University Teacher’s Knowledge, Personality and Teaching Effect: A Qualitative Study from Students’ Cognition Perspective

Abstract

Teaching effect is a core index for measuring the validity of teaching practices in universities. How to improve it in class? It is an important issue in educational reform. From students’ cognition perspective, the study analyzed students’ statements about the knowledge, personalities and behaviour of their teachers. Through the process of text analysis, the study summarized the common elements of teachers’ knowledge and personality as well as their impacts on teaching effects. A new theory, i.e. Intellectual Management for University Teacher (IMUT), was constructed. Results show that: At first, university students can definitely cognize and appraise their teachers’ knowledge and personalities; Second, an effective combination of knowledge and personality decides one teacher’s teaching effect, and; Finally, according to the feedback of students, the elements of teacher’s knowledge should include knowledge level and knowledge behaviour, and the elements of teacher’s personality could be summarized as personality trait and personalized behaviour. In order to improve teaching effects, university teachers are suggested to implement intellectual management, for realizing intellectual beauty through building a syncretic system which helps to develop knowledge and personality together.