| Summary |
The purpose of this study is to determine the preferred credentials of a community college biology instructor as reported by community college administrators. A 15-item survey was distributed to the administrators responsible for hiring biology instructors at 34 of the 59 community colleges in the North Carolina Community College System. Twenty-nine responses were received. The survey used a four-choice Likert-type scale to evaluate the importance of several educational, practical, and academic qualities of biology instructors. Additional interviews were conducted with five of the survey respondents. The results indicated that possessing both knowledge in biology and in educational pedagogy, understanding and accommodating the unique needs of the students, continually working to improve teaching methods, and prior community college teaching experience were very important, while conducting original research and having high school teaching experience had little value. The results of this study hold important implications for the development of an effective pre-service preparation program for community college biology instructors. |
