The Student as Consumer of the Teaching Process

Abstract

College students in social-behavioral science courses described their personality traits, their teachers’ traits, dimensions of classroom behavior, and their attraction to their instructors (graduate teaching assistants) “as persons” and “as teachers.” Correlational analyses showed that teacher skill was not related to students’ self-perceived personality traits or their attraction to teachers “as persons,” but was correlated positively with certain teacher personality traits and attraction to instructors “as teachers.” Regression analyses further identified those teacher traits (ascendancy, personal relations, vigor) and classroom behaviors (teacher control, absence of negative affect) most important for effective teaching. It was concluded that college students are objective consumers of the teaching process and their judgments should be solicited to identify variables important for teacher effectiveness.