Asian Journal of Management Sciences & Education Vol. 12, Jan-Dec 2023__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________EFFECTIVE UNIVERSITY TEACHING IN NIGERIA: A CORECOMPONENT OF INTERNAL QUALITY ASSURANCE MECHANISMADEOSUN, Praise Kehinde (PhD)
Department of Educational Evaluation and Counseling Psychology
University of Benin, Edo State, NIGERIA.
praise.adeosun@uniben.edu
ABSTRACTThis paper discussed the effectiveness of university teaching in Nigeria: a corecomponent of the internal quality assurance mechanism. University education
is/are to contribute to national development through high-level workforce
training and to create the intellectual capability of individuals to realize andacknowledge their local and external environs, among others. University cannot
effectively or nobly serve the nation until it fulfills these responsibilities to itself.
As part of contributing to national development, University promotes theacquisition of knowledge, nourishes the latent potentials of the individuals andqualities for a gainful profession. Effective teaching requires lecturers to possesscertain characteristics, such as empathy for students, knowledge of the subject,
preparedness, openness to change, feedback and creativity among others. There
are principles of effective teaching in University which include relationshipbuilding, engaging active learning, assessment and feedback from students andlecturers. Unless university teaching is effective and efficient, it will be difficult
for the university to meet its primary responsibility of feeding the mind withdesirable knowledge and liquidation of ignorance. It is therefore recommended
that mechanisms should be put in place for continuous assessment of effective
University teaching. Seminars should be organized on a regular basis for
lecturers on the need for effective teaching in the university.
Keywords: Effective University Teaching, Internal Quality, Assurance,
Mechanism
INTRODUCTION
One of the purposes of University education is to feed the mind in an academic communityand neutralize ignorance. According to National Policy on Education (FGN, 2018), theobjectives of University education are to contribute to national development through highlevel workforce training and to create the intellectual capability of individuals to realize andacknowledge their local and external environs, among others.
It also involves the acquisition of both physical and intellectual skills, which enable
individuals to be self-reliant and useful members of society. As such, the major role oftertiary education through its institutions is that of manpower development or human capital,
which involves the task of inculcating the skills, aptitude, attitude, knowledge, morals, values
and creative ability. They are also expected to promote research and contribute to thedevelopment of the host communities. In achieving these roles, there is need for effective
teaching and learning, research development culture, effective staff development programsand dissemination of knowledge in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. As the citadel of learning,
the University becomes the hub of national development, being the source of production of
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professionals that are behind the invisible machines that move the different sectors of theeconomy.
Centre of the cardinal obligation of the University is teaching, the act and process of
imparting knowledge, developing skills and inculcating values and ideologies meant toempower individuals for functional living. There is no dispute about this central obligation,
as it lies in the feeding of the mind with knowledge and information. What may be in disputeis the effectiveness of teaching in our universities. This becomes more striking in Nigeria,
considering the host of incongruities and anomalies that have engrossed our universities inrecent times. Apprehension about the decline in the quality of graduates of Nigerian
universities can no longer be glossed over. The universities themselves are getting worried
about what goes on in the lecture rooms. It is on this premise that this paper focuses on
assessment of effective university teaching in Nigeria: a core component of internal quality
assurance mechanism.
What is Effective University Teaching and how is it Recognized?
In a classroom, learners want to connect with the teacher, this connection allows the learners
to be comfortable and ask their teacher questions, when this connection is created, it will leadto effective teaching. Effective teaching involves delivering the teaching to students in acapable manner. Effective teaching is when the teacher utilizes instructional strategies thatare most appropriate for what is teaching, suitable for the students, and deliver it in a skilful
way that allows for concrete learning. Effective teaching requires teachers to possess certain
characteristics, such as empathy for students, knowledge of the subject, preparedness,
openness to change, feedback and creativity among others.
Despite of the apparent controversy in the recognition and evaluation of effective teaching,attempts must be made to conceptualize this idea. An extension of the core responsibility of
the University suggests that University teaching is that which optimizes the feeding of theminds of students with relevant knowledge of facts, truth and theories and liquidation of theirignorance. It is the kind of teaching that promotes optimal learning. Effective teaching is thatwhich promotes the attainment of certain educational goals (the goals of tertiary education as
contained in the National Policy on Education) (Iyamu & Omoruwa, 2007).
