The effects of faculty behaviors on the academic achievement of first-year Cambodian urban university students

Abstract

Research on the faculty impact on students’ academic achievement has been disproportionately confined to the context of countries with developed higher education systems. Few studies have been undertaken in the developing world like Cambodia. This study employed hierarchical linear modeling to examine the relationships between faculty behaviors and the academic achievement of university students in Cambodia, using the data of 923 first-year students from nine universities in Phnom Penh City. Results indicated that faculty behavior, namely their support and feedback to students, was a unique factor that had a strong and positive influence on students’ academic achievement. Its effect was the same for all students regardless of their pre-university academic experience and geographical origin and partially moderated by student engagement in time spent on course-related tasks outside the classroom, assigned homework/tasks, class participation, and class preparation. Contrary to existing findings from faculty impact studies, no relation was found for faculty’s instructional organization and clarity or classroom practices that challenge students on academic achievement. Practical implications for assessment policies and instructional practices are discussed.

Appendices

Appendix A: Faculty behaviors

Organization and clarity ($\alpha = 0.91$)

• His/her presentation of course material was well organized.

• He/she was well prepared for class.

• Class time was used effectively.

• Course goals and requirements were clearly explained.

• He/she gave clear explanations.

• He/she made good use of examples and illustrations to explain difficult points.

• He/she effectively reviewed and summarized the material.

• He/she interpreted abstract ideas and theories clearly.

• He/she gave you homework that helped in learning the course material.

Support and feedback ($\alpha = 0.88$)

• He/she enabled students of different abilities to answer the questions.

• He/she offered helps to you when you had (a) problem(s).

• He/she praised you when you did well.

• He/she effectively checked your homework.

• He/she effectively checked your understanding through quizzes.

• He/she checked if you had learnt the material well before going on to new material.

• He/she gave feedback that helped improve your understanding.

• He/she gave you feedback on assessment tasks timely.

Class practices to challenge students ($\alpha = 0.73$)

• He/she raised challenging questions for discussion.

• He/she used students’ work as the basis of discussion.

• He/she asked you to explain the materials in class.

• He/she asked you to point out the difficult points of the materials in class.

Appendix B: Student engagement

Student-teacher interaction ($\alpha =0.85$)

• Asked your teacher for suggested reading materials.

• Discussed your learning difficulties with your teacher.

• Discussed with your teacher how to improve your study skills.

• Received prompt comments/feedback on your academic work (e.g. homework, quizzes, tests or assignments).

• Discussed ideas from your readings or classes with your teacher.

Peer learning ($\alpha =0.75$)

• Discussed ideas from your readings or classes with other students outside class.

• Asked for help from friends when having (a) learning problem(s).

• Had reviews of your performance on homework or quizzes with other students.

• Had discussions with other students on learning difficulties.

Active class participation ($\alpha =0.70$)

• Made a class presentation from your group work.

• Contributed ideas to whole class discussion.

• Worked actively with other students on the assigned task(s) in small group activities in class.

• Asked questions in class when you don’t understand.

• Used a dictionary to search for the meaning of new words during class.

Class preparation ($\alpha =0.73$)

• Read new materials as a preparation for the next class.

• Did additional readings on topics introduced in class.

• Summarized information from your reading.

• Took detailed notes from class.

Homework/tasks ($\alpha =0.68$)

• Turned in homework with poor quality.

• Turned in homework late.

• Came to class without completing homework.

• Came to class without completing the assigned reading tasks.

(These negative items were reverse-coded.)

Time on course-related tasks ($\alpha =0.66$)

• Hours per week spent reading course-related materials at home.

• Hours per week spent reading course-related materials at school/library.

• Hours per week spent doing assigned homework at home.

• Hours per week spent doing assigned homework at school/library.