Capturing the multiple landscapes of excellence: perceptions, enactment, and evaluations of teaching practices in four university undergraduate courses

This study was directed at capturing the multiple landscapes of undergraduate teaching excellence as viewed by the major stakeholders in college classrooms, the students and their teachers. These landscapes were described and examined with an eye towards gleaning conceptualizations of teaching excellence that could inform the construction of an integrated landscape. Such an integrated landscape could serve as an ideal starting point for the construction of a comprehensive framework for the evaluation and improvement of undergraduate teaching. Participants included four exemplar teachers, acknowledged for undergraduate teaching excellence and volunteer students from each of their classes: introductory sociology, physics, agricultural economics, and composition methods.

A model of teaching excellence was constructed from aggregated student conceptualizations of excellent teachers. The model consists of five major dimensions: (1) content, pedagogical, and general knowledge; (2) concern and approachability; (3) enthusiasm; (4) focus on the development of student thought processes and curiosity; and (5) course organization and classroom management. Two recurring themes underlaying students' perspectives of preferred teacher roles are described: (1) a desire for a personal or professional connection with the teacher, and (2) a desire for a teacher who is sensitive to student progress.

A comparison is made between teacher and student valuations of 10 dimensions of teaching effectiveness. Teacher rankings of the items varied somewhat from those of students in their classes. Of particular interest, is the higher ranking of a focus on the development of student thought processes and curiosity by two of the teachers. Generally speaking, students placed high value on teachers’ content knowledge and enthusiasm.

To capture teachers’ conceptualizations of excellent teaching in practice, researcher observations of the enacted teaching practices of these exemplars were conducted during three time periods throughout the semester. Each teaching practice is described in case format. Cases also include a presentation of student reactions to and evaluation of each teacher’s enacted practice, with particular attention to the teaching dimensions students focused on as they evaluated their teachers.

In an effort to connect the results of this study with the existing literature on college teaching, frameworks of teaching excellence were constructed from student-generated and teacher-generated indicators of 10 dimensions of teaching effectiveness gleaned from the research literature. The enacted teaching practice of each of the exemplar teachers was examined using the class-specific framework.

The conclusions of this study suggest that a dialogue between the stakeholders in the college classroom must take place in an effort to develop shared conceptions of teaching excellence. Additionally, a closer examination of students’ entering perceptions is in order to ascertain their notions of the purpose of higher education. A comparison of teacher and student perceptions of the intended purposes of higher education could further inform the development of evaluation systems designed to meet the needs of the major stakeholders of the higher education enterprise.