Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.6, No.35, 2015 Attitudes of Faculty Members at Najran University towards Students' Assessment for Their Teaching Performance Ali Zakri 1 Yahya Qablan 1,2 1.Education and Psychology Department , Najran University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, PO box 11001, Najran city 2.Deanship of Development and Quality, Najran University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, PO box 11001, Najran city The research is financed by Najran University. No. NU/SHED14/49 (Deanship of Scientific Research at Najran University, Kingdome of Saudi Arabia) Abstract This study aimed to investigate the attitudes of faculty members at Najran University towards students' assessment for their teaching performance. The sample of the study consisted of (184) faculty members from Najran University, Kingdome of Saudi Arabia. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to the sample of the study. The result showed that the attitudes of faculty members toward students 'assessment for their teaching performance were average. In addition, they showed statistically significant differences in the attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance attributed to gender, teaching experiences, and the type of college. Keywords: attitudes, teaching performance, Faculty members 1. Introduction Nowadays, assessment has been seen as a tool for improving, developing and specifying the weak points and solutions. Faculty members’ development is represented in the teaching practices like professionalism, mastery of scientific material, punctuality, positive personalities, effective teaching methods, interaction, and psychological balance in the human relationships among educational process parties. Additionally, the assessment of the teaching performance for the faculty member has a positive effect lies in achieving the educational objectives actively and smoothly. It is also an essential means for improvement and development, and provides an integrated growth in the structure of the learning and teaching process, which contributes to achieving the educational objectives, improving performance levels, developing the content of courses, diversing the teaching methods and strategies, evaluation, and the means, methods, and activities to achieve the targeted learning process and educational objectives. Hence, a lot of scientists and educational researchers emphasized the necessity to undergo the assessment for the activities of the higher education institutions, where the faculty members’ assessment is the most important in order to achieve the ultimate goal of performance assessment represented in improving and developing the roles of universities, thus contributing to the achievement of comprehensive development and paving the way for reaching its mission (Al-Mazrui, 2010). (Cannon and Newble 2000) pointed out that the performance level of effective teaching of the faculty member is associated with the cognitive, scientific and professional competences, and the ability to deliver information to his students practically using appropriate teaching methods, possessing positive social features, and the ability to advise students in order to develop their learning skills, and to encourage the effective communication, planning of learning, and teaching process. (John Biggs 2003) emphasized that the teaching process quality is achieved through the professional and scientific competences of the faculty member, commitment to the ethics of the teaching profession, and motivating students to gain a high level of educational experiences during university. (Al-Janabi 2009) stated that the faculty member is a human combination of multiple roles; the scientist, the researcher, the educator, the advisor, and the administrator, thus he must be a scientific specialist, a professional proficient, a judge in treating students, a social activist in communication, and an effective director in leadership. (Audah 2005) pointed out the effective aspects of judging the faculty member’s professional competence, represented in the following aspects: preparedness for teaching, students’ preparation, appropriate teaching methods and evaluation, interaction with students, and successful classroom management. The concept of teaching performance assessment for the faculty member refers to: the execution of assigned learning and teaching tasks and his practices, activities and behaviors related to his various tasks in a behavioral expression; all of tasks and responsibilities inside the lecture halls, in any situation, or educational activity to bring about desirable changes in the students’ character (Al-(Amayreh 2006). (Wasley 2007) There are various methods of assessing the teaching performance of faculty members at 17 Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.6, No.35, 2015 universities, compromising of four main methods: students’ assessment, and peer-assessment, faculty members’ assessment by the heads of departments and deans, and self-assessment. However, the faculty members’ assessment by students is the most common in most of the local and regional universities and (Elmore, 2008). (Dunrong 2009) stressed the need to develop the methods and means of faculty members’ assessment as well as the method of students’ assessment for their teaching performance. (Wilson 1998) illustrated that students’ assessment for the faculty member is associated positively or negatively with their grades in courses. In addition, this