Student Perceptions of Engineering Instructor Behaviors and Their Relationships to the Evaluation of Instructors and Courses

Abstract

In his review of research on teaching and instruction Ryans (1963) commented favorably on the current trend in teaching research which focuses upon the definition, measurement, and interrelationships of the dimensions of teacher behaviors. He felt that the descriptive aspects of teaching should be more thoroughly investigated before exploring such questions as teacher effectiveness. Many other researchers, such as Isaacson and others (1964), Solomon, Bezdeck, and Rosenberg (1963), and Solomon (1966) have also stressed the need to identify the significant components of teacher behaviors. Most of the reported research in this area has pertained to elementary and secondary school teachers. Studies of college level teaching have been mainly concerned with teachers of introductory psychology courses or other social science courses. There are very few reported studies on the teaching behavior of instructors in the natural sciences and engineering, particularly if a criterion like teaching effectiveness is introduced. This limited study of the natural and technical sciences is interesting when viewed in relation to previous research on effective or successful teachers in different subject areas. For example, McKeachie (1957) found little resemblance be-