Abstract

LAUDADIO, Julieta. Evaluation of teaching styles at college: Preliminary study of the psychometric properties of the Questionnaire on the Teaching Orientation of the University Professor. Interdisciplinaria [online]. 2012, vol.29, n.1, pp.79-93. ISSN 1668-7027.

The rapid changes produced in the educational contexts of higher education have generated a greater complexity of the teaching work of the university faculty. Under these new contexts, education must face a new challenge: specialized training in higher education. As a consequence, in order to provide a relevant training, the detection of the key aspects required in this unique training, according to the particular characteristics of each discipline, the responsible teachers and even the organizational culture to which they belong, is necessary. The term teaching styles refers to the specific, characteristic and unique ways of educating, configured by the teacher's personality, their own ways of doing and the means that enable to reach certain achievements. To investigate the teaching styles of teachers in the university require having adequate tools to study the various aspects related to higher education such as personal characteristics, concerns and ideas about teaching, methodological dynamics and teacher assessment in an specific subject. The objective of this paper was to assess validity and reliability of the Questionnaire on the Teaching Orientation of the University Professor (CODPU) of Feixas (2006) when the style adopted by the teacher is considered. This instrument is composed by 36 items on different aspects of university teaching and it seeks to understand the teaching styles, i.e.: guidance or focus (concerns, ideas about teaching, methodological dynamics and evaluation) of the university professor. The questionnaire was applied to a sample of 238 teachers of private universities. In order to assess the reliability, the Cronbach alpha was applied. In order to study the construct validity, a factorial analysis was conducted. The results show that there is a two-dimensional structure, with a Factor 1 including items that evaluate teacher orientation focused on the student, and a Factor 2 including items that evaluate the orientation focused on the teacher. In this regard, the theory holds that each factor refers to the teaching concepts and strategies and teacher characteristics and concerns, according if it is student-oriented learning, or the teacher and his teaching (Feixas, 2002, Trigwell & Prosser, 2004). Regarding the reliability, an index of .81 was obtained, strongly supporting the internal consistency of the instrument. In considering the reliability of each factor the following results were obtained: for Factor 1 a Cronbach alpha of .81 and for Factor 2, an alpha of .76. The self-report shows, as a whole, an acceptable level of reliability. Similarly the coefficients obtained for both factorsmeet the conditions of reliability. These data allow us to develop an opinion of value of the instrument in the light of a specific purpose, as in this case to identify the characteristic teaching styles in college. Although additional psychometric studies are required, the results indicate that CODPU is an instrument initially valid and reliable for the use in our context. The knowledge of these psychometric properties is essential for the use of the instrument and the data obtained with it are significant. To assess the attitudes and predict the ability for change and to establish appropriate techniques for valid and reliable measurements are needed primarily. Also, among the most valued aspects of educational practices that promote effective learning, some studies point: concern for students, quality of educational relationships (Giles, Ryan Belliveau, De Freitas, & Casey, 2006) and attention to the particular needs of students (Mendes, 2003). From the identification of learning styles, we can generate changes in those approaches that promote effective teaching.

Keywords : Higher Education; Teaching styles; Teachers; Validity; Reliability.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )