Qualities of an Effective Teacher: Perspectives from a College of Medicine in Nigeria

Background: Evaluation of effectiveness of teaching can be obtained through feedback from students, self or peers. This study determined the perspectives of teachers in a College of Medicine in Nigeria on the qualities of an effective teacher.

Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was carried out among the consenting academic staff of the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus in July 2014. Self-administered questionnaire was used to determine their perspectives on the qualities of an effective health teacher. On a five point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagrees to strongly agrees, each participant was required to respond to some statements. Data entry and analysis were done using SPSS version 20 (Chicago, Illinois, USA).

Results: ‘Having good communication skills’ (4.87) and ‘sound knowledge of the subject’ (4.87) were the most important characteristics. Also ranking high were ‘should have good presentation skills (4.83) and should be honest, moral and exhibit high ethical standards’ (4.78). The rank of the respondents had a statistically significant effect on their perception of the characteristics of an effective teacher with regards to interaction with students/colleagues (p=0.014). The more senior teachers-associate professors and professors gave the highest mean rank (4.25 and 4.23 respectively) while graduates assistants gave the lowest (3.75).

Conclusion: An effective medical teacher should have a good grasp of the subject, be able to communicate same excellently and possess good personal attributes as honesty and high ethical and moral standards. These attributes should be acquired and strengthened in order to attain a state of proficiency.