From theoretical consideration, effective teaching may be viewed as that which is rooted in
the tripodal perspective. This perspective sets off in the mind of the lecturer threefundamental questions that guide him to conceive and plan effective lectures. The three basic
questions are: What am I going to teach?, Why am I teaching what?. How am I going toteach? When lecturer gives significant and conscientious attention to these questions, theresultant lecture is most likely to be effective. Every lecture is based on a topic with content,
proper organization of such content of instruction is important for effective lecture. In orderto achieve this, a lecturer needs to have a well-structured course outline with the topics
organized in thematic or chronological order. Unfortunately, there are a number of lecturers
who teach without well-developed course outlines. Some of those who have the course
outline have been found to deny access to it. This is unprofessional and has many
implications. Having had the course outline, the lecturer must give thought to what he intends
to teach and prepare for it accordingly. As part of this preparation, a lecturer should makesketch of the content to be taught in a systematic manner. This can be done by breaking the
topics into sub-topics. The lecturer looks at the sketch and develops the key-points in thediscussion with the students. To work with a sketch of key points promotes concise andsystematic lecture delivery. At the end of effective learning, both lecturers and students will
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Asian Journal of Management Sciences & Education Vol. 12, Jan-Dec 2023__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

be satisfied (Adeosun, 2023). The main objective of a lecturer is to help and assist thelearning of their students. According to Krause (2005) understanding how learning occurs,
what conditions support learning and how to maximize students learning potency are key
elements of being an effective University teacher.
Principles of Effective Teaching
There are principles of effective teaching in University, they are as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Relationship Building
Engaging Active Learning
Assessment
Feedback from students and Lecturer

Relationship Building: To build a relationship with students, the lecturer needs to be an
empathetic listener. When a student needs someone to talk to and the lecturer gives him or
her a listening hear, this could develop bonding, it has been proven that students who feelthey have caring and loving lecturers are more likely to always be present in school andperform well in school.
Engaging Active Learning: Active learning involves the use of different student-centeredteaching strategies. Whereby, students are actively engaged in building and understanding
complex concepts through different activities. Interactive activities and discussions in classes
create a productive environment for students that promotes critical thinking. Active learning
methods designate the role of facilitator to the teacher. The facilitator’s task is to let thelearners learn on their own through the use of different active training activities. Active
learning is an approach to instruction that involves actively engaging students with the course
material through discussions, problem approaches place a greater degree of responsibility on
the learner than passive approaches such as lectures, but instructor guidance is still crucial in
the active learning classroom. Active learning activities may range in length from a couple ofminutes to whole class sessions or may take place over multiple class sessions. Active
learning is when teachers engage their students in their learning by allowing them to think,
discuss, investigate and create. Studies have shown that incorporating active learning
strategies in school courses significantly enhances student learning experiences (Freeman etal, 2014).
Assessment: This is important to both the student and the lecturer, as it shows the extent towhich teaching and learning have taken place and what need to be re-taught in different
manners or identify if the student may need extra resources, such as tutoring. There are 2
main types of assessment: Summative and Formative. Summative assessment occurs at theend of learning, such as at the end of a semester or session. Formative assessment is ongoingand is meant to gauge where the student is at during the learning process. For instance, thelecturer could ask questions during a class. Teachers using formative assessment approaches
and techniques are better prepared to meet diverse students’ needs through differentiation andadaptation of teaching to raise levels of student achievement and to achieve greater equity ofstudent outcomes, but this narrative cannot be realistic without the positive attitude ofteachers toward Formative Assessment (Adeosun & Bakare, 2021).
Feedback: When a lecturer wants to improve her teaching and ensure she is meeting all ofher students’ need, she needs to spend some time collecting feedback from her students. For
example, the lecturer could ask the student to write 3 things they learnt in the class that day
and 2 other things they would like to know more about. The lecturer will then assess what
adjustment she may need to make. Lecturer feedback to the student can also help create a
relationship between them. The lecturer can develop a relationship through feedback by
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showing appreciation and offering positive comments for the work submitted by students,
such as saying thank you for your hard work. The lecturer could also help the students bycorrecting their work. According to Adeosun and Bakare (2021) giving feedback to thestudents enhances learning and improves their academic achievements.
