Best Instructor Selection Process

A total of 160 instructors and co-instructors teaching at 147 universities in 39 countries whose students took part in the 2023-1 round of the X-Culture competition were considered for the Best Instructor Award.

About 140 of those instructors did an absolutely outstanding job: their students came in well prepared; they provided excellent support to their students throughout the project; they managed all the paperwork diligently and effectively, and they completed all their duties – from report evaluations to serving on various committees – very diligently.

They all deserve a BIG THANK YOU! Their universities can be proud of having such professors.

However, some groups of students did better than others and some instructors went the extra mile to help their students and make X-Culture a success. Those few deserve special recognition.

Each instructor was rated and ranked along 124 performance variables.

The most important factor was the class-average performance. Ultimately, it is all about student performance. Student ratings in terms of effort, intellectual contribution, collegiality, as well as the personal share of the work completed by the students in the total work completed by their teams all were taken into account. Thus, to a large degree, this award goes to the best class/university, rather than an individual instructor.

However, a number of additional instructor-specific factors were also considered:

Class-average student diligence as measured by students’ ability to meet deadlines and submit weekly progress reports were given substantial weight.

Class-average report quality and plagiarism statistics were also taken into account but weighted less because the quality of the team report and originality of the report (absence of plagiarism) was affected not only by the students of the instructor in question but 4-7 students from other universities.

A number of indicators of the instructors’ personal performance were also considered and given a substantial weight: from the quality of preparation of the pre-project materials (e.g., student rosters, the accuracy of the names and email addresses, etc.), to the quality of the report evaluations submitted by the instructors at the end of the project (reliability of the ratings, depth, and quality of the feedback). Additional help provided by the instructor, such as help with webinars, symposia, and training material development was also taken into account.

The class size and the level of study were also considered to acknowledge the fact that ensuring a high level of performance in large undergraduate courses may be more challenging than in small graduate courses.

After all 140 instructors were ranked on each of the 124 variables, it was impossible to select one best instructor. However, a small group emerged who ranked almost perfectly on the vast majority of the dimensions.

The list of 40 professors who ranked the highest overall is provided below in alphabetical order.

We deliberately do not rank them from 1 to 40. First, they all did an outstanding job as instructors. Second, such rankings could change substantially depending on which particular variables are given more weight.

It is important to note that there was no clear gap between the “best” and the “rest” groups. At least 50 other instructors received excellent evaluations along all dimensions, including very positive student performance reviews and exceptional diligence and helpfulness throughout the semester. But the line had to be drawn somewhere and if we had to select a smaller group of instructors whose performance was even better than that of the rest, these 40 are our Best Instructor Award recipients this semester.

2022-1 BEST X-CULTURE EDUCATORS

Anshu Arora, United States, University of the District of Columbia.
Antonis Klidas, Greece, Deree-The American College of Greece.
Bart Postma, Netherlands, University of Groningen / Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.
Cheryl Dowie, United Kingdom, University of Aberdeen.
Daniela Del Carmen Acosta Arango, Colombia, Universidad EAFIT .
Danielle Burkhard, Switzerland, School of Management Fribourg HEG-FR.
David Iremadze, Canada, Buller School of Business at Providence University College .
Donata Vianelli, Italy, University  di Trieste.
Edward Andres Tamayo Duque, Colombia, Universidad EAFIT .
Elena Cedrola, Italy, Catholic University of Milan.
Eric David Cohen, Brazil, State University of Campinas.
Ernesto Tavoletti, Italy, University  di Macerata (Universita  degli Studi di Macerata).
Fred Omondi Newa, Kenya, United States International University Africa.
Gilberto Sarfati, Brazil, FGV EAESP.
Jennifer Pacheco, United States, Vincennes University.
Jennifer S.A. Leigh, United States, Nazareth College.
Joseph Rottman, United States, University of Missouri – St. Louis.
Karen Lynden, United States, University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Loretta Battaglia, Italy, University  Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
Lynn Leng Khim Lim, Switzerland, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW).
Mary Lou Rissa F. Cunanan, Philippines, Ateneo De Manila University.
Nilufer Yapici, Turkey, Middle East Technical University NCC.
Olivier Lamotte, France, EM Normandie Business School.
Oscar Barzuna, United States, Rowan Cabarrus Community College.
Pawel Pasierbiak, Poland, Maria Curie Sklodowska University.
Philip Davidson, Canada, University of Calgary.
Raghu Kurthakoti, United States, Arcadia University.
Rebecca Jestice, United States, Earlham College.
Reccia Charles, Grenada, St. George’s University.
Reccia N. Charles, Grenada, St. George’s University.
Rimi Zakaria, United States, University of North Carolina – Greensboro.
Rita Koris, Hungary, Budapest Business School University of Applied Sciences.
Samuel Yaw Akomea, Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology .
Stefano Elia, Italy, Politecnico di Milano.
Suela Papagelis, United States, Boston College.
Tim Muth, United States, Florida Institute of Technology.
Tito Francisco Solano Roa , Colombia, Universidad EAN.
Valentyna Sakhno, Ukraine, KSE Graduate Business School.
Viktorija Knapic, Croatia, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business.
Yingying Zhang Zhang, Japan, International University of Japan.