Baccalaureate Nursing Student and Faculty Views of Effective Teaching

Abstract

This study aimed to determine baccalaureate nursing student and nursing faculty views of effective teaching. Using the Teacher Behavior Checklist (TBC), a psychometrically sound tool, participants were sent an email containing a link to an online survey (Keeley, Smith, & Buskist, 2006). Baccalaureate nursing students (n=353) and nursing faculty (n=26) were sent the email with a response rate of 25.2% (n=89) and 69.2% (n=18) respectively. Participants were asked to rank order the top 10 qualities and associated behaviors they perceived as effective to nursing education. Results of the study found students and faculty agreed on five of the top 10 behaviors identified: (a) knowledgeable about subject matter, (b) approachable/personable, (c) enthusiastic about teaching and about topic, (d) effective communicator, and (e) realistic expectations of students/fair testing and grading. Students and faculty agreed on four of the top 5 qualities/behaviors excluding realistic expectations of students/fair testing and grading. Faculty completed their top 10 identifying: (a) creative and interesting, (b) promotes critical thinking/intellectually stimulating, (c) presents current information, (d) confident, and (e) respectful. Students completed their top 10 identifying: (a) understanding, (b) happy/positive attitude/humorous (c) encourages and cares for students, (d) flexible/open-minded, and (e) strives to be a better teacher. Statistical differences were found in four qualities/behaviors ranked in the top 10: (1) creative and interesting; (2) present current information; (3) promote critical thinking/intellectually stimulating; and (4) understanding. The findings in this study show strong agreement with previous studies completed using the TBC. In comparison to findings in the original study using the TBC, students agreed on nine of the top 10 qualities/behaviors identified of effective teaching. Faculty agreed on eight of the top 10 qualities/behaviors identified of effective teaching compared to original findings. The results of this study indicate generalizability of TBC use across disciplines and its ability to identify effective qualities/behaviors inherent of master teachers. Further research is needed across several institutions with baccalaureate nursing programs as well as comparison of baccalaureate programs views of effective teaching to that of associate degree nursing programs.