Using advanced statistical techniques Dr. Ehsan Latif and Dr. Stan Miles assessed how students value various instructor characteristics and teaching practices. Surveys completed by 387 students at Thompson Rivers University in the Winter 2010 term revealed the students relative preferences for characteristics of instructors (e.g., how organized the instructor is, the instructor’s knowledge, and enthusiasm of the instructor) and teaching practices (e.g., using components such as group work, attendance, and class participation in the computation of the final course grade, as well as whether to grade assignments). The paper discusses the instructor characteristics and teaching practices students value most highly,. The focus being on how perceptions of teaching characteristics vary among students of different genders, years of study, and cultural backgrounds. Faculty who understand the valued instructor characteristics and teaching practices can work on improving or changing their own characteristics and can endeavor to employ preferred teaching practices so as to engage students of different backgrounds more fully. The paper has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Economics and Economic Education Research.