The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/2046-3162.htm
Expectations of Service-orientation and teaching effective teaching quality: business degree students’ expectations of effective teaching Muhammad Kashif GIFT University, Gujranwala, Pakistan, and
Hiram Ting Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Sarawak, Malaysia
163 Received 2 June 2013 Revised 29 July 2013 7 January 2014 Accepted 22 January 2014
Abstract Purpose – Higher education teaching is analogous to delivering services in various business sectors. Students are regarded as customers of universities having specific needs and wants, which, if well recognized, can lead to creating delightful student experiences. This paper aims to identify the core ideas about excellent teaching in business schools which faculty members may notice in order to achieve excellence in teaching. Design/methodology/approach – The study is epistemologically framed to focus on interpretivism. The qualitative data have been collected from 30 business degree students, following a naturalistic paradigm. The case study method has been employed to conduct face-to-face interviews. Findings – The results revealed five core themes pertaining to teaching excellence in business education. These include; communication style, knowledge, positive attitude, creative work, and courtesy of the instructor as postulated by the students. Originality/value – The insights are purposeful and contribute substantially to theory development in the area of service-oriented teaching delivery in business education. Keywords Pakistan, Business education, Qualitative research, Co-creation, Service orientation, Higher education teaching Paper type Research paper
Introduction Services have been co-produced where customers and frontline employees play their actual roles in a supportive environment (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). This value creation is only possible where both the parties understand each other’s expectations, roles, and needs. Failing to do so can result in value co-destruction, which leads to customer dissatisfaction, anxiety, and switching (Loı¨c and Caceres, 2010). More importantly, co-destruction is a product of customer misbehavior that occurs when frontline employees do not understand the customer expectations in a service setting. Higher education has been considered a business-like industry, where student needs are actively pursued in order to ensure higher levels of service quality. It is believed that students, who pay fees for their degrees, tend to behave like customers and expect a significant return on their investment (Watson, 2003). Because students are now acknowledged as “customers” of education (Maringe, 2005), their satisfaction is of supreme importance to higher education policy makers who are striving hard to retain existing and attract new students (Helgesen and Nesset, 2007). Business educators, in an effort to keep abreast with changing needs and expectation levels of students, value student retention and positively link it with higher learning, which is purely a function The authors are thankful to Ms Sara Basharat and Mr Mubashir Ayyaz, MBA students at the GIFT University Gujranwala for their help in data collection.
Asian Education and Development Studies Vol. 3 No. 2, 2014 pp. 163-180 r Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2046-3162 DOI 10.1108/AEDS-06-2013-0038
AEDS 3,2
164
of effective teaching (Lala and Priluck, 2011). Just as any attempt to market goods and services to new customers, attracting new students in higher education settings has proven to be very costly and challenging ( Joseph et al., 2005). Keeping in view the high cost of attracting new students, it is advisable to monitor the true needs of currently enrolled students in order to develop rapport and ignite trust (Douglas et al., 2008). Given the important role of business education service providers, it is therefore mandatory to discover the desirable characteristics of a faculty member in order to create a memorable service experience (Faranda and Clarke, 2004). Teaching effectiveness has been studied over the years by many marketing and social science scholars (Grunenwald and Ackerman, 1986; Smart et al., 2003). In some research studies, the evidence of difference in views regarding teaching effectiveness exists and it is clear that faculty opinions differ when compared with student perceptions of effective teaching (Desai et al., 2001; Grunenwald and Ackerman, 1986). The pursuit of effective and excellent teaching has become highly challenging because of an increase in publication trends in high impact factor journals, larger class sizes, and fast-paced discovery of new knowledge (Smart et al., 2003). Despite all the aforementioned challenges, business educators are expected to attain wonderful teaching feedback from students, alongside fulfilling the entire teaching course load. Business educators are expected to achieve instructional command and mastery over subject matters in order to be acknowledged and rewarded (Desai et al., 2001; Frankel and Swanson, 2002). The lack of evidence in studies with international context from the students’ points-of-view triggers the need to conduct a study that presents students’ perceptions of effective teaching (Davis et al., 2000). Doing so will help business educators in designing and delivering a student-oriented instructional methodology that is helpful in retaining students through effective teaching. This is also true in the case of an Asian context, as per the authors’ knowledge not even a single contribution has been found with regard to student perceptions of effective teaching in business schools. The studies so far have highlighted the western context, which is different to Asian cultures and higher education settings (Faranda and Clarke, 2004; Su and Wood, 2012). There may be some inadequacies in presenting the students’ points of view regarding teaching effectiveness, but it is still considered a widely used measure to determine teaching effectiveness in higher education (Eckert and Dabrowski, 2010). For example, some consider students as customers of education while other oppose this philosophy and challenge it quite openly. The studies explored features of excellent teaching in western contexts, with an absence of an Asian context, which will be presented through current research. Second, in a competitive business education scenario, this study will help faculty members in improving their teaching in accordance with the student expectations through this seminal work, especially in country context of Pakistan. Hence, the study is planned to answer the following research questions: RQ1. How will business degree students explain effective teaching in an Asian context of Pakistan? RQ2. Why is a service-oriented teaching approach imperative for higher education and how it can be operationalized? This paper is presented through six components. The introduction highlights the problem definition and justifies the need to conduct this study. This leads to the