Some Measures/Indices of Effective University Teaching
Teaching effectiveness focus on good teaching, possessing enough knowledge of the subject
matter, having positive attitude, being patient with the students,assessing students on aregular basis, being able to evaluate students, identifying the proper learning needs anddemands and being able to manage the classroom. The aforementioned measures shall be
discussed as follows:* Good teaching: Lecturer should be able to organize himself, and have a plan for what heintends to teach. He should be able to present difficult ideas in a simple manner that will
make the students understand what he is teaching them.
* Posses enough knowledge of the subject matter: The lecturer should have enoughknowledge to teach the subject he wants to teach. When the lecturer knows what is teaching,
he will deliver the teaching very well in such a way that the students would understand theknowledge being passed to them.
* Having positive attitude: A Lecturer should have a positive attitude towards his students.
He should not exhibit negative attitude towards them. A lecturer that has a positive attitude
towards his students go on to be an effective lecturer because students would begin to seethemselves as who can do difficult things since their lectures have positive attitude towardsthem.
* Being patient with the students: A good lecturer needs to be patient with his students.
There is an individual difference, there are some students that they need extra time andpatience to teach before they can understand what is being taught. A good lecturer will
identify such students and provide a special time for them.
* Assess students on a regular basis: Students need to be assessed on a regular basis inorder to know their progress. Assessment is the process of gathering information about thestudents in order to make decision about them. Therefore, there is need for a good lecturer toassess students regularly so that he can decide on their learning.
* Being able to evaluate students: Evaluation is a process of passing value judgment. It canbe formative and summative. Evaluation is formative when is carried out during the course of
the programme while summative is carried out at the end of the programme. A good lecturer
should be able to evaluate his students for him to make value able judgments about them.
* Identifying the proper learning needs and demands: A good lecturer should be able toidentify the proper learning needs and demands of his students.
* Being able to manage the classroom: Classroom management can be viewed as theprocess by which lecturers and schools create and maintain appropriate behaviour of students
in classroom settings. The purpose of implementing classroom management strategies is toenhance prosocial behaviour and increase students’ academic engagement (Eisenman et al,2015; Everston & Weinstein, 2006). A good lecturer should be able to control and manage
his classroom to maintain the appropriate behaviour of his students.

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Asian Journal of Management Sciences & Education Vol. 12, Jan-Dec 2023__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

According to Berk (2005), there are 12 potential sources of evidence of teachingeffectiveness which include student ratings, peer ratings, self-evaluation, videos, student
interviews, alumni ratings, employer ratings, administrator ratings, teaching scholarships,
teaching awards, learning outcome measures, and teaching portfolio.
Need for Regular Assessment of University Teaching
There is a need for regular assessment of university teaching based on the following reasons:
1. It will allow lecturers to know if they are teaching effectively or not.
2. It will allow lecturers to ensure the students learn what they need to know for them tomeet up with the learning outcomes.
3. It provides feedback about learning.
Constraints to Teaching Effectiveness
There have been certain constraints to teaching effectiveness and these have been identified
as follows: (Bryd & Rasberry, 2011).
1. Extremely little collaboration - Classroom isolation between teachers andadministrators, lack of suppleness in the schedule, resulting in limited planning andcollaboration, not successfully using the internal resources.
2. Insufficient accountability measures – High-stakes testing that does not align withstate curriculum and idealistic single assessments and expectations.
3. Inadequate leadership - Disinclination to convert approach, lack of long-term,
consistent and supportive leadership, especially in high needs schools, few leaders toaddress all needs in the school building, few opportunities for teachers to serve as leaders
without leaving the classroom.
4. Evaluation and tenure – Deficiency of consequential effects for teachers who do not
improve, tenure granted to some unproductive teachers who then cover themselves.
5. Ill-planned reform implementation - Band-aid explanations that are abandoned before
their efficiency is evaluated, mandates and challenges without resources and training.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONSThe urge to seek ways to enhance the effectiveness of university teaching in Nigeria is acontinuous one. It is in this preface that this study discusses effective university teaching in
Nigeria: a core component of internal quality assurance mechanism. Unless university
teaching is effective and efficient, it will be difficult for the university to meet its primary
responsibility of feeding the mind with desirable knowledge and liquidation of ignorance.
Though there is no consensus on what constitute effective teaching, we easily recognize badand ineffective one. It is therefore recommended that mechanisms should be put in place forcontinuous assessment of effective University teaching. Seminars should be organized on aregular basis for lecturers on the need for effective teaching in the university.
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