Students’ Perceptions on the Quality of Teaching by Faculty at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kenya

Abstract

This study investigated students’ perceptions on the quality of teaching between part-time and full-time faculty in Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in 2015. The study examined students’ understanding on quality teaching, faculty tenure statuses, and relationship between faculty tenure status and ability delivery quality teaching. These variables were measured using faculty’s ability to delivery subject content, their accessibility, mentorship and extra-class communication to students. The typology of the research design was mixed-methods descriptive research design that allowed for collection of both qualitative and quantitative data. Findings from this study showed that a high number of students (64.5%, n=178) were able to differentiate between poor and good quality teaching, and an equally high number (64.8%, n = 178) makes an effort to attend classes that they deem lecturers to offer high quality teaching. Majority of the students (74%, n = 180) were able to distinguish between full-time faculty from part-time faculty. Students indicated that about 50% of the part-timers were either tutorial fellows or graduate assistants and they experienced a difference in performance between full-time and part-time faculty. 57.14% of the surveyed students indicated that full time lecturers cover syllabus and are better in content delivery compared to part time lecturers, however, 30.95% of the students indicated that they did not find any difference. While 61.90% of students indicated that full-time faculty are available for student’s mentorship, only 7.14% of students indicated that part time lecturers participate in student mentorship. Only 2.38% of the students indicated that part-time faculty are available for extra class communication. In conclusion, majority of the students in JKUAT in main campus 2015 understood quality teaching. They were also able to differentiate between part-time staff and full-time staff. Students found teaching by part-time staff to be of low quality. Part time staff were poor in mentorship and not accessible to offer student after class communication. Thus, the presence of inexperienced and freshly graduated part-time faculty is a matter to worry about in relationship with quality teaching. This study recommends that Universities must find ways to improve the low quality teaching offered by part-time faculty. The study should also be extended to other Universities perhaps using explanatory research designs to improve its ability to discriminate the null hypothesis.