This non-experimental, quantitative study explored the leadership of college
professors and the relationship to student assessments of their teaching performance. The
leadership constructs under investigation were strategic thinking capacity (cognitive
agility) and leader influence actions (behavioral agility), which are rooted in the theories
of behavioral and cognitive complexity. Research indicates that cognitive and behavioral
agility are two factors that produce more effective results for leaders in varying
organizational contexts. However, previous research does not include college professors
in those studies. Thus, this study sought to explore professors as classroom leaders and
the relationship between college professors’ cognitive and behavioral agility and their
students’ perceptions of their teaching effectiveness, if behavioral agility plays a
mediating role, and if that relationship is moderated by alterable and unalterable
contextual variables. Ninety-two full-time professors from one Florida college participated in the study.
The professors’ strategic thinking capacity (cognitive agility) was measured using the
STQP, an adaptation of Pisapia and Reyes-Guerra’s (2007) Strategic Thinking
Questionnaire (STQTM), and the professors’ leader influence actions (behavioral agility)
were measured using the SLQP, an adaptation of Pisapia, Reyes-Guerra, and Yasin’s
(2006) Strategic Leadership Questionnaire (SLQTM) with both instruments employing
Pisapia’s (2009) framework of strategic leadership. The ‘P’ denotes the ‘professor’
version of the original STQTM and SLQTM. Locus of control orientation as a contextual
variable was measured using Spector’s (1988) Work Locus of Control Scale (WLCS).
To measure student perceptions of professor effectiveness, the student
assessments of courses and faculty were compiled from existing records from Palm
Beach State College’s Institutional Research and Effectiveness (IRE) website. The data
were statistically analyzed using correlational and regression analyses and tested for
mediation and moderation effects. The findings of this study revealed that college
professors demonstrated the same strategic thinking capacity and leader influence actions
as leaders in more traditional leadership roles as measured by the STQP and SLQP. The
findings were also consistent with previous studies that found that cognitive agility is a
significant predictor of behavioral agility. However, it also found that student
perceptions of professor effectiveness as measured by student assessments were not
correlated to any of the research variables in this study. Findings and conclusions, as
well as recommendations for future research, are presented in the concluding chapter. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fau.edu/oai:fau.digital.flvc.org:fau_39795 |
| Contributors | Sfiropoulos, Mike (author), Reyes-Guerra, Daniel (Thesis advisor), Florida Atlantic University (Degree grantor), College of Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Research Methodology |
| Publisher | Florida Atlantic University |
| Source Sets | Florida Atlantic University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 184 p., application/pdf |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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