Personality, Classroom Behavior, and Student Ratings of College Teaching Effectiveness: A Path Analysis

This study tested the hypothesis that classroom teaching behavior mediates the relation typically found between personality and college teaching effectiveness. Colleagues rated 37 full-time college instructors on 29 personality traits, and trained observers assessed the frequency with which the same...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of educational psychology 1985-08, Vol.77 (4), p.394-407
Main Authors: Erdle, Stephen, Murray, Harry G, Rushton, J. Philippe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Classroom Behavior
College Teachers
Educational psychology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Teacher Characteristics
Teacher Effectiveness Evaluation
Teacher Personality
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Summary:This study tested the hypothesis that classroom teaching behavior mediates the relation typically found between personality and college teaching effectiveness. Colleagues rated 37 full-time college instructors on 29 personality traits, and trained observers assessed the frequency with which the same instructors exhibited 95 specific classroom teaching behaviors. Instructional effectiveness was measured by global end-of-term student ratings averaged over a 5-year period. Path analyses revealed that approximately 50% of the relation between personality and teaching effectiveness was mediated by classroom behavior. Results are discussed in terms of the validity of student ratings of teaching and in relation to Dunkin and Biddle's (1974) model of classroom teaching.
ISSN:0022-0663
1939-2176
DOI:10.1037/0022-0663.77.4.394