Student Perceptions of Secondary Education Teaching Effectiveness: General Profile, the Role of Personal Factors, and Educational Level.

Carmen-María Fernández-García,Michelle Helms-Lorenz,Ridwan Maulana,Omar García-Pérez,Mercedes Inda-Caro

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00533

Carmen-María Fernández-García, Michelle Helms-Lorenz + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00533

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine student perceptions of teaching behavior. Additionally the aim was to examine if teacher characteristics (educational level, gender, and teaching experience) could explain differences in student perceptions of their teachers. Teaching behavior was studied from the research on teaching and teacher effectiveness perspective. Secondary students (N = 7,114), taught by 410 teachers in Spain, participated in the study. Survey data were analyzed using non-parametric tests, Kruskal–Wallis, U Mann–Whitney with Bonferroni correction, and the analysis of effect sizes. Furthermore, a regression model was applied. Results showed that teaching behavior was perceived as sufficient to good, depending on the teaching behavior domain. Results indicated interesting differences between lower secondary education, upper secondary education and vocational education and training teachers. The effect size values (rU statistic) ranged between 0.43 and 0.63, highlighting the significant effect of teachers’ teaching experience on the six teaching skills domains: learning climate, efficient classroom management, clarity of instruction, activating teaching, differentiation, and teaching learning strategies. Those teachers with less teaching experience were the ones who showed higher scores. Findings from the regression model showed that educational level had a significant predictive effect on the six teaching skills domains, mainly for male teachers. However, in several domains female teachers were perceived by students to outperform their male counterparts.

Highlights

Teaching behavior is an important element in supporting student learning and achievement, along with student ability and background
Less experienced teachers were perceived as having better performance in learning climate, efficient classroom management, instructional clarity, differentiation and teaching learning strategies compared to their more experienced colleagues
This study examined the general level of effective teaching behavior of secondary education teachers as perceived by their students in Spain

Summary

Introduction

Teaching behavior is an important element in supporting student learning and achievement, along with student ability and background. Teachers’ initial training is not based on previous experiences of effective teaching practices so when prospective teachers finish their training they usually feel the need for guidance (Maulana et al, 2015b,c). Research has shown that teacher behavior predicts student learning, cognitive, and affective outcomes (De Jong and Westerhof, 2001; Opdenakker and Van Damme, 2006; Sammons and Bakkum, 2011; Van de Grift et al, 2014; Maulana et al, 2015b,c; Van der Lans et al, 2015). There is an important and ongoing need to identify potential explanatory variables contributing to the quality of teaching behavior. Teacher evaluation may offer the opportunity to resolve the missing link between teacher learning process and teacher practice, giving teachers the opportunity to progress (Tuytens and Devos, 2014)

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