Abstract
Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) are service industries dependent on faculty for the quality of the classroom education. Historically, IHEs hire Adjunct Faculty only as their services are required, frequently citing cost, flexibility in courses offered, and “real world” experience as justification. What is not addressed in hiring issues is what students think of these part-time instructors. Students were surveyed at a private not for profit liberal arts college to assess student perceptions of differences between adjunct and full-time Faculty and to determine whether or not students – the clients of the college – perceived a quality difference between them. Using a survey instrument based on the college's current end of course evaluation form, students were asked to rate Full-time and Adjunct Faculty in three major areas, which were them compared to determine any key differences in student perceptions of classroom effectiveness: 1) How the instructor interacts with students (primary factor), 2) The instructors' mastery of the subject and classroom presentation skills (primary factor), 3) Extracurricular experience relevant to the subject being taught (secondary factor).
Location
Room 2908
Recommended Citation
Donathan, David, "Student Perceptions of Adjunct Faculty" (2012). SoTL Commons Conference. 7.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2012/7
Student Perceptions of Adjunct Faculty
Room 2908
Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) are service industries dependent on faculty for the quality of the classroom education. Historically, IHEs hire Adjunct Faculty only as their services are required, frequently citing cost, flexibility in courses offered, and “real world” experience as justification. What is not addressed in hiring issues is what students think of these part-time instructors. Students were surveyed at a private not for profit liberal arts college to assess student perceptions of differences between adjunct and full-time Faculty and to determine whether or not students – the clients of the college – perceived a quality difference between them. Using a survey instrument based on the college's current end of course evaluation form, students were asked to rate Full-time and Adjunct Faculty in three major areas, which were them compared to determine any key differences in student perceptions of classroom effectiveness: 1) How the instructor interacts with students (primary factor), 2) The instructors' mastery of the subject and classroom presentation skills (primary factor), 3) Extracurricular experience relevant to the subject being taught (secondary factor).