development and presentation of a literature review, where works of different renowned authors in the field of service management with respect to higher education have been presented. An important facet of the literature review is a debate on the role of students as customers in a business education setting. The methodology section discusses various methods employed in order to collect and analyze data collected through interviews with students. Findings are presented by highlighting emerging themes from the study and are then discussed through a comparison with previous studies. Lastly, the conclusion offers insightful suggestions to improve the teaching quality in a business school environment. Literature review Higher education and pure services There has been significant amount of scholarly work available regarding higher education as a “service,” (Arambewela and Hall, 2006; Curran and Rosen, 2006; Angell et al., 2008). Similarities exist between higher education and service management in the areas of attracting and satisfying customers, delivering high-quality services, and customer evaluation of services (Frankel and Swanson, 2002). However, educational services fall into the field of services marketing but these are considered complex services where customers play a much more active role (Eagle and Brennan, 2007). There is another similarity between the two types of services: the students and the faculty interact with each other in the classroom and play different roles in an effort to create a memorable service experience (Czepiel et al., 1986). Higher education services have similar characteristics to those of core services such as students have varying needs and demands that must be fulfilled. The outcome (knowledge and learning) is purely intangible as in other services such as airlines, counseling, and psychological treatments. Both the services are consumed and produced at the same time. Services cannot be separated from service providers, having “inseparability” as its core character (Shank et al., 1995). Despite some similarities between educational and other services, there are also some differences, such as: the success and failure of service encounter highly depends upon the performance of both parties, and a little uncertainty or “informality” can affect the quality of services offered (Cooper, 2007). Unlike the travel and tourism services, students have to take full responsibility for their success or failure with regard to learning (Svensson and Wood, 2007). This can be true in case when students or faculty members exhibit “informal” or other unwanted gestures that hurt the learning process. More importantly, it can sabotage the overall service experience which has long-term consequences for both; students as well as faculty. Faculty and service quality of higher education With an increase in higher education institutions across the globe, there has now been greater emphasis on ensuring educational accountability. Many researchers used SERVQUAL to evaluate student perceptions of service quality enrolled in business schools (Hill, 1995; Oldfield and Baron, 2000). However, measuring the service quality of higher education services is considered a complex and time consuming process (Harvey and Green, 1993). This is the major reason why consensus on defining and measuring “quality” is debatable (Clewes, 2003). Nevertheless, some authors have tried to offer a definition of service quality in higher education. For example O’Neill and Palmer (2004a, b) define higher education service quality as “the difference between what a student expects to receive and his/her perceptions of actual delivery.” Studies support the notion that “human” element is pivotal to success and failure of service delivery. This is also true in case of educational services where faculty members and
Expectations of effective teaching
165
AEDS 3,2
166
students play an important role in discovering knowledge through in-class encounters. In service settings, it is believed that employees, who are competent and willing to solve customer problems can enhance customer satisfaction (Bitner, 1990). Frontline and backline staff is of importance while delivering services. However, in the case of retail services, role of frontline employees in creating memorable service experiences has been pivotal in pre-encounter and post-encounter situations (Chung-Herrera et al., 2004). Hansen et al. (2000) developed a model to evaluate unit of study in higher education settings. The results indicate that quality of instructions has major influence on perceived satisfaction with modules and faculty plays a lead role in student satisfaction with the education service. Services are considered as “drama” where customers and employees are assumed to be “actors.” Pozo-Munoz et al. (2000) delineated that “teaching staff is key actor in a university’s work.” With all this on board, it can be inferred that role and behavior of faculty members in higher education settings is core determinant of student impressions of service quality. Role of students in business education Faculty and students are the core actors in a higher education service setting. Both are distinct in terms of their expectations from each other and the role they play in service delivery of higher education. There are studies that proclaim students as “customers” by employing a market-oriented view of higher education. A market-orientated approach in higher education has been due to factors such as quality challenges in terms of competition, limited public funding to the private sector in particular, high demand for accountability by primary stakeholders, and tight labor market conditions all across the globe (Halbesleben and Wheeler, 2009). Today the success of business graduates is measured in terms of their starting salaries (Connolly, 2003). It is a market-oriented view where success is measured in terms of money earned after the graduation. When the degree programs are launched, proper market research is conducted and sound marketing strategies are developed to attract the large number of students (Stripling, 2010). More recently, researchers have justified and detailed the market-driven view of students as customers to counter the criticism. The students being treated as customers does not imply that their unrealistic expectations will be met, but it is just a new look towards shared governance to foster management thinking (Bejou, 2010). It is also argued that higher education has been acknowledged as an industry where higher education institutions are considered businesses and students as customers (Taylor, 2010). Contrary to that, there are critics to the customer-centric approach that considers students as customers. Researchers believe that: it is a short term, narrowly defined approach; it lacks student accountability in higher education settings; it exploits respectable faculty members; it leads to commoditization of education (Beatty, 2004; Scott, 1999). Critics also claim that most of the students do not know exactly what they must expect because of their lack of knowledge of the higher education systems and processes (Carlson and Fleisher, 2002). However, keeping the co-creation theory in mind, it can be assumed that students and faculty are the value creators as well as value users, which demands two elements: both parties must know each other’s needs and expectations, and both must play their own role in order to create a good service experience (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). In order to play this role, both the parties must know each other in-depth. Outstanding teaching in higher education There has been significant research work that stresses the important role of faculty members in satisfying students through creating wonderful education delivery
