Teaching staff’s personality traits, students’ lecturer personality preferences and teaching quality at a Zimbabwean higher education institution

Abstract

Quality teaching is a constituent of a global quality approach and universities’ strategies should be embedded in a quality culture in higher education. The current research focused on the development of a conceptual model based on the Big Five personality traits model that will inform the recruitment of teaching staff in a higher education context with the aim of improving teaching quality. It is evident from the literature that teaching staff’s personality traits predict the quality of their teaching. Since personality traits have a significant impact on teaching quality, it seems warranted to determine the Big Five personality traits that students prefer in their lecturers. Moreover, students’ personality traits play an important role in their approach to learning. The practice of having students rate and evaluate teaching staff is increasingly common in a higher education context. Such ratings serve as a reflection of the qualities associated with good teaching, such as lecturers’ knowledge, clarity, classroom management and course organisation. The measures used in the current study consisted of the Big Five Personality Inventory, the Lecturer Preference Questionnaire and students’ endof- course evaluations. A quantitative survey was conducted involving a convenience sample of a total of 449 participants (males and females in the age group 20 to 50). The convenience sample consisted of undergraduate final-year students (N = 299) and their lecturers (N = 150) from ten faculties at a Zimbabwean higher education institution. A conceptual model that may be useful in gaining an understanding of teaching staff’s Big Five personality traits that are associated with good teaching quality was proposed and tested in the study. The overall mean results indicated that the most positive and important characteristics that the majority of students preferred in their lecturers were openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion and agreeableness. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied, and the proposed model was based on these four personality traits. The students and their lecturers (with respect to teaching staff’s self-assessments and their students’ assessments) did not show a preference for the trait neuroticism. The majority of students indicated that fantasy life (mean = 0.51), values oriented (mean = 0.86), angry hostility (mean = 0.67) and self-conscious (mean = 0.51) were unimportant to them and that they did not have a preference for these traits in their lecturers. Multiple regression analysis served to establish the different personality traits among lecturers that predict teaching quality. SEM supported the causal relationships between the variables. The majority of students rated the following elements of teaching quality at the participating institution as very good: personal character (mean = 4.21), course design (mean = 4.18), introduction to lecturers (mean = 4.17), utilisation of content (mean = 4.25), utilisation of media and materials (mean = 4.21), interaction behaviour (mean = 4.21) and student assessment (mean = 4.21). Overall, the students who participated in the study believed that the teaching quality at the participating higher education institution was good. A significant positive relationship was evident among teaching staff’s personality traits in the context of the Big Five personality traits model in respect of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion and agreeableness, but not in relation to neuroticism, based on teaching staff’s self-assessments and their students’ assessments. Students also preferred these personality traits in teaching staff at the participating institution when requested to indicate their preferences in this regard. There were significant differences in teaching staff’s Big Five personality traits, as measured on the basis of their gender, age, highest level of education, employment experience and relationship with teaching quality. However, significant differences in terms of race and faculty/department type were not evident among students or teaching staff. A conceptual model based on existing literature regarding the Big Five personality traits and teaching quality was developed and tested. Based on SEM, the hypothesis was fully supported in respect of the goodness of fit of the proposed theoretical model and the empirical data. The study was also aimed at identifying the most significant personality traits in relation to students’ preferences that relate to good teaching quality but that may have been ignored in previous studies. Finally, the objectives of both the literature review and the empirical study were discussed in detail, including the limitation of the study and recommendations for future research. An integration of the research was presented, highlighting that the results of the empirical study provide evidence of resemblances between the Big Five personality traits based on teaching staff’s self-assessments and their students’ assessments, and differences in students’ preferences with regard their lecturers’ personality traits based on demographic variables, which can be used to develop a conceptual model for the recruitment of teaching staff.

