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Open research questions in Evaluation of Teaching Practices

152 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 3,822 Evaluation of Teaching Practices papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • There is a need for HEIs to conduct a large-scale assessment of the teachers’ philosophical views and epistemological beliefs and ensure the alignment of these orientations with their research engagements. The assessments may also include the research designs they are most familiar with and competent in and those which they are afraid of using due to lack of knowledge and technical expertise. Aside from that, in-housing evaluation research engagement and productivity of each institute must be conducted; however, unlike the typical evaluation which heavily relies on a number of published papers, this in-housing evaluation covers the scope and practical utilization of research outputs, including how many lives have been transformed, social issues have been solved, personal aspirations and advocacies of the researchers have been satisfied, and risks, challenges, and failures have been surpassed to sustain their research engagements. Additionally, capacity building initiatives that would expose higher education teachers to various research philosophies, designs and methods, and analysis tools must be pushed through to further deepen their knowledge and competence in research undertaking. These initiatives should also allow teachers to determine worthy causes and advocacies where they could use the practical value of their research undertaking. Since the study was only limited to higher education teachers, future researchers may also conduct the same study at the basic education level. Other facilitating factors that affect the productivity of teachers in research such as persistence, competence, and motivation. Moreover, future researchers may opt develop a research engagement policy that includes philosophical views, epistemological beliefs, and engagements in research designs as core components, highlighting the significance of researcher-identity formation. REFERENCES Al Ghatami, Sulaiman & Al-Husseini, Suleiman. (2014). Teacher Research: Practice, Challenges and Prospect for Improvement: An Empirical Study from Oman. European Journal of Educational Sciences. 01. https://doi.org/10.19044/ejes.v1no3a10. Alhassan, A., & Ali, H. I. H. (2020). EFL teacher research engagement: Towards a research-pedagogy nexus. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 7(1), 1840732. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2020.1840732. Alhija, F. M. N. A., & Majdob, A. (2017). Predictors of productivity.

    Exploring Teachers’ Philosophical Views, Epistemological Beliefs, and Research Productivity as Influencing Factors on Research Productivity and Engagements · 2026 · DOI

  • However, the challenges faced by graduate TEFL students in Iran during various research stages—reading, conducting, and applying research—remain underexplored.

    Exploring challenges of graduate TEFL students in reading, conducting, and applying research · 2026 · DOI

  • • CPD should be formally embedded within the university’s strategic framework, with participation recognized in promotion, appraisal, and career development criteria. This will increase faculty motivation and reduce the perception of CPD as an optional activity. • To overcome time constraints, CPD programs should be scheduled around teaching loads, with blended or online delivery options. Short, modular training sessions can also improve participation by reducing scheduling conflicts. • Dedicated budgets for CPD should be established to cover training fees, travel costs, and resource provision. Partnerships with international universities and online platforms can also provide cost-effective solutions. • Programs should be co-designed with faculty to ensure relevance to English language teaching, focusing on practical classroom strategies such as communicative language teaching, task-based learning, and technology integration. • Peer mentoring, departmental workshops, and professional learning communities should be encouraged to enhance reflective practice and knowledge sharing across the English Department. The findings of this study have several practical implications for higher education in the Kurdistan Region: • By strengthening CPD structures, Salahaddin University can improve teaching quality, student learning outcomes, and overall institutional reputation. • Offering well-funded and flexible CPD opportunities can increase job satisfaction and reduce faculty burnout, which are critical issues in under-resourced institutions. • Effective CPD translates into more engaging classroom practices, which directly benefits students’ language acquisition, motivation, and academic achievement. • Since Salahaddin University serves as a leading institution in Kurdistan, improving its CPD framework could set a precedent for other universities in the region.

    Challenges and Effectiveness of Continuous Professional Development for English Department Teachers at Salahaddin University · 2026 · DOI

  • Offer CPD sessions during non-teaching periods. Provide financial grants or subsidies for CPD programs. Tailor CPD to address English language educators’ challenges.

