Competency Level of the Faculty and Performance of the Nursing Students in the Enhancement Program: Basis for Program Upgrading

Chapter 1
THE PROBLEM

Background of the Study
Teaching in college or university is marked by historic paradox: though institutions constantly talk up its importance, they evaluate faculty members primarily on the basis of evaluations made outside the classroom by the students. Teaching is what is almost every professor does, it occupies the greatest amount of most instructors’ time, but less operates at the highest level of competence.
      Quality teachers are the single greatest determinant of student achievement. Teacher education, ability, and experience account for more variation in student achievement than all other factors. Studies have found that 40 to 90 percent of the difference in student test scores can be attributed to teacher quality (www.scribd.com). Knowing the subject matter, understanding how students learn, and practicing effective teaching methods translate into greater student achievement. Therefore, it is vitally important that teachers be well prepared when they begin teaching and that they continue to improve their knowledge and skills throughout their careers.
Some instructors regard teaching so important, personal and idiosyncratic that no training could ever meet the demands of quality education not even by the use of teaching strategies itself.   Teaching for them is already a habit and doesn’t need any further enhancement or improvement.
      Nursing is a universal profession that is practiced in its present form all over the civilized world. It touches human life from conception to death. Fewer careers in this world offer the satisfaction, stimulation, and variety of opportunities and rewards as nursing. But sometimes young men and women pay more attention to the sacrifices nurses have to make rather than the rewards.
      Modern nurse educators following the footsteps of Florence Nightingale went further to design educational programs that matched the profession. They have provided nursing with the theoretical foundation... [continues]

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