Arab Educational Information Network

This study investigated the degree of students' perceptions of their teachers' personal and professional characteristics at Umm- Alqura University during the year 2017. The participants were (297) ranging from freshman to seniors at the college of education. The data was collected by asking the students at the beginning of the semester to write what the personal and professional characteristics that they believe to have had a positive effect on their learning. The written opinions of the students were then collected, analyzed using the qualitative method and put into a questionnaire that consisted of (29) items that were put into two dimensions the personal and the professional. Then, a comparison between male and female opinions of the effective teacher was conducted. The results showed that students favored some characteristics over the other, but the most favored dimension among the students was the personal dimension. The findings also revealed that teachers' characteristics do make an important difference on students learning. (Published abstract)