assessment is affected by the faculty member’s personal characteristics in terms of the degree of militancy or leniency and tolerance more than by the teaching skills. It is also affected by the course nature, and degree of difficulty or ease. In spite of the many points of view on the acceptance or rejection of faculty members for the students' assessment, opinions vary; some favor the idea, whereas some doubt its reliability (AL- Sayed 2005). (Tweiss and Nawaf 2014) showed that the attitudes of faculty members toward students 'assessment for their teaching performance were positive, these differences, however, could be attributed to humanity faculties. study (Al-Sinad 2012) showed that there was no significant between males and females in their attitudes towards their teachers differences in terms of academic and personal and social qualities , while showed differences statistically significant trends of students towards their teachers as variable specialization and in favor of educational disciplines students. (Beran &Rokosh 2009) showed that the faculty members accept students’ assessment for their teaching performance, considering it as a part of the academic institution tasks. The method could benefit the university administration in decision-making, taking into account that the assessment should not be only limited to students. (Amy & Jason 2008) showed that the students’ assessment for the teaching performance of faculty members is affected much by personal development competences and learning resources applied by faculty members. (Kelly et.al. 2007) showed that students’ assessment for the teaching performance for the faculty members is essential to judge the effectiveness of the teaching process. The study also showed the assessment by students for faculty members is affected by a number of factor; the nature of the personal relationships between the student and the faculty member and the nature of courses in terms of difficulty and ease. (Al-Holi 2007) showed that the faculty members accept students’ assessment for their teaching performance, considering it as part of the academic institution tasks faculty members' attitudes toward students' assessment for them were average. (Al- Amayreh 2006) showed that estimate the faculty members of the functions of teaching and learning self-esteem was high , unlike Student Assessment the performance of the teaching faculty , where there were statistically significant differences between the evaluation of faculty members themselves and between students evaluate them in teaching and learning tasks. (Abdalrazek 2006) showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the attitudes of faculty members toward the ways and methods of assessing faculty members by gender variable except for the way students' assessment for faculty members in favor of females. (Adhayleh and Maharma 1998) showed that the attitudes of faculty members toward students ' assessment of the performance of teaching is low, and also showed the presence of influential factors in the evaluation of students' performance teaching including: student mark expected , the difficulty of the course , and the nature of personal relationships. 2.1Problem of the study : The Problem of the study is determined by the following questions: 1 . What are the attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance at Najran University? 2 . Are there significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) in the attitudes of the faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance due to gender? 3 . Are there significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) the attitudes of the faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance according to the type of college (scientific, humanity)? 4. Are there any statistically significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) in the attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance due to the experience? 2.2 Terminology of the study: • Assessment of teaching performance: Diagnosing the performance of faculty members with regard to the teaching practices. • The attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment of their teaching performance: degrees of faculty members sample on the scale of the attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment of their teaching performance in the present study. 18 Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.6, No.35, 2015 3. Method: 3.1 Population and sample: The population of the study consisted of all members of the faculty members at Najran University in Saudi Arabia for the academic year 2014/2015. The sample consisted of (184) faculty members ,who were chosen simple random method as mentioned in table (1) Table 1. Participant Characteristics Variable Level frequency percentage Gender Male 98 %53.3 Female 86 %46.7 Faculty Scientific 88 %47.8 Humanity 96 %52.2 Experience (1) – ( 5) years 75 %40.1 (6) – (10) years 70 %38 + 10 years 39 %21.9 Total 184 %100 3.2 Procedure: For the purposes of this study, a questionnaire was developed. However, the first draft of the questionnaire was modified by the professional from the college of Education, Najran University. The final draft of the questionnaire consisted of (20) items, which distributed to tow domains: The attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance and The attitudes of faculty members toward student's capability to assess their teaching performance. Consequently, Five-Point Likert Scale was used. For the purpose of analyzing the results of the study, the questionnaire has been classified into three levels (low ,average, and high). The three levels become as follows: 1-2.33 (weak level), 2.34-3.67 (average level), and , 3.68 – 5 (strong level). To examine the internal consistency reliability of the questionnaire, the Cronbach's Alpha was calculated. This technique revealed a highly reliability coefficient (r=.87). 