experiences (Hill et al., 2003). The teaching staff is considered most the important in a university and has most influential effect on student perceptions of service quality delivered (Marzo-Navarro et al., 2005). It is thus crucial to investigate the factors that students think are pivotal in effective teaching, so that a customized service can be offered which truly satisfies the higher education customers. The work of Grunenwald and Ackerman (1986) is considered pioneering in characterizing outstanding teachers in higher education. They proclaimed that a “strong command over the subject matter” is the core indicator of outstanding teaching. Following their work, Conant et al. (1985) conducted a study to outline the characteristics of effective higher education faculty members. The researchers found real-world experience, immediate, timely, and constructive feedback, availability during office hours, good communication skills, caring and empathetic attitude, interaction with students, and asking questions as most desirable traits of effective faculty members in business education. Kelley et al. (1991) conducted a study to investigate the special characteristics of effective faculty members and found communication skills; being well prepared for lectures; friendliness of the instructor; effective listening to student problems; and delivering immediate feedback, are hallmarks of outstanding teaching in higher education. The study of Taylor et al. (1999) presented excellent faculty members as those who exhibit good class control, manage class activities effectively, and maintain good in-class discipline. Their study majorly focussed on maintaining the in-class behaviors and creating a disciplined environment, leading to higher learning. One of the most cited works in the area of improving teaching quality, the study of Desai et al. (2001), found traits such as: faculty member responds to all the questions asked in class, is punctual, enthusiastic, flexible, and provides constructive feedback. Another significant contribution is made by Delucchi (2000) who suggested factors such as usage of humor, in particular, was regarded as major trait of effective faculty members in higher education. Humor is a tool to engage students in the lecture, however, in some cases it would be quite challenging as sharing of humor may destruct students’ attention and the instructor can also lose class control. The study of Smart et al. (2003), however, found some new characteristics characterizing effective teaching in higher education. The new factors discovered through this study were: presenting real-world perspectives in the class, and the assigning of subject-based assessments. As higher education is considered a “service,” hence faculty members are required to play a service-provider role in order to deliver a high-quality education service. The recent studies probing characteristics of effective teaching in higher education found some interesting, such as: fair assessment, individual attention (Yesseldyke and Bolt, 2007); asking intelligent questions by favoring students’ interests, classroom interactions (Stronge et al., 2008); a positive attitude to enhance learning, proactive, courteous in dealings, and willing to guide students (Palardy and Rumberger, 2008). It is also notable here that students want the course instructors to be respect giving and serious during classroom encounters. This is also true in the case of other services where customers expect to be respected and treated with care by service staff (Voss et al., 2007). Table I enlists the significant contribution made by researchers in the field of teaching excellence in higher education. Legitimacy of taking a student perspective in teaching excellence Higher education is now treated as a service and two roles are evident; students as customers, and faculty members as primary service providers. Both play major roles
Expectations of effective teaching
167
AEDS 3,2
Authors
Characteristics of effective faculty members
Swanson et al. (2005)
Friendliness, helping, knowledgeable, expressive, empathetic, responsive, and reliable Organized, knowledge, helping, encouraging, sympathetic, and pays individual attention to students Ambition to excel in the subject area, inspiring personality, knowledgeable, and helping Caring the students, have deep interest in student success, and ambitious Flexible, detail oriented, skilled, easily approachable, and willing to help students Reliable, having expertise to influence students, and disciplined
Hill et al. (2003)
168
Lammers and Murphy (2002) Brown (2004)
Voss et al. (2007) Table I. Characteristics of effective Pozo-Munoz et al. (2000) faculty members/
during service encounters in classroom settings and their behaviors determine the success or failure of the learning process. This has highlighted the importance of taking students’ perspectives while making efforts to enhance overall quality of educational services (Oldfield and Baron, 2000). Collecting data from administrators regarding service quality of higher education is considered as “traditional approach” where a “customer”-centric approach is badly missing (Joseph et al., 2005). In order to improve the quality of teaching and student satisfaction in higher education, it is highly suggested to incorporate students’ opinions and perceptions about education quality (Douglas and Douglas, 2006). Another advantage of collecting data from students is that it will help prospective students to get to know about the institution, its quality of teaching, and current levels of student satisfaction with the institution (Harvey, 2003). Perspectives from western context are available but an Asian perspective is badly missing. This research is a novel addition to the body of knowledge through employing a service-oriented view of teaching in business education. Keeping in view the challenges such as accountability, lack of funding, and competitive pressures discussed in the literature, the following research objectives are planned: (1)
to enlist student expectations of effective teaching in business education;
(2)
to present an Asian and Pakistani perspective to highlight a market-oriented view of teaching excellence; and
(3)
to offer some useful insights to Pakistani business faculty members in order to improve teaching quality.
Research methods The research aims to qualitatively identify the characteristics that signal effective teaching in business education. Absence of data from business students’ perspectives of effective teaching in an Asian context of Pakistan and the need to attain detailed responses has triggered the researchers to opt for interpretivist frame. The authors aspired to achieve the novelty and detail orientation, which a qualitative researcher attains especially in cases where very little research work has been performed to uncover the issues at hand. The quantitative research methods are equally useful, but in different settings and quantitative methods “rely on more remote, inferential empirical materials” (Denzin and Lincoln, 1998, p. 10). Another reason to use qualitative research method is the ability of such methods to capture “individual”
insight with regards to the research problem. Current research employed in-depth interviews from business school students outlining the critical factors that demonstrate an effective business school professor. In cases where little or no research is available, interviews provide in-depth, detailed, and focussed responses to the interviewer, which enhance the credibility of research. The students were well informed about the purpose, scope, and usefulness of this research. The researchers did not identify any themes prior to data collection however; an interview protocol was used to interview students to effectively generate responses that can be logically coded. Sampling This study employed a case study methodology where data were collected from business students enrolled in a private sector university located in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. A case study approach has been deemed appropriate where: (1)
the study is aimed to answer “how” and “why” questions;
(2)
the behavior of the respondents cannot be manipulated;
(3)
the researchers are willing to cover the contextual nuances; and
(4)
boundaries between the context and phenomenon are blurred (Yin, 2003).
