University students' expectations of teaching

This study used a specially designed questionnaire to explore undergraduate students' expectations of and preferences in teaching, learning and assess ment. A convenience sample of 395 first-year university undergraduates at t he start of their university life was used. They were enrolled on a Medical , Business Studies or Psychology degree course at one of three British univ ersities. Overall, the similarities in expectations and preferences between the three groups were greater than the differences. Specifically, the stud ents expected to be taught by formal and interactive lectures but preferred to be taught by interactive lectures and group-based activities. Their lea st favoured learning methods were formal lecture, role-play and student pre sentations. Coursework assessment preference was for essays, research proje cts and problems/exercises. Although there was an overall preference slight ly in favour of coursework assessment rather than examinations, this was no t consistent across all three centres. Students asked to rate various quali ties of a good teacher selected 'teaching skill', followed by 'approachabil ity' as the most important. The effective collection and value to instituti ons of students' expectations is discussed.