Abstract:

This paper studies the qualities desirable in a university professor from the student perspective. A comprehensive review of scientific work has led to the selection of papers that inspect collect research indicators and dimensions widely used for the evaluation of university teaching. However, most of the investigations forget the main character: the student. So, qualities such as proximity, interaction, etc. are neglected by the evaluators and demanded by college students. In order to know what qualities are valued by the students of his university teachers, we used a variation of the Thurstone rank-ordering method, using brainstorming method. So, a sample of 93 college students released the most desirable qualities of a university professor. A total of 744 indicators were expressed, classified in 16 categories:

Proximity to the student; Domain of matter; Expository clarity; Communication skills; Implication with the subject; Responsibility of the teacher; Respect for the student; Organization of the course; Teaching resources; Assessment of learning; Sympathy; Group management; Motivator; Teacher image; Opening and Cultural Competence.

To obtain the scale values we used the rank-ordering method for large samples. The obtaining of the value to climb to every category was realized by means of a sum weighted of the ranges by importance. A transformation to a scale 1-16 of the obtained results allows a better interpretation of the position that the categories occupies. This paper has attempted to focus on the evaluation of university teachers from a viewpoint in which the student has been the real actor, with full liberty to pass judgment, avoiding divert their attention to features valued by the institutions that itself. If the university is now more concerned than ever that their teachers make use of a student-centered teaching with a continuous formative evaluation or teaching and learning, we hope that such simple procedures as proposed become useful tools as sources of inspiration teachers beyond the mere transmission of knowledge.

Keywords:

Brainstorming, Thurstone rank ordering, assessment of teaching quality.