These conditions were met and the research team decided to employ a case study approach to investigate the phenomenon. The major reason this business school was selected is a thorough understanding of issues prevail in the culture, structure, and management policy. Another reason is the major transformation of this business school from a traditional to a more market-oriented business school. The exploration of a market-oriented approach in this context will surely benefit the business school and the like. This approach to select a business school has been used by higher education marketing researchers over the years (Leblanc and Nguyen, 1997). A team of two students conducted interviews on behalf of principle researchers with 30 business school students to eliminate any personal biasness while collecting data from respondents. These two students were specifically trained on collecting data and were employed instead of faculty member in order to get responses without any hesitation and reservation from students. In previous studies, this approach has also been adopted to avoid any bias or hesitation felt by the respondents (Desai et al., 2001). This led to the smooth collection of data and researchers were able to get detailed responses concerning the construct. A sample of 30 respondents is considered appropriate for qualitative study as the emphasis is on the quality of data instead of quantity (Faranda and Clarke, 2004). Further to this, researchers felt that responses were reaching saturation level, so, it was considered appropriate to fix the sample size to 30 respondents (Patton, 2002). The undergraduate and graduate students were purposefully selected and there was no distinction made between the levels of students. We selected those students as respondents who have spent at least two years in the business school. This is because of their experience of interacting with faculty members over the years as compared to those who are in their first university year. The expectations between freshmen and senior students may vary; hence, a care was taken to select only those who are willing to provide handful insights into effective teaching. The students were asked a single line question, “What do you think are the characteristics of a good faculty member in the business school?” Once the students responded with a one-word definition, they were asked to elaborate further for better understanding. For example, if someone replied, “The faculty member must have
Expectations of effective teaching
169
AEDS 3,2
subject knowledge,” the respondent was further probed to detail this statement and it was done with all of the respondents to gain a detailed insight into teaching excellence. The in-depth interviews conducted from students were noted and later were discussed by the researchers with two senior professors, before completion of analysis. The ages of students and other demographic information have not been taken into consideration.
170 Data analysis Collection and analysis of qualitative data analysis is a challenging task and requires certain amount of theoretical and process knowledge before it is to be performed. There are different tasks qualitative researchers do perform in “thematic analysis,” such as; explaining themes and resulting sub-themes, separating important and non-important themes, development of a hierarchy for all the themes, and finalizing themes (Bernard and Bernard, 2012). The research team started with a thorough reading of the transcripts developed after the interviews was conducted. Once a basic understanding was developed, the team sat together, and discussed the findings in detail, which led to understand the key phrases and to develop an “initial sense” of the data as suggested by Sandelowski (1995). The researchers had in mind the theory of data in order to link themes to theory. In the next phase of data analysis, comparisons among themes and sub-themes were performed and some themes were finalized based on the frequency of occurrences (Toby et al., 2012). This method is preferred in qualitative studies because it offers benefits such as; reliability, and time savings, allowing respondents to express their views freely ( Juster, 1986; Kitterod, 2001). With the help of thematic analysis, the collected data were reduced to five emerging themes: subject knowledge, communication skills, positive attitude, creative work, and personality of the instructor. Table II explains these themes in a more extensive form as it embodies completely the data of interviews held with students. Findings Subject knowledge A good number of students believe that a teacher should definitely be a scholarly person, with the ability to satisfy students with extensive theoretical knowledge. They viewed a good teacher as one who can ease the complicatedness of theoretical problems. One BBA female student expressed her views as: I am always impressed by those faculty members who solve my problems effortlessly, as they are masters in their field and are well equipped with maximum possible knowledge. Due to having command over subject matter, students are very much content with the excellence of education being provided.
Providing students with the information related to syllabus is without a doubt an essential task, but majority of the students claim that they should also be able to know about the implications of the scholarly knowledge they are getting and this can only happen with some real life examples: The implication of what we are studying is more important at the end. We are being prepared to face the real world and if we are not confident enough about the implications of knowledge, it would not work then. We are definitely willing to learn the practical aspects of theories in addition to the content itself. So, the faculty members should make all possible efforts to show us the glimpse of the real life through their own skills and experiences.
Themes
Subcategories
Explanation for success in teaching
Subject knowledge
Qualifications
Has been well qualified in his domain of teaching Brings practical experience to the class room Guides in an impressive way to develop an understanding of theories Highly focussed to enhance learning Supports theory with real-life examples Always exhibits confidence while communicating Enables others to feel comfort Understands the level of the students Provides instructions in an informal and understandable manner Looks energetic while delivering lecture Clarifies the tricky questions and information Is positive while interacting with students Uses humor in the class but also maintains class control Keeps a great deal of patience Do not take matters personally Guides students to think broadly Guides well about making and submitting assignments Is never biased and tilled toward some specific students Passionate about guiding students Exhibits positive energy, in and outside the class room Is truthful and accepts challenges openly Treats students on equal basis Encourages to argue and develop opinions Assigns tasks that are different Takes regular quizzes and assignments Always come to class with different and interesting tasks Is able to create friendly and supportive environment in the class Always seek new and innovative ways of teaching Creates participative learning atmosphere in classrooms Rewards students with encouraging and praising comments along with grades Is always prepared and ready to take the house in confidence Takes care of the personal appearance Prefers formal wear mostly Communicates with an impressive attitude Is humble and down-to-earth Always fair in dealings Is punctual while attending the class Have good memory
Related teaching experience Command over the subject
Communication skills
Learning orientation Practical knowledge Confident in discussions Ability to convince students Customized Develops understanding Positive energy Detail oriented Confident body language Use of humor
Positive attitude
Highly tolerable Impersonal Visionary Guidance Neutral Passionate Positive thinker
Creative work
Truthful Equality Encouraging Interesting assignments Regular assessment Creative tasks Supportive environment Innovation in teaching
Personality
Well groomed Neat and clean appearance Formal Communication Humble Fairness Punctuality Strong memory
Expectations of effective teaching
171
Table II. Emerging themes
AEDS 3,2
172
The knowledge of the subject along with the experience and expertise are considered significant attributes of a good teacher where the students seem to be more interested in knowing the practical frame of theories. However, qualifications of instructor are also pivotal to the students. One female BSc accounting student explained: My instructor is good because he possesses relevant academic and professional experience. His academic qualifications in the field of accounting are very impressive and we feel that he possesses in-depth knowledge due to his education and professional experience.
