UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON GOOD QUALITIES OF AN EDUCATOR AND ONLINE LEARNING

Abstract

Educators’ competence and teaching quality have positive correlations with students’ academic performance. Nonetheless, the ideal educators’ personal and teaching qualities within the landscape of Malaysian tertiary education setting remains elusive. Effective characteristics of online teaching also warrant exploration given the future widespread use of online and distance learning (ODL). This study aimed to (1) determine university students’ perceptions on good qualities of an educator and (2) explore ideal traits of an educator while implementing ODL during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional study using pre-validated questionnaire was conducted virtually using Google form between May and August 2022 among students attending Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Pulau Pinang. A total of 126 respondents completed the survey. Findings revealed unanimous agreement among students on educators needing to be credible, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, considerate, unbiased, and equipped with a systematic lesson plan. Overall, 64.3% of respondents (n = 81) were satisfied with the ODL implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. The most likely contributing cause to students’ satisfaction was due to the flexibility of ODL. In contrast, poor internet connection and overwhelming assignments which compromised students’ well-being were the major contributing causes of dissatisfaction in ODL. Furthermore, most students valued the educators’ interpersonal characteristics namely compassion and empathetic as well as approaches such as providing continuous motivation and moral support essential in encouraging their online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study had successfully revealed university students perceived good personal and teaching qualities of an educator. The findings also shed light on educators’ ideal interpersonal characteristics that were deemed essential in helping students to cruise through the ebb and flow of virtual learning during a pandemic.  Additionally, the study highlighted both positive and negative perspectives on ODL implementation, providing valuable insights for educators to enhance both physical and virtual learning experiences.