Proceedings of 12th Asian Business Research Conference
8 - 9 October 2015, Novotel Hotel Bangkok on Siam Square, Bangkok, Thailand
ISBN: 978-1-922069-85-6
What Makes a Professor an Effective Educator?
Jack Fay, Connie Shum* and Christine Fogliasso
Is effective teaching an art, or is it a science? As will be discussed in this article, the
authors take the position that teaching is more of an art than it is a scientific process.
Nevertheless, it is still possible for professors to improve their teaching effectiveness
through a scientific, systematic study of the traits of effective professors.
A beginning point when considering what makes a professor effective is that person’s
abilities and experience with regard to open, engaging interpersonal communication
skills; in other words, a person who truly likes, accepts, and enjoys students as people.
However, even if a teacher has developed such an engaging demeanor and teaching
style, he will be completely ineffective unless he is also conveying accurate information in
a structured method that has been proven successful (teaching as “science”).
Conversely, even though a teacher has correct and important information to convey in a
carefully organized and methodical manner, if students are neither attentive to the
instructor nor able to comprehend the information being taught, that professor will still be
ineffective. He may be a master of the information he is teaching, but without the ability
to engage students in the learning process and persuade them to “buy-in” to the
relevance and importance of the material that will pique their interest and inspire them to
study, he is not a master of teaching (teaching as “art”).
So where does this leave a professor who truly wants to be master of both “science” and
“art”? Is it possible for professors to actually improve their teaching effectiveness?
Literature reveals that it is possible to identify instructors’ teaching styles, and this
awareness can make them modify or improve on their practice. Professors can then
build on their teaching style and then, through a systematic study of the traits of effective
professors, become better teachers. Professors can improve the art of teaching by
reviewing what attributes and skills have been found effective and to thereafter take steps
to hone these attributes and skills in their own teaching activities.
After discussing the different types of professors and how each operates in the
classroom, this paper explores if a certain type is best and what type students prefer.
The paper then continues with a discussion of what can be done to help professors to be
more effective educators.
Track: Business Education
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*corresponding author
Dr. Jack Fay, Department of Accounting and Computer Information Systems, Pittsburg State University,
Pittsburg, KS 66762, Email: jfay@pittstate.edu
Dr. Connie Shum, Department of Economics and Finance, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS
66762, Email: cshum@pittstate.edu
Dr. Christine Fogliasso, Department of Management and Marketing, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg,
KS 66762, Email: cfogliasso@pittstate.edu