Communication skills The ability to deliver to their students through proficient communication skills varies among instructors. An instructor who can efficiently and effortlessly teach his students is always appreciated by the students. One female BBA student explained: The one distinguishing quality of a good instructor is the ability to convince students, never leaving them confused. Good teachers are always concerned that their students are not mystified with the little or incomplete information and making every effort to provide guidelines. This all can be done in a better way if faculty members have good communication skills as the messages are appropriately conceived by students.
Some students also pointed out that the interaction between teachers and students is an important element of communication skills. It enables students to feel confident and they can always trust their faculty members by being more open and relaxed while communicating with them: To know that your teacher is also interested in your matters is of great importance to me. I am an average student and may never communicate with my faculty members with the confidence that top students have. This has been made possible by the wonderful interactions that I had with my course faculty members, throughout the semester. But, it was only limited with those faculty members only, whom I was confident and knew assuredly that they would help me out.
Use of humor in class is also an important element to the students as one male MBA student pointed out: I love my marketing instructor because he always uses humor in the class and never lets the students feel bored about the subject matter. What matters is not only the humor but also the concentration as I observed it several times. He tends to exchange jokes to enliven the class but next moment we are back to the topic, discussing the subject matter, but with more passion and interest.
Students like openness in the class and they attribute it to instructor’s proactive attitude in the form of asking questions from students in the class. One female BBA student explained: We sit attentively in “Brand Management” class because the instructor always focuses on all the students. Whenever, he feels that the communication process between him and students is affected, he points to the students and asks questions about the topics discussed in the class. This element always keeps us “in” the class, thinking about the subject all the time.
Positive attitude Positive attitude of the faculty members is always expected and appreciated by students at all levels. The interviews with the students also indicate the importance of the instructor’s positive attitude towards students. The students illustrated that if their faculty members are positive in their dealings they could better understand the
concepts and thus create better understanding between the student and the instructor. One female BSc accounting and finance commented:
Expectations of effective teaching
It frustrates me when my instructor seems to be resistant to my queries, it won’t help me at all if he keeps on deserting my questions. We cannot get good understanding of subjects if our faculty members are unwilling to listen to our queries.
The faculty members who are more passionate and concerned about the learning of their students are more popular among the students. Usually students idolize faculty members who are helpful, caring, and have ability to solve their academic problems. One male MBA student said: The only thing I look for in the course instructor is his energy and optimism. Students are rarely motivated to learn. In most cases it is the energy of the instructor that makes students anticipates learning more and more.
A high zone of tolerance is another important facet of successful teaching in business schools. One BBA female student explained: I like Mr. X (marketing instructor) due to his ability to convince students in a polite manner and more importantly, I have never seen him being short-tempered, showing anger and using abusive language with student.
One male MBA student commented: A good instructor to me is one who takes every student with him/her and has high zone of tolerance and positive energy. However, very few faculty members have this ability.
Customization is also warmly welcomed by the students and they feel more comfortable when an instructor tries to address needs of every student in a different possible way. One BBA male student said: Our Accounting instructor is wonderful in and out of the class. This is because he always has this ability to address the queries of each and every student in a purely academic way.
Creative work The experimental approach in education is always considered vital. The theme of being creative in teaching is very useful for the students, as they get to know about some new ways and methods of learning. The traditional system and methods of teaching and research have transformed into new and well-organized education methods. One female MBA student explained: Creativity in teaching is like adding spices in a dish, and a dish is more appetizing when it is prepared by adding spices in a balanced proportion. We always like different assignments when compared with the tasks assigned to our senior batches in the same course. It feels good to know that the tasks we are performing are more difficult and challenging than what our peers are supposed to accomplish.
One male MBA student commented: When we are assigned some creative and different tasks, we take it more seriously than any of the typical traditional assignments because we are more interested in doing the ones which are new. This also limits plagiarism stuff in academic assignments as we find nothing due to the newness of topic.
One female BBA student said: These days I am very happy with my new instructor. He really is a true guide to me. I am amazed by the way he explains the concepts and looks into the subject matter as I have
173
AEDS 3,2
174
been trying hard to understand them since last semester. Hence the credit goes to my new instructor and his creative way of teaching. It is due to some practice-oriented tasks that I find even the old boring concepts quiet interesting.
Personality Personality illustrates the characteristics and appearance of a person, his thoughts, behavior, and physical features. Students tend to think if an instructor is well groomed he would surely leave a lasting impression on the students. One BBA female student explained: An appealing personality is always a key to effective communication. Being well dressed, having good posture and inspiring character always motivate us to be like him/her.
The fairness of the instructor is one of the most important factors to students as most of them pointed it out. One male MBA student described: Fairness in dealings within class, and outside class is what makes an instructor special. We have very good faculty members here but students mostly complain about the justification of grading and it is also a fact that this justification is absent in most cases. However, I found most of the teachers are willing to share assignments, quizzes, and other academic assessments in the class but some are not willing to that.
One male MBA student shared: Don’t like faculty members who do not speak the truth while dealing with students. Honesty plays an important role and I believe a good instructor never manipulates or hides any useful information from students. No matter how well you are communicating, the fear to get exposed would always reflect on your face whether you like it or not.
One female MBA student explained her views in this way: I think the best faculty members are those who treat all students equally and they do not have an element of granting favors to some students and hurting others.
Classroom ethics is also one of the most talked-about topics and students attribute it to usage of proper language and exhibition of polite gestures. One female BBA student commented: I always like my HRM course instructor because he is very polite, uses respectful language, and never insults the students, including even those who are not taking care of class norms. I observe it every time that he deals in a great way with all the students and do not prefer a specific gender.
It has been observed that impatient faculty members are poor negotiators. There is always a need to convince the students and that requires patience. It will be of no use if the faculty members lose their temper and shout at their students. Therefore, patience is highly required to resolve many academic matters: Freedom of expression is right of all the students and if we are not allowed to do so then someone is restricting our freedom. Faculty members who are able to listen to their students are always included in our favorite list.
