Importancia de la sociología

As previously discussed, process indicators are generally crucial as a means of effectively identifying areas of weakness and strength in education, including higher education, which is evidenced by the relatively strong performance of countries where such practices have been adopted and the prevalence of recommendations to that effect in countries such as Ireland, Australia, and other OECD countries. Fenstermacher and Richardson (2005) examined the concept of quality teaching, exploring its empirical, conceptual and normative properties. They analysed the concept of good teaching by separating it into its task sense of what teachers try to do” and its achievement sense in that the student learning is what teachers foster. The analysis suggested any determination of quality in teaching must account for both the worthiness of the activity and the realization of intended outcomes, which are successful teaching and good teaching. Good teaching is not the same as effective teaching. The remainder of the present subsection examined how curricular, pedagogical and process indicators, as well as student-experience outcome indicators, have been addressed in various studies.

Kuh, Pace and Vesper (1997) undertook the development of psychometrically right process indicators of performance of students. The results were reported in a test of the utility of these indicators with six samples of male and female students, with 911 in each group from 19 baccalaureates, 27 masters’, and 29 doctoral institutions. Selected items from the “College Student Experiences Questionnaire” were used to create measures of three educational practices: faculty–student contact, cooperation of students and active learning. Active learning and cooperation of students, in that order, were the best predictors of gains for both men and women at all three types of institutions. The findings of the study underlined the importance of learning environments and teaching practices, especially since student background characteristics had only slight influences on gains of education. Implications were discussed for institutional policy and further research.

The study by Damietta (2011) conducted in 2008 aimed to examine the reality and causes of academic problems faced by female students at the University of Taibah. The study targeted academic problems in order of importance and their relationship with study level or college and examined the nature of the relationship between academic problems for female students at Taibah University and their level of performance. The proposal aimed to address these issues and improve the academic performance of female students. The study was a descriptive method survey used to identify the most important academic problems faced by female students and their order of importance from their viewpoint, as well as the relationship of these problems to academic performance. The study applied a questionnaire developed by the researcher on a random sample of female students at Taibah University, for a total of 384 female students.

The study showed that the academic problems related to courses ranked first for the students, followed by problems related to faculty members, and then problems related to the university library; problems related to schedules ranked last. The results of the study also found that the most important variables influencing academic performance were in-circuit television, which was used when a man taught female students, faculty, and curriculum. Although this study was different from the current study conducted on preparatory year students, it contained elements of the university environment

A study by Mahibalrahman (2012) offered an attempt to evaluate the English writing textbook used in a preparatory year textbook. The aim was to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different aspects of the existing textbook such as content, presentation, organisation and exercises. It also focused on finding out whether or not the textbook was able to fulfil the aims and objectives of teaching English writing skills, as well as meeting the learners’ needs. A questionnaire consisting of 22 multiple choice questions was administered to 22 male teachers who were teaching the content of the textbook to the Level 1 students of the Preparatory Year. The study revealed that the textbook Interactions 1 by Cheryl Pavlik and Margaret Keenan Segal had strengths because it was organised in a meaningful way. The print, format, and size were considered to be in harmony with the aims and objectives of the syllabus, and the chapters were arranged logically. However, the textbook did have weaknesses. Firstly, none of the chapters in the textbook offered clear and comprehensive summaries. Secondly, it failed to facilitate the acquisition of specific skills. Finally, exercises were not such as to develop the students’ communicative abilities, and no periodical revisions were provided for diagnostic purposes. While the present study undertook a programme-level analysis, this review of a specific curricular element, employing a process and outcome analysis framework to a specific curricular element, offered insight into the applicability of process indicators in grasping the complexities of higher education.

Finally, curricular and pedagogical elements were reflected in many items in the existing higher education effectiveness measures, including the NSSE, BCSSE, CSEQ, and in the works of Chalmers and the OECD.