Visiting Professors’ Voices for Change: An Institutional Study of Classroom Environment and Its Impacts on Instructional Practices in a Thai Tertiary Education Context

Abstract

Certain teaching facilities are needed to support educational institutions for their staff’s success in delivering instruction. This institutional research examined responses from 21 visiting professors from various countries, in an institute of international studies at a Thai open university in Thailand. The purpose was to find out whether they were satisfied with classroom facilities and conditions as provided, and whether these two factors had impacts on their instructional practices. Data were electronically collected from 21 voluntary subjects with the use of a closed-ended questionnaire, followed by an open-ended question. Quantitative data analysis was by PASW Statistics 18 (formerly known as SPSS Statistics), and qualitative data analysis was by NVivo 10 software package. The findings indicated that the visiting professors wanted availability and functionality of classroom facilities and equipment, and these factors had impacts on their instruction practices. The results have practical implications for the authorities and stakeholders in tertiary education to provide for
academic staff members with positive classroom environment with functional facilities and instruction-aided equipment.