Discussion This study has highlighted five principal themes that students attribute to outstanding teaching in business schools. These include: subject knowledge, communication skills, positive attitude, creative work, and personality of the faculty member.
The importance of these elements with regards to effective teaching in higher education has been discussed already in academia (Desai et al., 2001; Smart et al., 2003; Faranda and Clarke, 2004; Yesseldyke and Bolt, 2007; Palardy and Rumberger, 2008). Higher education is regarded a “service” because it has some similarities with other commercial services. Faculty members not only play pivotal roles in understanding and meeting student expectations but are also an important source to enhance the overall service quality of higher education (Pozo-Munoz et al., 2000). While interacting with students during data collection, it is found that students laid special emphasis on the positive thinking and attitude of the faculty members. As “faculty members” are the core players in education delivery, their role determines the extent of quality offered by the institute of higher learning (Hill et al., 2003). There are some challenging tasks assigned to the students where they need guidance and counseling. Hence, if a faculty member is a positive thinker, and is willing to help, the students would be able to easily accomplish the assigned task. Beside this, in a Pakistani setting it is important that faculty members are able to provide counseling to students with a highly positive attitude because it will groom student personalities. The students will be better able to meet the current challenges of quality and globalization. The knowledge of an instructor is also valued by the students while delivering lectures in the classroom. It is notable that students not only demand theoretical understanding but also industry knowledge. This implies that a faculty member must be able to link the theory with current practice. It will definitely broaden the concept understanding of students. The practical knowledge of faculty has been advocated already through the work of Smart et al. (2003) where presenting “real-world” perspectives was considered a core ability of an excellent faculty member. It is also true for other service providers working in professional service organizations, that they must have knowledge to cope with the customer queries (Chung-Herrera et al., 2004). The results found communication skills as another important element of effective teaching in business schools. The students expected faculty members to exhibit confidence, artistic and learning-centered usage of humor, and interactive body language while delivering lectures and interacting. These results are in line with the work of Delucchi (2000) where the usage of humor was considered pivotal in grabbing students’ interest in class. However, alongside using humor, class control is also important and it has been well addressed by Taylor et al. (1999). The researchers suggested maintaining a proper class discipline, is to afford every student equal chance to speak and to be heard. This is extremely important because relying merely on humor can negatively affect the learning process in the classroom settings. Despite recognizing the fact that humor can sabotage the service experience, it has some benefits such as: student involvement in the classroom activities, development of rapport and homophile with the faculty members, and student interest in the subject. The students also stressed that a faculty member has to be a positive thinker, an energizer with an exhibition of high zone of tolerance. This is true in case of professional services as well where frontline service staff needs to be tolerable, competent, and passionate to serve the customers in order to create memorable customer service experiences (Hill et al., 2003). The faculty members need to exhibit the high tolerance that is “hallmark” of great customer service, because otherwise it will sabotage the service delivery process (Marzo-Navarro et al., 2005). There are many occasions where a faculty member has to be show patience, and must not lose temper. Given the changes in orientation by considering the role of students as customers, some students may be too casual in their approach, which can worsen the overall
Expectations of effective teaching
175
AEDS 3,2
176
learning atmosphere (Carlson and Fleisher, 2002). This is where service orientation and a high zone of tolerance will be beneficial for the faculty members. It is the core job of faculty members to educate students about classroom ethics, as well as the do’s and don’ts of the learning process in a higher education context. There will be many students who may not play their exact role, which implies that co-creation can lead to co-destruction. However, faculty members who are confident, positive looking, and are highly tolerable will handle the situation and can reverse this value destruction to value co-creation (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). Students have also indicated those faculty members as excellent service providers who are “proactive” in nature and probe if anyone needs help. This is true in customer services where service staff helps in reducing the stress levels of customers through various proactive measures (Palardy and Rumberger, 2008). This implies a proactive stance should be taken and problems must be identified before they actually arise. Practical orientation is also one of the major elements of effective teaching in higher education settings. The students like the idea of getting knowledge through creative assignments and other academic tasks. This element has been promoted through the work of Smart et al. (2003) where researchers value the practical insights embedded with delivering the theoretical knowledge. In this regard, assignments are considered critical factor contributing to develop a practical insight. Assessment is another feature of excellent faculty members, which must not only be fair but also to be delivered in a professional timely manner. This can be linked with the demanding employers, and tight labor market conditions where students, if groomed through development of a link with the industry, can get good reception from prospective employers. The personality of faculty member has always been extremely important factor in defining effective teaching in higher education. The results indicate that students demand faculty members to be ethical, well groomed, neat and clean in appearance, and fair in all dealings. These elements have already been explored through the studies of Faranda and Clarke (2004) and Yesseldyke and Bolt (2007). It also holds true with other professional services as well, where service providers need to be truthful, honest, and ethical in order to ensure high quality of service offerings. The students also expected faculty members to respect them as individuals and never use abusive language in the class. These findings are in line with the studies performed by Voss et al. (2007) where researchers faculty members were advised to handle students with great respect. This again can be linked to the theory of co-creation in a service setting. The “value” can only be explored and shared when both parties trust each other, which is a product of respecting each other. Conclusion This qualitative study has highlighted some important characteristics of effective teaching in business schools through employing the concepts of service-orientation and value co-creation. Subject knowledge is regarded as one of the element of effective teaching that can be achieved by linking theoretical concepts to current practices. Higher education in Pakistan, especially business educators, needs to develop a liaison with industry in order to provide education that is in accordance to the industry demands. Communication skills is another element contributing toward outstanding teaching. Alongside specific knowledge of the subject, students expect faculty members to have good communication skills. This can be achieved through an increased interaction with degree students, in and outside the classroom. Faculty members’ positive attitude is an impressive tool to enhance student learning and
