This study was directed at capturing the multiple landscapes of undergraduate teaching excellence as viewed by the major stakeholders in college classrooms, the students and their teachers. These landscapes were described and examined with an eye towards gleaning conceptualizations of teaching excellence that could inform the construction of an integrated landscape. Such an integrated landscape could serve as an ideal starting point for the construction of a comprehensive framework for the evaluation and improvement of undergraduate teaching. Participants included four exemplar teachers, acknowledged for undergraduate teaching excellence and volunteer students from each of their classes: introductory sociology, physics, agricultural economics, and composition methods. A model of teaching excellence was constructed from aggregated student conceptualizations of excellent teachers. The model consists of five major dimensions: (1) content, pedagogical, and general knowledge; (2) concern and approachability; (3) enthusiasm; (4) focus on the development of student thought processes and curiosity; and (5) course organization and classroom management. Two recurring themes underlaying students' perspectives of preferred teacher roles are described: (1) a desire for a personal or professional connection with the teacher, and (2) a desire for a teacher who is sensitive to student progress. A comparison is made between teacher and student valuations of 10 dimensions of teaching effectiveness. Teacher rankings of the items varied somewhat from those of students in their classes. Of particular interest, is the higher ranking of a focus on the development of student thought processes and curiosity by two of the teachers. Generally speaking, students placed high value on teachers’ content knowledge and enthusiasm. To capture teachers’ conceptualizations of excellent teaching in practice, researcher observations of the enacted teaching practices of these exemplars were conducted during three time periods throughout the semester. Each teaching practice is described in case format. Cases also include a presentation of student reactions to and evaluation of each teacher’s enacted practice, with particular attention to the teaching dimensions students focused on as they evaluated their teachers. In an effort to connect the results of this study with the existing literature on college teaching, frameworks of teaching excellence were constructed from student-generated and teacher-generated indicators of 10 dimensions of teaching effectiveness gleaned from the research literature. The enacted teaching practice of each of the exemplar teachers was examined using the class-specific framework. The conclusions of this study suggest that a dialogue between the stakeholders in the college classroom must take place in an effort to develop shared conceptions of teaching excellence. Additionally, a closer examination of students’ entering perceptions is in order to ascertain their notions of the purpose of higher education. A comparison of teacher and student perceptions of the intended purposes of higher education could further inform the development of evaluation systems designed to meet the needs of the major stakeholders of the higher education enterprise. / Ph. D.

Evaluating faculty's contribution to the research component of the tripartite mission is based on quantified data, such as number of peer-reviewed articles, impact factors, and the number and amount of grants. In contrast, although effective teachers possess universally agreed-upon qualities, evaluating faculty's teaching excellence can be difficult because of varying criteria. Using objective research criteria and peer review, the ability of faculty to demonstrate teaching excellence may be elevated by the pursuit of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). The continuum of effective teaching, scholarly teaching, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and educational research can demonstrate how this elevation can be possible. Suggested methods for faculty development and institutional change are explored.

Although community colleges offer opportunities for diverse students to achieve their educational goals, African American males continue to rank at the bottom of most academic success measures such as semester-to-semester retention and degree completion. Research shows that factors associated with teaching excellence (how well a faculty member exhibits enthusiasm, clarity, preparation/organization, stimulation, and love of knowledge) should encourage student engagement. The following research questions are proposed for this study: 1. How do faculty discuss teaching excellence relative to the academic engagement of African American males? 2. How do African American male students discuss the importance of faculty members’ race in relationship to their academic engagement? 3. How, if at all, does the age of an African American male student impact his academic engagement? 4. How do first-generation and second-generation collegiate African American male college students differ, if at all, in academic engagement? To conduct this research, a mixed method paradigm will be used. A quantitative instrument will be utilized to identify highly engaged African American male students and those who teach them. Qualitative analysis will lead to discovery of how teaching excellence affects the engagement of the target population of students. This research will add to current literature by examining the impact of the criteria of teaching excellence on African American male students in predominately white community colleges. / text

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 300-305).