EFFECTIVE TEACHING IN HIGHER EDUCATION:

PERCEPTIONS OF FIRST YEAR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

A Critical Review
By Sri Wahyuni

INTRODUCTION
The present paper is a critical review on a research article “Effective
Teaching in Higher Education: Perceptions of First Year Undergraduate Students”
by Jo Allan, Karen Clarke, and Michael Jopling, from University of
Wolverhampton, UK. The research article is published on International Journal of
Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2009, volume 21 number 3, pages
362-372. This article aims at presenting a research design to explore the students’
perceptions of what constitutes effective teaching in a modern UK university. The
research was conducted at the first year undergraduate students studying
education-related non-teacher training programs in University of Wolverhampton,
UK. The more description of the research article will be presented in the next
section.

SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLE

In the introduction, the writers state the climate of accountability in higher
education in the UK which is gradually shifting in emphasis from quality
assurance to quality enhancement. It explicitly focuses on institutional strategies
for improving the quality of learning opportunities, for example, by giving
rewards to specific areas of excellence in higher education, and to higher
education teachers annually for excellence in promoting learning.
Some previous studies in UK focus more primarily on teachers’
perceptions of high quality university teaching than the students’ perceptions of
the teaching they receive. However, the dearth of research relating to HE (higher
education) students’ perceptions of effective teaching still applies almost a decade
later. The students’ perceptions of the effective teaching are considered more
valid and reliable than the teachers’ perceptions. The present article reports on a

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case study exploring first year undergraduate education students’ perceptions of
what constitutes effective teaching in a modern English university in the West
Midlands.
Defining the term effectiveness in teaching is inherently contentious, and
there can be no consensus about what characterizes effective teaching until the
aims of higher education are agreed upon. However, in this article, the writers are
defining effective teaching in terms of the impact that strategies to promote
learning, teacher charactetistics, teacher expectations, and the learning
environment created by teachers have on students’ achievement.
The research method used is a case study through phenomenographic
approach or perspective to examine students’ perceptions of, and insight into,
effective undergraduate teaching in the first year of their study. This approach is
limited to the examination of perceptions and does not explore in depth variations
between them. The data were collected from three focus group interviews, and
were developed into a 32 item Likert scale questionnaire. The subjects are all
students of education-related non-teacher-training programs (195 students), but
during the research only 161 students can participate the research. The 16 students
participated in the initial pilot focus group interviews, 65 in the principal focus
group, and 80 students responded to the Likert-scale questionnaire.
The data collected in the first phase were analyzed and grouped into four
broad categories: teaching skills, subject knowledge of teachers, personal qualities
of teachers, and aspects of teaching that may hinder students’ learning. These data
then are refined, developed, and validated the initial ideas in the principal focus
groups. The result is 32 statements incorporated into a Likert questionnaire. SPSS
12.0 is used to analyze the questionnaire data.
The result of the first analysis in describing effective university teachers
shows the five responses with the highest proportion of strongly agree and agree
responses, namely: demonstrate excellent knowledge of their subject (99 %),
include group activities during sessions (95 %), encourage discussion (94 %), are
approachable (91 %), and start session on time (91 %). The result of the factor
and correlational analysis on the questionnaire data using SPSS shows the
significance correlations tended to be positive.

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CRITICAL COMMENT
The education perspective on quality assurance of higher education has
been changed from teachers’ perceptions to students’ perceptions of effective
teaching in higher education. Students’ perceptions and expectations of teaching,
one of the core educational processes, could impact the perception of the overall
quality of the educational experience (Jackson, Helms, & Ahmadi, 2011).
Eventhough, other factors are still existing in deciding the quality assurance of
higher education specifically on effective teaching, the students’ perceptions are
being concerned more on the recent research.
The notion of asking students to give evaluation on the quality of teaching
that they encounter during their academic career has been applied in the North
American universities (d’Apollonia & Abrami, 1997), and become increasingly
considered in UK (Allan, Clarke, & Jopling, 2009). Moreover, in the United
States, information from student evaluations of teaching takes an important role
for faculty decision. It can be used as consideration for conditions of employment
such as salary and promotion (Shevlin, 2000:38). The students’ assessment of
instruction in higher education is considered as the valid means of measuring the
effective teaching. Muijs’s research (2008), for example, shows that evidence
gleaned from students is highly reliable, while research into teacher effectiveness
implies “that the primary indicator of effective teaching is located at the level of
the student, rather than the teacher.”
In reviewing related literature, this article does not provide adequate
sources of quality in education specifically in effective teaching, and its impact in
classroom pedagogies. The writers just give the definition effectiveness and
dimensions of teaching effectiveness from teachers’ perspectives. The term
“effective teacher” (indexed by student learning criteria) which is different to
“good teacher” (indexed by professional respect and humanistic criteria)
implicated in the assessment of teaching effectiveness which should derive more
from the extent of student engagement and positive achievement outcomes than
from overt measures of teacher behavior or performativity. In this research article,
the writers are defining effective teaching in terms of the impact that strategies to

