Developing teaching effectiveness framework for social sciences in agricultural universities

Abstract

For appropriate technology dissemination to farmers, social sciences in agriculture especially Extension Education act as a bridge connecting researchers and farmers therefore, the aim of post graduate courses at agricultural universities is to develop suitable human resource with desired competencies to enable effective extension work. As teaching effectiveness is crucial for achieving academic excellence and to inculcate desired competencies among students, the attributes of teachers contributing towards teaching effectiveness need to be analysed. This study was conducted during 2019 and examines the perception of 210 postgraduate (M Sc and Ph D) students across 10 agricultural universities of Northern India. Teachers were categorized based on scores of attributes obtained through student ratings. The association between teacher attributes and overall teaching effectiveness was calculated and finally a teaching effectiveness framework was designed based on those attributes, which were significantly associated with teaching effectiveness. It was also found that majority of students rated overall teaching effectiveness under medium category (48.09%) followed by high category (34.76%). In addition, all attributes were found to be positively correlated with overall teaching effectiveness. Out of 32 items under all attributes, 27 items which were significantly associated with teaching effectiveness were included in teaching effectiveness framework. In light of the findings, suggestions were also formulated for teachers regarding their teaching attributes as perceived by students.