    Challenges and Effectiveness of Continuous Professional Development for English Department Teachers at Salahaddin University · 2026 · DOI

  • Future studies should build on this research in several directions: • Investigating CPD practices across multiple universities in the Kurdistan Region would provide a broader understanding of systemic challenges and successes. • Examining the long-term impact of CPD on teaching quality and student outcomes would yield insights into the sustainability of professional development efforts. • Exploring CPD in other departments, such as sciences or social sciences, could identify whether the challenges faced in language education are unique or shared across disciplines. • Future research should evaluate the role of online platforms, digital tools, and hybrid training models in overcoming contextual challenges such as time and funding limitations.

    Challenges and Effectiveness of Continuous Professional Development for English Department Teachers at Salahaddin University · 2026 · DOI

  • Psychological on https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617699280 Bardorfer, A. (2013). Medosebni stik med učiteljem in študenti: Nova opredelitev za visokošolski prostor [Interpersonal contact between teacher and students: A new definition 104 Pašić / A Multidimensional Model of Student-Teacher Relationship in Higher Education the for https://doi.org/10.20419/2013.22.381 education higher space]. Psihološka obzorja, 22(1), 105-114. Berg, B. L. (2002). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences (4th ed.). Allyn & Bacon. Bingham, C., & Sidorkin, A. M. (Eds.). (2004). No education without relation. Peter Lang. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative 589-597.

    A Multidimensional Model of Student-Teacher Relationship in Higher Education · 2026 · DOI

  • While grouping teaching approaches into clusters enabled the identification of specific patterns, the method still overlooks much of the variation found in actual pedagogical practice. A qualitative perspective — grounded in educators’ experiences and contextual conditions — could provide a more nuanced understanding of these profiles. Additionally, given that this study employs a cross- sectional research design, capturing teaching approaches at a single point in time, the analysis does not account for the evolution of individual instructors’ teaching practices across career stages or in response to institutional changes. The profiles identified can be regarded as configurations observed under specific conditions, rather than as developmental sequences. Future research drawing on longitudinal or mixed-method designs could provide deeper insight into how instructors transition between profiles over time and how professional development initiatives or organisational reforms influence these trajectories. The findings of this study also emerged within a specific institutional context, which may limit their relevance in settings that differ significantly from those of similar Latin American universities. Broader comparisons involving diverse institutions and regions could offer clearer insight into how applicable these profiles are across various academic systems. Finally, the analysis considered core variables related to discipline, background, and professional preparation, but it overlooked other influences often present in academic settings. Individual disposition, the nature of peer interaction, and everyday governance within departments frequently shape how teaching unfolds. These areas remain insufficiently studied. A longer-term view of educators’ practices, grounded in contextual observation, may shed light on how teaching practices adapt over time to structural shifts within the university.

    Exploring teaching approaches in higher education: Cluster analysis of faculty profiles in a Latin American university · 2026 · DOI

  • In this study, we address these gaps in the literature by conducting an in-depth exploration of individual factors and EBIPs’ features that influence nine future STEM instructors’ decisions to incorporate a selected set of EBIPs in their teaching.

    Prior experiences as students and instructors play a critical role in instructors’ decision to adopt evidence-based instructional practices · 2024 · DOI

  • Future larger-scale and cross-discipline studies are warranted to explore the potential of GRAT to provide a common metric for substance and consistency in the assessment of students’ gain in research ability across disciplines.

    Developing a Gain-in-research-ability Test to Navigate and Assess Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences · 2024 · DOI

  • This research sought to fill that gap in understanding by utilizing a Grounded Theory approach to investigate the perceptions of participants who had served as an UTA in the biology department at a large research institution in the upper Midwest.

    Personal Impacts of the Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Experience · 2022 · DOI

  • origin and of linguistic and mathematics disciplines; (b) few faculty members participated in these studies; (c) most LS-related references used are not contextualized in HE; (d) beneficial outcomes of LS in the design of the lessons, the participants’ pedagogical knowledge and the participants’ approach to teaching; (e) mixed results regarding the participants’ reflection and collaboration, and (f) less positive outcomes about organizational issues when conducting LS.

    Lesson Study as a Faculty Development Initiative in Higher Education: A Systematic Review · 2021 · DOI

  • To date, little is known about the direct (or indirect) influence that course titles and course descriptions have on student interest and enrollment in courses, or how easy-sounding (simple) versus difficult-sounding (complex) information is inferred and interpreted as it relates to various enrollment markers.