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promote learning, teacher characteristics, teacher expectation, and the learning
environment created by teachers have on students’ achievement.
From the present article, two interrelated focuses are revealed and being
concern in improving quality of teaching. First, it is about what do students
perceived to be effective teaching in their fir st year in higher education, and the
second is about the qualities of teachers that first year students perceive to
promote their learning. It is in line with Trowler (2005) who viewed the students’
experiences through curriculum and teaching as central to the concept of
educational quality.
In term of methodology, the writers use a case study exploring first year
undergraduate education students’ perceptions of what constitutes effective
teaching in a modern English university in the West Midlands, University of
Wolverhampton. Compared to others research which use survey, this research is
deeper in term of analyzing the data. Through factor and corelational analysis of
the data, the writers try to get a more detailed profile of students’ perceptions of
effective teaching. However, the writers do not state any reason of the use of this
research method. A case study should be done based on the uniqueness or unusual
of the “case”; it has merit in and of itself (Creswell, 2012).
The findings of the research are quite beneficial in giving description of
effective university teachers. Both findings, producing 32 statements and
displaying the result of the questionnaire, give in depth description of effective
teaching in higher education based on the students’ perceptions. The writers also
explained in detailed the discussion of the top five statements describing effective
university teachers, previously stated. The results of two later analysis, factor and
correlational analysis, are also stated clearly. The writers state that the factor
analysis revealed that there were no significant differences between the three
degree groupings (from the 32 statements of the questionnaire). Then, from
correlational analysis, the significant correlations tended to be positive, with 20
statements having no negative coefficients. Moreover, the two statements, ‘respect
students’ opinions” and “are enthusiastic about learning”, have strongest positive
correlations.

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CONCLUSION
The movement of paradigm of effective teaching from teachers’
perception to students’ perception has been concerned in UK universities. The
notions of effectiveness are predicated less on university teachers having high
academic expectations and more on the provision of a supportive environment in
which teachers scaffold learning effectively and promote effective interaction with
their students. The findings of this study present a challenge to university teachers
to take on board this profile of effective teaching and to (re)conceptualize their
role as a subject specialist-cum-teacher.

REFERENCES
Allan, J., Clarke, K., & Jopling, M. 2009. Effective Teaching in Higher
Education: Perception of First Year Undergraduate Students. International
Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 21 (3), 362-372.

Creswell, J.W. 2012. Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and

Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, Fourth Edition. Boston:
Pearson.

D’Apollonia, S., & Abrami, P.C. 1997. Navigating Student Ratings of Instruction.
American Psychologist,52(11), 1198-1208.

Jackson, M.J., Helms, M.M., & Ahmadi, M. 2011. Quality as a gap Analysis of
College Students’ Expectations. Quality Assurance in Education, 19(4), 392-
412.

Muijs, D. 2008. Researching teacher Effectiveness: Problems and Possibilities.

Centre for Developmental and Applied Research in Education Annual
Conference. University of Wolverhampton, ENG.

Shevlin, M.P., Banyard, P., Davies, M., & Griffith, M. 2000. The Validity of
Students Evaluation of Teaching in Higher Education: Love Me, Love My
Lectures. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 25(4), 397-405.

Trowler, P.R. 2005. A Sociology of Teaching, Learning and Enhancement:

Improving Practices in Higher Education. Revista de Sociologia, 76, 13-32.

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Table 1 incorporates dimensions which are
principally grounded in the views of teachers.
Supportive Learning Environment
 provision of intellectual excitement, enthusiasm and a stimulating &
creative environment;
 high degree of subject knowledge;
 respect for, and interest in, students;
 climate of approachability; provision of a motivating environment;
 recognition of student diversity.
Academic Expectations
 high level of expected output;
 expected outcomes expressed directly in academic terms–explaining to
students what they are to learn and why;
 clarity in standards and assessment criteria;
 appropriate workload and level of difficulty;
 development of critical thought..
Scaffolding Learning
 varied ways to teach content;
 anticipation of misconceptions in students’ existing knowledge;
 appropriate pace for the group being taught;
 high level of engagement;
 excellent management of student behaviour;
 systematic, well organised and well structured sessions;
 students work collaboratively with both their peers and their teachers
 effective and timely feedback;
 encouragement of independent learning;
 encouragement of active learning;
 effective & sympathetic guidance.
Clarity
 strong, unambiguous presentation skills
 high quality explanation