Ihlelo lokufundisa lekhwalithi lisisakhi sendlela yehlelo lekhwalithi lephasi loke kanti amano wamayunivesithi kufanele atholakale esikweni lekhwalithi emkhakheni wefundo ephakemeko. Irhubhululo lagadesi beliqale ukuthuthukiswa kwemodeli yomqondo wegama elisuselwe phezu kwamatshwayo wobuntu amaHlanu amakhulu, lawo azokukuba nomthelela phezu kwehlelo lokudoswa kwabasebenzi ababafundisi ebujameni befundo ephakemeko ngomnqopho wokuthuthukisa ihlelo lokufundisa lekhwalithi. Kusukela emtlolweni wobukghwari kuyafakazeleka ukobana amatshwayo wobuntu wabasebenzi ababafundisi abikezela ikhwalithi yehlelo labo lokufundisa. Njengombana amatshwayo wobuntu anomthelela oqakathekileko ehlelweni lokufundisa lekhwalithi, kubonakala kunesiqinisekiso sokukhombisa amatshwayo wobuntu amaHlanu amaKhulu (Big Five personality traits) lawo anyulwa bafundi ukobana asetjenziswe malektjhara. Ngaphezu kwalokho, amatshwayo wobuntu wabafundi adlala indima eqakathekileko kuhlelo labo lokufunda. Ikambiso yokuthi balinganise begodu bahlole izinga lokufundisa labasebenzi abafundisako liya ngokuya liyagcwala ebujameni befundo ephakemeko. Ihlelo lokulinganisa elinjalo lisebenza njengesiboniboni esikhombisa amatshwayo akhambisana nehlelo lokufundisa kuhle, amatshwayo anjengelwazi lelektjhara, ukuzwisiseka, ukuphathwa kuhle kwetlasi kanye nokuhleleka kuhle kwesifundo. Amagadango asetjenziswa esifundweni sagadesi anehlelo elibizwa nge-IBig Five Personality Inventory, i-Lecturer Preference Questionnaire kunye nemisebenzi yokuhlola esekugcineni kwesifundo. Isaveyi yeembalobalo yenziwa, yona ifaka isampuli efaneleko yabadlalindima boke abama-449 (abaduna nabasikazi abaseminyakeni ethoma ema-20 ukufikela ema-50). Isampuli efaneleko beyinabafundi abasafundela iziqu zokuthoma (undergraduate) bomnyaka wokugcina (N = 299) kanye namalektjhara wabo (N = 150) ukusukela emikhakheni elisumi ezikweni lezefundo ephakemeko eZimbabwe. Imodeli yomqondo wegama leyo engaba nesizo ekungezeleleni ilwazi labasebenzi abafundisako elitlhogekako lamatshwayo woBuntu amaHlanu akhambisana nekhwalithi ehle yokufundisa yatjhukunyiswa yahlolwa erhubhululweni Imiphumela yoke yemini (mean) iveze ukuthi amatshwayo amahle aqakatheke khulu anyulwa linengi labafundi kumalektjhara wabo lokuvulelwa kwelwazi, ukuyelelisana, umndlandla wokukhuluma kanye nommoya wokuvumelana. Imodeli ye-Structural equation modelling (SEM) isetjenzisiwe, kanti imodeli etjhukunyisiweko isuselwe phezu kwalawa matshwayo amane wobuntu. Abafundi kanye namalektjhara wabo (malungana nehlelo lokuzihlola kwabasebenza ababafundisi kanye nehlelo lokuhlolwa kwabafundi) akhange akhombise ukunyula itshwayo lokungakanzinzi komqondo (trait neuroticism). Ubunengi babafundi bukhombisile ukuthi ipilo leyo emnandi (mean = 0.51), okudzimelele kufundiso (mean = 0.86), ubudlelwano bokusilingeka (mean = 0.67) kanye nokuzazi ehlizweni (mean = 0.51) koke lokhu akhange kuqakatheke kubo kanti godu akhange banyule amatshwayo lawa kumalektjhara wabo. Amahlelo amanengi wokutsenga (Multiple regression analysis) asebenze ukusungula amatshwayo wobuntu ahlukileko hlangana namalektjhara lawo abikezela ikhwalithi yokufundisa. Ihlelo le-SEM lisekele amahlelo wobudlelwano obungunobangela