    Dazzling Descriptions and Tantalizing Titles: How Simple Versus Complex Course Information Influences Course Selection · 2021 · DOI

  • Many counselor education and supervision (CES) doctoral programs offer doctoral-level teaching instruction courses as part of their curriculum to help prepare students for future teaching roles, yet little is known about the essential design, delivery, and evaluation components of these courses.

    A Q Methodology Study of a Doctoral Counselor Education Teaching Instruction Course · 2020 · DOI

  • There is limited research into the principles and models of personal tutoring in the UK context and no studies which identify how those operating in a personal tutor role view the best practice recommendations based on their own experience.

    Perceptions and principles of personal tutoring · 2018 · DOI

  • These are challenges documented in university-based higher education (HE), yet little is known of the practices and pedagogies of research methods teaching in the college-based HE setting, where the delivery of HE has grown in prominence in recent years.

    Research methods teaching in vocational environments: developing critical engagement with knowledge? · 2015 · DOI

  • The relationship of these perception changes with student experience and retention should be further explored, but the findings also suggest the need to differentiate professional development by the different instructor types teaching lower-division science courses to optimize teaching effectiveness and student learning in these important gateway courses.

    Evolving Impressions: Undergraduate Perceptions of Graduate Teaching Assistants and Faculty Members over a Semester · 2013 · DOI

  • Self-promotion is greatest (and most useful) when the self-promoter is not well known or when the intended audience is not a highly informed audience (Cialdini & de Nicholas, 1989; Rudman, 1998).

    The Effect of Faculty Self-Promotion on Student Evaluations of Teaching · 2012

  • The current study addresses this gap in the literature by examining eight specific types of student–faculty interactions as predictors of academic self-concept and three types of academic motivation, as well as academic achievement in a sample of college students from a medium-sized, public university located in the Midwestern United States.

    Role of Student–Faculty Interactions in Developing College Students’ Academic Self-Concept, Motivation, and Achievement · 2010 · DOI

  • Despite the progress made in studying the dynamics of retention and applying appropriate attrition models (Astin, 1990, Bean, 1982; Tinto, 2002), limited studies have focused on understanding the values and impact faculty have on students in order to understand why some students made it and some do not (Tinto, 2005).

    A Retrospective Study of the Impact Faculty Dispositions Have on Undergraduate Engineering Students. · 2010

  • Results of these studies are inconclusive as some research has found no relationship between the two (Centra, 1993; Braskamp and Ory, 1994), while other efforts have reported that SEC's vary somewhat with instructor personality (Feldman, 1986; Renaud & Murray, 1996).

    Relationship between Faculty Personality and Student Evaluation of Courses · 2001

  • Relatively little is known, however, about the extent to which instructors, including graduate teaching assistants (GTA's), and each contribute to the learning performance, or whether evaluations of teachers (SET's) provide meaningful indications of actual teaching productivity.

    An Educational Production Function Approach to Teaching Effectiveness and Evaluation · 1978 · DOI

  • Both the evaluation form and the procedures will, in many instances, require adjustments to make them suitable for employment in different institutions of higher education, and within particular institutions, because the purposes, techniques, and methods of instruction vary widely in the heterogeneous assemblage of educational institutions and academic disciplines that comprise higher education.

    Student Ratings of Faculty · 1969 · DOI

  • O f such w e have had an example in the condition o f Europe during the times immediately following the Reformation; another, though limited to the Continent and to a more cultivated class, in the speculative movement of the latter half of the eighteenth cen- tury; and a third, of still briefer duration, in the intellectual f ermenta- tion of Germany during the Goethian and Fichtean period.

    Perspectives on College Teaching · 1966 · DOI

  • Future research should address these limitations by expanding the sample, incorporat- ing qualitative approaches such as interviews or focus groups, and exploring how exter- nal factors influence student perceptions of teaching skills.

    Examining the effect of teaching strategies on student productivity in Moroccan higher education · 2026 · DOI

  • To strengthen causal inferences, future research may consider incorporating longitudinal studies or experimental designs with control groups to enhance the reliability and applicability of the findings across global contexts.

    From Identity Exploration to Future Planning: Empowering Students for Success · 2026 · DOI

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152 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 3,822 Evaluation of Teaching Practices papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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