achievement in business classrooms. The students prefer faculty members to have a friendly attitude, and be tolerable, cooperative, flexible, and approachable. Practical work is also another element of effective teaching and can be achieved through assigning new but challenging tasks. However, faculty members’ creativity is the key to success because if the assignments are traditional, the learning may not be enhanced and students will lack interest. Personality of an instructor is a much talked-about aspect of effective teaching after subject knowledge. Students benchmark their teachers and this is true in case of Pakistan as well. One needs to be honest with the profession, ethical, fair, and well groomed so that students feel satisfied and delighted as customers in a service setting. Despite the meaningful contextual contribution, this research study has several limitations. First, the data are collected from one business school, thus limiting the generalizability of the findings. However, generalizing results was never the objective of this scholarly work, and qualitative case studies are conducted by researchers whenever the context lacks empirical evidence (Faranda and Clarke, 2004). Future research studies are highly recommended to focus on collecting data from other universities and taking opinions of students enrolled in other disciplines. Another future research area is to quantitatively test the identified themes to assess the teaching quality of faculty members delivering business education. References Angell, R.J., Heffernan, T.W. and Megicks, P. (2008), “Service quality in postgraduate education”, Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 236-254. Arambewela, R. and Hall, J. (2006), “A comparative analysis of international education satisfaction using SERVQUAL”, Journal of Services Research, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 141-163. Beatty, J.E. (2004), “Grades as money and the role of the market metaphor in management education”, Academy of Management Learning and Education, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 187-196. Bejou, D. (2010), “Are they students? Or “customers”? Broken promises”, available at http:// roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/are-they-students-or-customers/#david (accessed February 20, 2010). Bernard, H.R. and Bernard, H.R. (2012), Social research methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, Sage. Bitner, M.J. (1990), “Evaluating service encounters: the effects of physical surroundings and employee responses”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 54 No. 2, pp. 69-82. Brown, G.T. (2004), “Measuring attitude with positively packed self-report ratings: comparison of agreement and frequency scales 1”, Psychological reports, Vol. 94 No. 3, pp. 1015-1024. Carlson, P.M. and Fleisher, M.S. (2002), “Shifting realities in higher education: today’s business model threatens our academic excellence”, International Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 25 Nos 9/10, pp. 1097-1111. Chung-Herrera, B.G., Goldschmidt, N. and Hoffman, K.D. (2004), “Customer and employee views of critical service incidents”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 18 No. 4, pp. 241-254. Clewes, D. (2003), “A student-centered conceptual model of service quality in higher education”, Quality in Higher Education, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 69-85. Conant, J.S., Brown, J.J. and Mokwa, M.P. (1985), “Students are important consumers: assessing satisfaction in a higher education context”, Journal of Marketing Education, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 13-20. Connolly, M. (2003), “The end of the MBA as we know it?”, Academy of Management Learning and Education, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 365-367.
Expectations of effective teaching
177
AEDS 3,2
178
Cooper, P. (2007), “Knowing your ‘lemons’: quality uncertainty in UK higher education”, Quality in Higher Education, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 19-29. Curran, J.M. and Rosen, D.E. (2006), “Student attitudes toward college courses: an examination of influences and intentions”, Journal of Marketing Education, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 135-148. Czepiel, J.A., Solomon, M.R., Surprenant, C.F. and Gutman, E.G. (1986), “The service encounter: an overview”, in Czepiel, J.A., Solomon, M.R. and Suprenant C.F. (Eds), The Service Encounter: Managing Employee/Customer Interaction in Service Business, Lexington Books, Lexington, MA, pp. 3-16. Davis, R., Misra, S. and Van Auken, S. (2000), “Relating pedagogical preference of marketing seniors and alumni to attitude towards the major”, Journal of Marketing Education, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 147-154. Delucchi, M. (2000), “Don’t worry, be happy: instructor likability, student perceptions of learning, and teacher ratings in upper-level sociology courses”, Teaching Sociology, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 220-231. Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (1998), Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Material, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Desai, S., Damewood, E. and Jones, R. (2001), “Be a good teacher and be seen as a good teacher”, Journal of Marketing Education, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 136-144. Douglas, J. and Douglas, A. (2006), “Evaluating teaching quality”, Quality in Higher Education, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 3-12. Douglas, J., McClelland, R. and Davies, J. (2008), “The development of a conceptual model of student satisfaction with their experience in higher education”, Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 19-35. Eagle, L. and Brennan, R. (2007), “Are students customers? TQM and marketing perspectives”, Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 44-60. Eckert, J.M. and Dabrowski, J. (2010), “Should value-added measures be used for performance pay?”, Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 91 No. 5, pp. 88-92. Faranda, W.T. and Clarke, I. (2004), “Student observations of outstanding teaching: implications for marketing educators”, Journal of Marketing Education, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 271-281. Frankel, R. and Swanson, S.R. (2002), “The impact of faculty-student interactions on teaching behaviour: an investigation of perceived student encounter orientation, interactive confidence, and interactive practice”, Journal of Education for Business, Vol. 78 No. 2, pp. 85-91. Grunenwald, J.P. and Ackerman, L. (1986), “A modified Delphi approach for the development of student evaluations of faculty teaching”, Journal of Marketing Education, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 32-38. Halbesleben, J.R.B. and Wheeler, A.R. (2009), “Student identification with business education models: measurement and relationship to educational outcomes”, Journal of Management Education, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 166-195. Hansen, J., Sato, M., Ruedy, R., Lacis, A. and Oinas, V. (2000), “Global warming in the twenty-first century: an alternative scenario”, Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Vol. 97 No. 18, pp. 9875-9880. Harvey, L. (2003), “Student feedback”, Quality in Higher Education, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 3-20. Harvey, L. and Green, D. (1993), “Defining quality”, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 9-34. Helgesen, Ø. and Nesset, E. (2007), “What accounts for students” loyalty? Some field study evidence”, International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 126-143. Hill, F. (1995), “Managing service quality in higher education: the role of the student as primary consumer”, Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 10-21.