4. Results The first question of this study: What is the: What are the attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance at Najran University? To answer the first question, means and Std. Deviation of the attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance were calculated as mentioned in Table 2 19 Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.6, No.35, 2015 Table 2. Means, Std. Deviation of the attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment of their teaching performance No. Std. Response Items Mean Deviation level Domain The attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching 3.32 .621 Average 1 performance 1 I feel that students’ assessment of teaching practices improves the practices 3.43 .786 Average 2 I think that students are mature and skilled enough to assess the teaching 3.34 .801 Average performance of the faculty member 3 I think that students’ assessment of the teaching performance increases faculty 3.36 .844 Average members’ interest to use the available learning resources 4 I think that students are highly serious when the teaching performance of 3.12 .984 Average faculty members. 5 I think that students’ assessment for the teaching performance of the faculty 3.39 .775 Average members provides a high objectivity on the competence of the faculty members. 6 I think that students’ assessment for the teaching performance of the faculty 3.28 .877 Average members is one the best assessment tools 7 I feel that student’s assessment for the teaching performance of the faculty 3.47 .782 Average members develop the student’s personality and the ability of positive criticism 8 I feel that students’ assessment for the teaching performance of the faculty 3.17 .816 Average members leads to spread justice among students 9 I feel that students’ assessment for the teaching performance achieve the 3.33 .749 Average objectives of the assessment which are improvement and development 10 I feel that student are able to estimate the effectiveness of teaching skills of the 3.30 .833 Average faculty members. 11 I think that students’ assessment is the most suitable as students cab highlight 3.28 .737 Average the weak and strong points of teaching competences. Domain The attitudes of faculty members toward student's capability to assess their 3.25 .603 Average 2 teaching performance objectively 1 I think that students do not consider their moods and physiological condition 3.36 .679 Average when assessing the teaching performance 2 I feel that the process of students’ assessment for the teaching performance of 3.36 .704 Average the faculty members is not affected by their teaching loads 3 I think that the process of students’ assessment for the teaching performance of 3.11 .802 Average the faculty members is not affected by the course activity (practical or theoretical) 4 I feel that the process of students’ assessment for the teaching performance of 3.27 .862 Average the faculty members is not affected by the course difficulty. 5 I feel that the process of students’ assessment for the teaching performance of 3.35 .775 Average the faculty members is not affected by the student’s academic level 6 I think that the process of students’ assessment for the teaching performance of 3.20 .886 Average the faculty members is not dependant on their maturity and experience 7 I think that the process of students’ assessment for the teaching performance of 3.32 .760 Average the faculty members is dependent on their understanding for the assessment items 8 I think that the process of students’ assessment for the teaching performance of 3.23 .846 Average the faculty members is not affected by the expected mark the student gets in the course 9 I feel that students do not consider their personal relationships when assessing 3.09 .715 Average the teaching performance of the faculty members attitude of faculty members toward students’ assessment for their teaching 3.29 .568 Average performance Table 2. Showed that the attitudes of faculty members toward students’ assessment for their teaching performance achieved an average of (3.29) and a standard deviation of (0.568). The general level of the attitude was average . The second question of this study: Are there significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) in the attitudes of the faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance due to gender? Means, Std. Deviation and t-test formula are computed as mentioned in Table. 3 20 Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.6, No.35, 2015 Table 3. Means, Std. Deviation and t-test of the attitudes of the faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance according to the gender Male Female t df Sig. (2- Domain Std. Std. tailed) Mean Deviation Mean Deviation The attitudes of faculty members toward students' 3.22 .594 3.43 .635 - 182 .019* assessment for their teaching performance 2.362- The attitudes of faculty members toward student's 3.10 .498 3.43 .665 - 182 .000* capability to assess their teaching performance 3.859- objectively attitudes of faculty members toward students' 3.16 .532 3.43 .578 - 182 .001* assessment of their teaching performance 3.262- * α ≤.05 (significant) Table 3. Shows statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α = 0.05) the attitudes of the faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance based on the gender variable in favor of females. The third question of this study: Are there significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) the attitudes of the faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance according to the type of college (scientific, humanity)? Means, Std. Deviation and t-test formula are computed as mentioned in Table. 