Purpose This study aims to find out the relevance of observable teacher characteristics – age, gender, teaching experience and qualification in understanding the performance of tertiary students. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach was taken. The input-process–output-context framework by Schereens (2004) was used in selecting appropriate variables for the study. Students’ examination results and other administrative records as well as data collected via teacher survey were analyzed using multilevel statistical techniques. Overall, 40 teachers and over 1,800 students were involved in the study. Findings The effect of the selected teacher variables was mixed. For example, while female teachers impacted negatively on first semester Communication Skills (CS1), their effect on the same course during the second semester was positive. Also, teachers with teaching experiences between five and eight years impacted negatively on CS1 but positively on first semester Computer Literacy (CL1). Research limitations/implications Even at the tertiary level, the teacher factor is an important variable influencing student performance. However, a contextualized interpretation of the findings is emphasized considering the fact that only one Ghanaian Polytechnic was studied. Practical implications The study provides a starting point for building a body of evidence that would inform policymakers, quality assurance practitioners and Polytechnic staff alike of possible approaches, methodologies and variables to focus on in ensuring internal quality. Social implications The study would help the studied Polytechnic to direct its resources to areas that can practically improve educational quality and society in general. Originality/value The study contributes to the debate about quality in African higher education given that studies that use the value-added approach in examining institutional effectiveness in the African context are almost non-existent.

中文翻译：

---

教师因素对大学生成绩理解的相关性

目的本研究旨在发现可观察的教师特征（年龄，性别，教学经验和资格）对理解大学生表现的相关性。设计/方法/方法采用定量方法。Schereens（2004）的输入过程输出上下文框架用于选择适当的变量进行研究。使用多层统计技术分析学生的考试成绩和其他行政记录以及通过教师调查收集的数据。总共有40位老师和1,800多名学生参加了这项研究。结果所选教师变量的效果参差不齐。例如，虽然女教师对上学期的沟通技巧（CS1）产生了负面影响，但对下学期同一课程的影响却是积极的。此外，具有五到八年教学经验的教师对CS1产生了负面影响，但对上学期的计算机素养（CL1）产生了积极影响。研究的局限性/启示即使在高等教育方面，教师因素也是影响学生表现的重要变量。但是，考虑到只研究了一个加纳理工学院这一事实，强调了对研究结果的上下文解释。实际意义该研究为建立大量证据提供了起点，该证据将使政策制定者，质量保证从业人员和理工学院的工作人员了解可能要采用的方法，方法和变量，以确保内部质量。社会影响该研究将帮助所研究的理工学院将其资源引导到可以实际提高教育质量和整个社会的领域。原创性/价值鉴于几乎不存在使用增值方法来检验非洲背景下的制度有效性的研究，因此该研究为有关非洲高等教育质量的辩论做出了贡献。