Administrative and Clinical Supervision from the Viewpoints of the Faculty Members of Iran’s Medical Universities

Introduction. One of the most important activities of leadership and management in educational organizations is supervising instructors’ performance. Supervision can be applied as administrative or clinical supervision. Administrative supervision is usually performed through official channels, and clinical supervision takes place using individuals’ relationship and is based on promoting instructors’ professional personality and improving the quality of students learning. This study was designed to compare faculty members' viewpoints regarding the effect of administrative and clinical supervision on teaching-learning process. Methods. 135 faculty members of medical universities including medical university of Hamedan, Tehran, Shahid Beheshti and Isfahan who were selected by cluster sampling method, filled a questionnaire. The data was analyzed by SPSS software, using descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon test. Results. The mean of the scores of participants’ viewpoints about the effects of clinical supervision on improving the quality of teaching-learning was more than the mean of the scores concerning administrative supervision. Also, the participants evaluated the application of clinical supervision with regard to the researcher’s suggestions very useful in improving the quality of teaching- learning. Conclusion. The application of clinical supervision can improve the quality of student’s learning by developing and promoting teaching skills of the instructors and as a result increases the efficiency of educational system.