Evaluation of Teaching Attitude Patterns of Malaysian Academics

NORAN FAUZIAH YAAKUB (Universiti Pertanian Malaysia), AHMAD MAHDZAN AYOB (Universiti Pertanian Malaysia), ABDUL RAHMAN AROFF (Universiti Pertanian Malaysia)

Abstract


Evaluation of teaching by students is a common practice in higher education in advanced countries. Itsprimary goal is the improvement of teaching. The objectives of this study are to (a) determine whether Malaysian academics agree to be evaluated by students; (b) gauge their attitude towards student evaluation anddetect whether resistance exists among them against student evaluation of teaching; and (c) relate their attitude with selected demographic and situational variables. Subjects for the study comprised 495 Malaysian academic stafffrom the seven universities. The instrument for the study consisted of34five-point Likert-scale items designed to gauge attitude towards teaching and also items, that sought information on the conduct of teaching evaluation. The results showed 84% of respondents agreed to student evaluation. There was no difference in attitude among lecturers of different universities or of different academic ranks or of different genders. Academic administrators seemed to be more positive towards evaluation of teaching. Respondents who were more agreeable to be evaluated and those who reflect more on their teaching were found to be more positive towards teaching evaluation.

ABSTRAK

Penilaian pengajaran oleh pelajar di peringkat pengajian tinggi bukanlah gejala baru di negara maju. Tujuan utamanya ialah untuk memperbaiki pengajaran. Kajian ini dijalankan untuk (a) menentukan sama ada tenaga akademik di Malaysia bersetuju dengan penilaian pengajaran oleh pelajar; (b) mengukur sikap mereka terhadap penilaian pengajaran oleh pelajar dan mengesan sama ada terdapat tentangan tentang amalan ini; dan (c) menghubungkan sikap tersebut dengan beberapa angkubah demografi dan situasi terpilih. Subjek bagi kajian ini terdiri daripada 495 orang kaki tangan akademik dari tujuh buah universiti di Malaysia. Alat kajian terdiri daripada 34 item lima-mata jenis-Likert yang digubal untuk mengukur sikap terhadap penilaian pengajaran. Alat ini juga mengandungi item-item yang berkaitan dengan maklumat mengenai penilaian pengajaran. Keputu san kajian menunjukkan 84% daripada responden bersetuju dengan penilaian pengajaran. Tidak terdapat perbezaan sikap bagi tenaga akademik dari ketujuh buah universiti dan dari kategori pensyarah yang berbeza atau mengikut jantina. Pentadbir akademik mempunyai sikap yang lebih positifterhadap penilaian pengajaran. Tenaga akademik yang lebih bersetuju untuk dinilai dan mereka yang merenung kembali tentang pengajaran mereka didapati lebih bersikap positif terhadap penilaian pengajaran.


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References


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