Since the early twenties, extensive attention in educational research and literature has been devoted to student evaluation of teaching (SET) in higher education institutions. The importance of SET stems from serving as an indicator of teaching quality, assisting in making pedagogical decisions and managerial decisions. This study aimed to identify the main topics in students' written comments regarding quality teaching. Participants were 36577 students, of whom 57.26% were women and 42.74% were men studying in 690 courses (only one course for each lecturer) from eight faculties at a large university in Israel. Of the instructors of these courses, 42.47% were women, and 57.53% were men at different ranks. Students wrote freely what they were satisfied with throughout the course and what they suggested to improve teaching. Data mining and content analysis of students' responses yielded 29 topics categorized into three super-categories (domains).
1. Good teaching Characteristics with two subcategories:
a. The good instructor's character comprises pedagogical characteristics (i.e., professional) and personal characteristics (i.e., attentive).
b. Good teaching strategies with three subcategories:
(1) General characteristics of good teaching (i.e., clear), (2) use of teaching aids (i.e., use of examples) and (3) Efficiency (i.e., teaching pace).
2. Course characteristics with two subcategories:
a. Good course characteristics (i.e., relevance)
b. Course context (i.e., size).
3. Lesson characteristics (general characteristics atmosphere)
Understanding students' conceptions of quality teaching and their recommendations for improving teaching can inform the development of training and instruction programs for instructors to strengthen dimensions of good teaching and increase student satisfaction.

Authors:
Fadia Nasser-Abu Alhija, Tel Aviv Univetrsity, Israel
Aamer Badarneh, Tel Aviv University, Israel

About the Presenter(s)
Professor Fadia Nasser-Abu Alhija is a University Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer at Tel Aviv Univetrsity in Israel

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