Faculty Evaluation and Development.
8.
Cashin, W. E.
, & Slawson, H. M. (1977). Description of data base 1976-1977 (IDEA Technical Report Number 4). Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University, Center for Faculty Evaluation and Development.
9.
Eagly, A. H.
(1992). Uneven progress: Social psychology and the study of attitudes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 693-710.
10.
Erdle, S.
, Murray, H. G., & Rushton, J. P. (1985). Personality classroom behavior and student ratings of college teaching effectiveness: A path analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 394-407.
11.
Feldman, K. A.
(1977). Consistency and variability among college students in rating their teachers and courses: A review and analysis. Research in Higher Education, 6, 223-274.
12.
Feldman, K. A.
(1986). The perceived instructional effectiveness of college teachers as related to their personality and attitudinal characteristics: A review and synthesis. Research in Higher Education, 2, 139-213.
13.
Festinger, L.
(1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
14.
Gaski, J. F.
(1987). On construct validity of measures of college teaching effectiveness. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 326-330.
15.
Hoffman, F. E.
, & Kremer, L. (1980). Attitudes toward higher education and course evaluation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 72, 610-617.
16.
Kelly, H. H.
(1950). The warm-cold variable in first impression of persons. Journal of Personality, 18, 431-439.
17.
Kim, M. S.
, & Hunter, J. E. (1993a). Attitude-behavior relations: A meta analysis of attitudinal relevance and topic. Journal of Communication, 43, 101-142.
18.
Kim, M. S.
, & Hunter, J. E. (1993b). Relationship among attitudes, behavioral intentions and behavior. Communication Research, 20, 331-364.
19.
Machina, K.
(1987, May-June). Evaluating student evaluations. Academe, 19-22.
20.
Marsh, H. W.
(1984). Student’s evaluations of university teaching: Dimensionality, reliability, validity, potential biases and utility. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 707-754.
21.
Marsh, H. W.
(1991). Multidimensional student’s evaluations of teaching effectiveness: A test of alternative higher-order structures. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 285-296.
22.
McBroom, W. H.
, & Reed, F. W. (1992). Toward a reconceptualization of attitude-behavior consistency. Social Psychology Quarterly, 55, 205-216.
23.
Mims, A.
, & Heller, H. W. (1987). Faculty evaluation as viewed by special education teacher educators. Teacher Education and Special Education, 10, 31-36.
24.
Moses, I.
(1985). High quality teaching in a university: Identification and description. Studies in Higher Education, 10, 301-313.
25.
Murphy, K. R.
, & Cleveland, J. N. (1991). Performance appraisal: Organizational prospective. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
26.
Porter, L. W.
, & Lawler, E. E. (1968). Managerial attitudes and performances. Homewood, IL: Irwin-Dorsey.
27.
Tang, T. L.
(1997). Teaching evaluation at a public institution of higher education: Factors related to the overall teaching effectiveness. Public Personnel Management, 26, 379-389.
28.
Widneyer, W. N.
, & Loy, J. W. (1988). When you’re hot, you’re hot. Warm-cold effects in first impressions of persons and teaching effectiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 89-94.
29.
Wotruba, T. R.
, & Wright, L. (1975). How to develop a teacher rating instrument: A research approach. Journal of Higher Education, 46, 653-663.