Faculty Perceptions of Undergraduate Teaching

The purpose of this study was to construct an accurate depiction of the undergraduate teaching portion of the faculty role at a large, public research university, drawing from interviews conducted with 114 faculty. The interview schedule investigated teaching load, course goals, perceptions of undergraduate students, modes of evaluating student learning, office hours and advising, professional role interests and time allocation, feedback about teaching performance, strategies for improving teaching, and satisfaction with teaching. The findings of the current study reveal that faculty are highly committed to undergraduate teaching and are profoundly concerned with students' intellectual development. Results also suggest how complex college teaching has become in terms of the range of preparation, abilities, and motivation students bring to the classroom; the difficulties inherent in creating an active, engaging learning environment in large lecture courses, and the competition faculty face from other professional demands upon them. Despite an interest in their undergraduate teaching role, faculty remain perplexed by students' lack of interest in a subject matter faculty find compelling, by new technologies and techniques that take time and resources to master, and by escalating external demands to teach more and teach better, without a clear understanding of what this means or how it is to be accomplished. Nevertheless, in the face of significant challenges, the majority of faculty find satisfaction in teaching and interacting with undergraduate students.