phakathi kwamavarebuli. Ubunengi babafundi butshwaye amatshwayo alandelako wekhwalithi yokufundisa ezikweni elidlala indima njengeziko elihle khulu: itshwayo lobuntu (personal character) (mean = 4.21), idizayini yesifundo (course design) (mean = 4.18), ukwethulwa kumalektjhara (introduction to lecturers) (mean = 4.17), ukusetjenziswa kwelwazi elimunyethweko (utilisation of content) (mean = 4.25), ukusetjenziswa kwehlelo lezeendaba kanye namametheriyali (utilisation of media and materials (mean = 4.21), indlela yokuziphatha malungana nabanye (interaction behaviour) (mean = 4.21) kanye nokuhlolwa kwabafundi (student assessment) (mean = 4.21). Sekukoke, abafundi abadlale indima erhubhululweni bakholwa bona ikhwalithi yokufundisa ezikweni eliphakemeko elidlala indima belilihle. Ubudlelwano obuhle khulu bubonakele hlangana namatshwayo wobuntu kubasebenzi ababotitjhere ngaphasi kobujamo bemodeli yamatshwayo amaHlanu amaKhulu wobuntu (Big Five personality traits) malungana nehlelo elivulekileko, eliyelelisako, ukubukwa ngaphandle kanye nokuvumelana. Kodwana hayi malungana nokungakanzinzi kuhle ngokwemizwa/ngokommoya, okususelwa ehlelweni lokuzihlola labasebenzi ababotitjhere kanye nemahlelweni wabafundi babo wokuhlolwa. Abafundi godu banyula la matshwayo wobuntu kubasebenzi ababotitjhere ezikweni elidlala indima lokha nabakhonjelwako ukubona baveze lokho abakunyulako. Kube nomehluko omkhulu kumatshwayo wabasebenzi ababotitjhere Big Five personality traits, njengombana kulinganiswe ngokobulili babo, ngokweminyaka, ngokwezinga lefundo ephezulu, ngokwelwazi lomsebenzi kanye namahlelo wobudlelwano nezinga lokufundisa. Nanyana-kunjalo, umehluko omkhulu omalungana nobuhlanga kanye nomhlobo nomkhaka (faculty)/nomnyango (department) akhange kube zizinto ezibonakalako hlangana nabafundi nanyana abasebenzi ababotitjhere. Imodeli yomqondo wegama esuselwa kumtlolo wobukghwari okhona omalungana namatshwayo amaKhulu amaHlanu wobuntu kanye nezinga lokufundisa akhiwe begodu ahlolwa. Malungana nehlelo le-SEM, ihayipothesisi yasekelwa ngokugcweleko malungana nobuhle bemodeli efaneleko etjhukunyisiweko yethiyori kanye nedatha ephathekako (empirical data). Irhubhululo belinqophe ekuvezeni amatshwayo aqakatheke khulu wobuntu malungana nokunyulwa bafundi okumalungana nezinto ezinyulwa bafundi elimalungana nezinga elihle lokufundisa kodwana lokhu kungenzeka ukuthi khekwararhwa esikhathini emarhubhululweni wesikhathi esidlulileko. Kokugcina, iminqopho yezinto ezimbili ukubuyekezwa komtlolo wobukghwari (literature review) kanye nerhubhululo eliphathekako (empirical study) zicocwe ngokugcweleko, kufakwa phakathi umkhawulo werhubhululo (limitation of the study) kanye neencomo (recommendations) zerhubhululo lakusasa. Ukuhlanganiswa kwerhubhululo kwethulwe, lokhu kuveze bona imiphumela yerhubhululo eliphathekako linikele ubufakazi bezinto ezifanako phakathi kwamatshwayo amaHlanu amaKhulu wobuntu asuselwa phezu kwamahlelo wokuzihlolwa kwabasebenzi abafundisako kanye nokuhlolwa kwabafundi babo, kanye nomehluko wezinto ezinyulwa bafundi malungana namatshwayo wobuntu wamalektjhara okususelwa kumavarebuli wedemografiki, angasetjenziswa ukwakha imodeli yomqondo wegama ukudosa abasebenzi abafundisako.