Students' Perception of Teaching Behaviour and Its Effect on Evaluation

This paper explores three different components of teaching behaviour as it is perceived by the students and their effect on students' global ratings of their teachers by empirically testing a structural equation model. Potential biases on global ratings like the students' interest in the subject and finding their teacher likeable have also been examined. The model also takes into account that some biases may be a result of teaching behaviour and may not be considered a mere bias of student ratings. The empirical results are based on a quantitative survey of 2,121 students who were asked to evaluate their accounting teachers. While the model shows that global ratings are affected by the students' interest in the subject matter, their attitudes towards evaluating their teachers as well as their teachers' perceived likeability, it also reveals that students' ratings depend mainly on their teachers' behaviour in class, particularly their ability to give clear explanations.