The assessment of a good teacher: Student's paradigm

Objective: To comprehend the students' behavioural attitudes and attributes in referring to a teacher as 'bad or good' so as to establish a better communication between the teachers and the taught and promote more effective teaching and learning in medical school. Materials and methodology: Q-methodology questionnaire was distributed randomly on open-call to 94 final year medical students, who had been exposed to about 160 teachers of various departments of a medical college, to recognize Q-factors. Observations were analysed on adequacy score to derive normalized factor and frequency distribution. Results: Three Q-factors have been constructed on distinct items. Teachers' recognition stands on different traits and trends. In fact, universal acceptance is still elusive. Factor-1 Teacher is practical and up-to-date, neither too strict nor witty and shows no evidence of favour. Factor-2 Teacher is a disciplinarian and is intolerant to misbehaviour and relies on examination performance to label students good/bad. Factor-3 Teacher is dynamic and enthusiastic but not very knowledgeable and do not mind misbehaviour of students in the classroom and do not impose workload. Conclusion: Q-methodology teachers' assessment appears to be a viable tool to mend and uplift the teaching standards.