Teaching Tip: Nine key characteristics of good teaching faculty and students agree on
Topic: Good Teachers and Good Teaching: Nine Key Characteristics that Faculty and Students Agree On
Overview:
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1. Knowledge of the Subject/Discipline
2. Course Preparation and Organization
3. Clarity and Understandability
4. Enthusiasm for Subject/Teaching
5. Sensitivity to and Concern with Students’ Levels and Learning Progress
6. Availability and Helpfulness
7. Quality of Examinations
8. Impartiality in Evaluating Students
9. Overall Fairness to Students
Teaching and Learning Implications:
Impressions DO matter in teaching and can affect how students perceive us as teachers—and potentially, how they will evaluate us.
Source: Feldman, Kenneth A. 1988. “Effective College Teaching from the Students’ and Faculty’s View: Matched or Mis-Matched Priorities?” Research in Higher Education 28(4): 291-344.
Barbara Millis, director of the Excellence in Teaching Program, can be reached at
millis@unr.edu.



