Factors that determine the level of commitment of our teaching staff when the implementation of continuous evaluation system takes place

Abstract

Comunicación presentada en CIDUI 2010, Congreso Internacional Docencia Universitaria e Innovación, Barcelona, 30 junio-2 julio 2010.

The objective of this paper is to analyze the determinants of teaching staff’s predisposition to the continuous assessment method. Specifically, we consider the following explanatory dimensions: teaching method used (which measures their degree of involvement with the ongoing adaptation process), type of subject (core, compulsory and optional), and teacher’s personal characteristics (professional status and gender). The empirical application carried out at University of Alicante uses Logit Models with Random Coefficients to capture heterogeneity, and shows that “cooperative learning” is a clear-cut determinant of “continuous assessment” as well as “continuous assessment plus final examination”. Also, professional status is highly relevant as teacher’s engagement is closely related to prospects of stability. Consequently, the most relevant implications from the results revolve around the way academic institutions can propose and implement inducement for their teaching staff.