Identifying factors affecting the quality of teaching in basic science education: Physics, biological sciences, mathematics, and chemistry

Abstract

Basic science education provides the most fundamental knowledge for preparing students to pursue departmental major courses. Considering that basic science courses are laboratory classes conducted alongside theory classes, the factors affecting instructor-student communication and feedback can vary between theory and laboratory classes. We applied the ordinary least squares model to the refined data of basic science courses. We drew on variables reflecting instructor-student interaction such as class size, type of subject, and instructor characteristics to analyze the factors affecting student satisfaction with theory and laboratory classes. The analysis results indicated that the educational environment of a large-sized class could be improved by subdividing it into smaller groups to facilitate feedback. The use of online platforms to supplement offline courses provides an additional mechanism for the exchange of feedback and positively affects student satisfaction. We also confirmed empirically that the instructor-student communication which takes place during laboratory work, in contrast to the one-sided conveyance of course materials by the instructor in lectures, was a crucial factor in the quality of education. These results are linked to the demand for knowledge in engineering education, the student's educational performance, and the labor market performance needed to establish a sustainable system in engineering education.