4 Table 4 . Means, Std. Deviation and t-test of the attitudes of the faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance according to the type of college Domain Scientific Humanity t df Sig. Std. Std. Mean Deviation Mean Deviation The attitudes of faculty members toward students' 3.09 .620 3.52 .553 - 182 .000* assessment for their teaching performance 4.857- The attitudes of faculty members toward student's capability 3.11 .629 3.40 .544 - 182 .001* to assess their teaching performance objectively 3.464- attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment of 3.10 .583 3.46 .497 - 182 .000* their teaching performance 4.593- * α ≤.05 (significant) Table 4. Shows statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α = 0.05) the attitudes of the faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance based on college and in favor of human colleges. The fourth question of this study: Are there any statistically significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) in the attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance due to the experience?. Means, standard deviations and (ANOVA) of the attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance based on the experience as mentioned in Table 5. Table 5. Means, Std. Deviation and (ANOVA) due to the experience variable on the attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance due to the experience Domain Experience Std. Sum of Mean Source Mean Deviation Squares Df Square F Sig. The attitudes of faculty members 1-5 years 2.81 .479 Between 35.511 2 17.76 91.69 .000* toward students' assessment for Groups their teaching performance 6-10 3.54 .356 Within 35.050 181 .194 years Groups + 10 years 3.89 .495 Total 70.561 183 The attitudes of faculty members 1-5 years 2.86 .472 Between 21.859 2 10.93 44.17 .000* toward student's capability to Groups assess their teaching performance 6-10 3.41 .444 Within 44.784 181 .247 objectively years Groups + 10 years 3.73 .621 Total 66.644 183 Attitudes of faculty members 1-5 years 2.83 .401 Between 28.944 2 14.47 86.75 .000* toward students' assessment of Groups their teaching performance 6-10 3.48 .360 Within 30.197 181 .167 years Groups + 10 years 3.82 .496 Total 59.141 183 * α ≤.05 (significant) Table (5) shows statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α = 0.05) due to the effect of the experience variable on the attitudes of faculty members toward students’ assessment for their teaching performance. To indicate the statistically significance differences between the means, verbally 21 Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.6, No.35, 2015 dimensional comparisons were applied as mentioned in Table 6 . Table 6. Multiple Comparisons (Scheffe). Dependent Variable (I) experience (J) experience Mean Difference (I-J) Sig. The attitudes of faculty members toward students' 1-5 6-10 -.731-* .000* assessment for their teaching performance +10 -1.078-* .000* 6-10 +10 -.348-* .001* The attitudes of faculty members toward student's 1-5 6-10 -.547-* .000* capability to assess their teaching performance +10 -.863-* .000* objectively 6-10 +10 -.315-* .007* attitudes of faculty members toward students' 1-5 6-10 -.648-* .000* assessment of their teaching performance +10 -.981-* .000* 6-10 +10 -.333-* .000* *. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level. Table (6) Shows when using a verbal way for the bilateral differences, the result showed statistically significant differences among all levels of experience in favor of the longest teaching experience. 5. Discussion The results indicated that the attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment of their teaching performance. The following parts include the discussion of the results. • The level of faculty members toward students' assessment of their teaching performance In general the results indicated that the level of faculty members toward students' assessment of their teaching performance were average. This may be due to the decrease in the faculty members 'attitudes toward students' assessment for the performance of teaching to convince the faculty members that the findings of student’s assessment for their performance teaching at the end of the courses do not reflect a true impression on the reality of their teaching practices. It is also attributed to the belief of the faculty members in the presence of multiple factors that affect the students when assessing the teaching performance: personal relationships, student’s marks, course difficulty, and course activity. Moreover, it is attributed to the students’ maturity, skills, experiences, and the absence of assessment culture. The result of this study are similar to the findings of the studies by: (Adhayleh and Maharma 1998; Al-Amayreh 2006; Abdalrazek 2006; AL-Holi 2007; Amy 2008) and different from the findings of the studies by: (Tweissi and Nawaf 