Hill, Y., Lomas, L. and MacGregor, J. (2003), “‘Students’ perceptions of quality in higher education”, Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 15-20. Joseph, M., Yakhou, M. and Stone, G. (2005), “An educational institution’s quest for service quality: customers’ perspective”, Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 66-82. Juster, T. (1986), “Response errors in the measurement of time use”, Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 81 No. 394, pp. 390-402. Kelley, C.A., Conant, J.S. and Smart, D.T. (1991), “Master teaching revisited: pursuing excellence from the students’ perspective”, Journal of Marketing Education, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 1-10. Kitterod, R.H. (2001), “Does the recording of parallel activities in time use diaries affect the way people report their main activities?”, Social Indicators Research, Vol. 56 No. 2, pp. 145-178. Lala, V. and Priluck, R. (2011), “When students complain: an antecedent model of students’ intention to complain”, Journal of Marketing Education, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 236-252. Lammers, W.J. and Murphy, J.J. (2002), “A Profile of teaching techniques used in the university classroom a descriptive profile of a US public university”, Active Learning in Higher Education, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 54-67. LeBlanc, G. and Nguyen, N. (1997), “Searching for excellence in business education: an exploratory study of customer impressions of service quality”, International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 72-79. Loı¨c, P. and Caceres, R.C. (2010), “Not always co-creation: introducing interactional co-destruction of value in service-dominant logic”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 24 No. 6, pp. 430-437. Maringe, F. (2005), “University marketing: perceptions, practices and prospects in the less developed world”, Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 129-153. Marzo-Navarro, M., Pedraja-Iglesias, M. and Rivera-Torres, M.P. (2005), “Measuring customer satisfaction in summer courses”, Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 53-65. Oldfield, B.M. and Baron, S. (2000), “Student perceptions of service quality in a UK university business and management faculty”, Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 85-95. O’Neill, M.A. and Palmer, A. (2004a), “Importance-performance analysis: a useful tool for directing continuous quality improvement in higher education”, Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 39-52. O’Neill, M.A. and Palmer, A. (2004b), “Wine production and tourism”, Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Vol. 45 No. 3, pp. 269-284. Palardy, G.J. and Rumberger, R.W. (2008), “Teacher effectiveness in first grade: the importance of background qualifications, attitudes, and instructional practices for student learning”, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Vol. 30 No. 2, pp. 111-140. Patton, M.Q. (2002), Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods, Thousand Oaks, Sage, CA. Pozo-Munoz, C., Rebolloso-Pacheco, E. and Fernandez-Ramirez, B. (2000), “The ‘Ideal Teacher’s implications for student evaluation of teacher effectiveness”, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 253-263. Sandelowski, M. (1995), “Qualitative analysis: what it is and how to begin”, Research in nursing & Health, Vol. 18 No. 4, pp. 371-375. Scott, S.V. (1999), “The academic as service provider: is the customer ‘always right’?”, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 193-202. Shank, M.D., Walker, M. and Hayes, T. (1995), “Understanding professional service expectations: do we know what our students expect in a quality education?”, Journal of Professional Services Marketing, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 71-83.
Expectations of effective teaching
179
AEDS 3,2
180
Smart, D.T., Kelley, C.A. and Conant, J.S (2003), “Mastering the art of teaching: pursuing excellence in a new millennium”, Journal of Marketing Education, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 71-78. Stripling, J. (2010), “Looking before they leap”, available at: www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/ 04/27/market (accessed April 27, 2010). Stronge, J.H., Ward, T.J., Tucker, P.D. and Hindman, J.L. (2008), “What is the relationship between teacher quality and student achievement? An exploratory study”, Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education, Vol. 20 Nos 3/4, pp. 165-184. Su, F. and Wood, M. (2012), “What makes a good university lecturer? Students’ perceptions of teaching excellence”, Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 142-155. Svensson, G. and Wood, G. (2007), “Are university students really customers? When illusion may lead to delusion for all!”, International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 17-28. Taylor, B.M., Pearson, P.D., Clark, K.F. and Walpole, S. (1999), “Center for the improvement of early reading achievement: effective schools/accomplished teachers”, Reading Teacher, Vol. 53 No. 2, pp. 156-159. Taylor, M.C. (2010), “Are they students? Or “customers”? the student as cash cow”, available at: http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/are-they-students-or-customers/ #mark (accessed February 20, 2010). Vargo, S.L. and Lusch, R.F. (2004), “Evolving to a new dominant logic for marketing”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 68 No. 1, pp. 1-17. Voss, R., Gruber, T. and Szmigin, I. (2007), “Service quality in higher education: the role of student expectations”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 60 No. 9, pp. 949-959. Watson, S. (2003), “Closing the feedback loop: ensuring effective action from student feedback”, Tertiary Education and Management, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 145-157. Yesseldyke, J. and Bolt, D.M. (2007), “Effect of technology enhanced continuous progress monitoring on math achievement”, School Psychology Review, Vol. 36 No. 3, pp. 453-467. Yin, R.K. (2003), Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 3rd ed., Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Further reading Adams, C. and Singh, K. (1998), “Direct and indirect effects of school learning variables on the academic achievement of African American 10th graders”, Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 67 No. 1, pp. 48-66. Arambewela, R., Hall, J. and Zuhair, S. (2005), “Postgraduate international students from Asia: factors influencing satisfaction”, Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 105-127. Chebat, J.-C. and Kollias, P. (2000), “The impact of empowerment on customer contact employees’ roles in service organizations”, Journal of Service Research, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 66-81. Tight, M. (2012), Researching higher education. McGraw-Hill International. Corresponding author Muhammad Kashif can be contacted at:
[email protected]
To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail:
[email protected] Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints
