Self Ratings of College Instruction

Abstract

Within each of three Liberal Arts curriculum areas, this study examined intercorrelations among college instructors’ self ratings and, in addition, various correlates of those ratings. Item pairs that correlated substantially were: “clear” and “approachable,” “got students interested” and “how much students learned,” and “clear” and “overall teaching ability.” Linear composites of specific self ratings significantly predicted general self ratings, and linear composites of instructor characteristics predicted both specific and general self ratings, but the multiple correlations were low. The only instructor characteristics that related substantially to self ratings in all curriculum areas were motivation-related, i.e., their own enjoyment of teaching and liking for the subject matter seem to play an important part in instructors’ definitions of good teaching and good learning.