2014; Beran and Rokosh 2009). • The relationship between attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment of their teaching performance and gender The results showed there were statistically significant differences in the level of faculty members toward students' assessment of their teaching performance attributed to the gender in favor of female. The estimates of female were higher than the estimates of the male. This may be attributed to the nature of the study and privacy in Saudi Arabia where no coeducation is allowed, which makes the female faculty members receive higher degrees in the students’ assessment for the teaching performance for the reason that female students are more sympathetic than male students the teaching performance assessment , reflecting a positive sense about the attitudes of the faculty members toward students' assessment for their teaching performance by females more than by males. The findings of the study are compatible with the studies by (Al-sinad 2012; Abdel Razek 2006). • The relationship between attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment of their teaching performance and the type of college The results showed there were statistically significant differences in the level of faculty members toward students' assessment of their teaching performance attributed to the type of college in favor of humanity college . This may be attributed to the ease of study in humanity colleges compared to scientific colleges, characterized by the difficulty of courses and requirements, thus affecting the findings of students’ assessment of the teaching performance of the faculty members with the marks of the course students are expected to get, which are higher among faculty members in humanity faculties compared to those in the scientific colleges toward students’ assessment for their teaching performance. he findings of the study are compatible with the studies by (Al-sinad 2012). • The relationship between attitudes of faculty members toward students' assessment of their teaching performance and the experience The result showed statistically significant differences among all levels of experience in favor of the longest teaching experience. this is attributed to the reason that the faculty members with longer experiences have more teaching capabilities and skills than teachers with less teaching experiences, which generates a positive and confident sense of their level of their teaching performance by any institution to assess their teaching performance. It is also attributed to the conviction of faculty members with long experience in the importance of ideas and observations about their teaching performance by students as thy are convinced that students 22 Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.6, No.35, 2015 communicate mostly with them in the classroom, which requires them to take notes about their teaching performance. 6.Conclusion • The need to diversify the ways and methods of assessment for the teaching performance of faculty members at Najran University and not to be restricted to the students’ assessment for the teaching performance. • The need to hold educational seminars on the importance of assessing teaching performance for the parties of the learning process; faculty members and students. • The need for further studies on other methods of assessing teaching performance. References Abdelrazek, W. 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(2005), "Assessing the Performance of University Lecturer in the Light of the Quality Standards", 8th Conference Studies in Higher Education, University Education Development, Center in Higher Education, October,18-22,2005, Ain Shams University, Egypt, 27 - 87. Al-Sinad, J. (2012), " Graduate Students' Attitudes toward their Teachers", Damascus University Journal, 28(3), 323-376. Audah, A. (2005), Measurement and Evaluation in the teaching process, Dar Alfikr press , Jordan . Beran, N. , Rokosh, L. (2009), "Instructors Perspectives on the Utility of Student Ratings of Instruction, Instructional Science", An International Journal of the Learning Science, 37(2), 171-184,(EJ830760). Cannon, R., & Newble, D. (2000), "A handbook for teachers in universities and colleges a guide to improving teaching methods", 4th Edition, London: Kogan Page. 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(1998), "New research casts doubt on value of student evaluations of professors", chronicle of higher education, 44(19), 12-14 . First A. Author Dr. Ali Mohammad Zakri, Date of Birth 15/10/1966, Assistant Professor of Measurement and Evaluation at Najran University- Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Head of Education and Psychology Department, Najran University, Currently he works in the Faculty of Education at the University of Najran in Saudi Arabia, PHD in Educational Psychology from Umm Al Qura University - Saudi Arabia in 2011, Educational 23 Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.6, No.35, 2015 Psychology , Measurement and Evaluation .Address : Najran city university- Najran- Kingdome of Saudi Arabia ,PO (11001), E-mail: [email protected] Second A. Author Mr. Yahya Mohammad Qablan, Jordan, Birth 15/02/1977 , lecture of Measurement and Evaluation in the Deanship of Development and Quality at Najran University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Master's degree in measurement and evaluation since 2004,Address: Najran university- Najran city - Kingdome of Saudi Arabia, E-mail: [email protected] 24