Determinants of teaching quality: What's important to students? (original) (raw)
Related papers
1996
This study examined effects of student evaluation of faculty teaching for 7 departments in the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Western Ontario over a 21-year period. The sample of teachers included 1322 faculty members who had taught undergraduate courses in one or more year between 1973-74 through 1993-94. The same 10-item teaching evaluation form was used continuously throughout this period. The evaluation form focused on classroom teaching skills such as explaining clearly, showing enthusiasm, and encouraging student participation. Significant improvement across years was found for 5 of the 7 departments, for the faculty as a whole, and for a fixed group of 72 faculty members who had taught continuously throughout the 21-year observation period. These results, in combination with similar evidence from faculty opinion surveys and field experiments on student feedback, support the view that student evaluation of teaching contributes significantly to improvement of teaching quality. (DB)
Universal Journal of Educational Research, 2019
Course evaluation by students has been widely used to produce essential information for university administrators and faculty in assessing instruction quality. This study focused on examining the non-modifiable factors possibly relating to student evaluation outcomes by analyzing the quantitative data of 259-course evaluations in a teachers college at a Midwest state university. Findings of multiple regression and univariate statistical analyses suggested that the mean score of students' ratings in a course was associated with the ranks of the faculty who taught the course and students' response rate of the course survey. Courses taught by higher-ranking faculty and rated by a lower percentage of students tend to have lower mean scores of course evaluation. The mean score of students' evaluation in a course was not correlated with the other variables of the gender of faculty, course level, course delivery method, and class size. Findings of this study lead to a broader impact on faculty teaching evaluation policy and implications for course evaluation practices.
Research in Higher Education, 1976
The purpose of the study was to investigate relationships between student ratings of college teaching using four types of student rating instruments and pre-vs. poststudent achievement gains in 36 sections of an undergraduate analytic geometry and calculus course. Student rating instruments used varied according to type of items (high vs. low inference) and focus (students rating their own perceived growth vs. rating the instructor). Data were collected on 799 students (66% freshmen; 16% sophomore; and 15%juniors) at the University of Florida, and relationships were analyzed using the Pearson product~moment correlation technique. Significant relationships were not found between student ratings and student achievement.
Canadian Journal of …, 2005
Students, faculty and administrators at a major Canadian university were surveyed to investigate the utility or "consequential validity" of student ratings of instructors. Of the 1,229 (approximately equal number of males and females) students and alumni, about half (52%) indicated that they had never used the ratings, but of those who did use it, many (47%) reported using it several times to select courses and/or instructors. The majority (84%) of faculty members (n = 357) gave favorable responses about the usefulness of student ratings for improving quality of teaching. Paradoxically, even though faculty members were positive about the student ratings, they did not generally use them to make changes in their teaching. The majority (87%) of administrators (n = 52) stated that they use the student ratings for various purposes including decisions about faculty merit and tenure. Students, faculty and administrators considered the overall course instruction to be the most useful type of information derived from the student ratings. The results of the present study indicate that while the utility of data from student ratings of instructors is quite variable, there is evidence of "consequential validity" particularly from administrators.
24. Developing and Validating an Instrument for Student Ratings of Teaching
Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching
In May 2007, the Thompson Rivers University Faculty of Science established an ad hoc subcommittee to develop a new student ratings of teaching survey. The final survey, approved by the Faculty in February 2011, includes statements categorized in the dimensions of teaching shown in previous studies to be correlated with student achievement. The survey is learner-centred, discipline and pedagogically neutral, and includes only items that can be reasonably evaluated by students. The survey consists of 40 items including eight statements of student background information, 32 statements to rate on a six-point Likert scale, and four open-ended questions. We demonstrated that a faculty group with no formal training in survey design and informed by the literature, can, in collaboration with faculty, develop a survey established as having a high degree of inter-rater reliability.
The Tail Wagging the Dog; An Overdue Examination of Student Teaching Evaluations
International Journal of Higher Education, 2015
The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of several factors beyond the professor's control and their unique impact on Student Teaching Evaluations (STEs). The present research pulls together a substantial amount of data to statistically analyze several academic historical legends about just how vulnerable STEs are to the effects of: class size, course type, professor gender, and course grades.
A description of effective college teaching in five disciplines as measured by student ratings
Research in Higher Education, 1976
Student rating of teachers in five disciplines (science and math, education, social sciences, humanities, and business) were analyzed to determine which teacher attributes were important in predicting ratings of teaching effectiveness. Rating results from 1,439 courses taught at Southern Illinois University, Catbondale from 1973 to 1974 were used as data for this study. The results indicated that the instructor attributes rated as characteristic of effective instruction were highly consistent across disciplines, and the effective instructor was described as (1) knowing when students understood him, (2) increasing students' appreciation of the subject matter, (3) answering impromptu questions satisfactorily, (4) achieving the objectives of the course, and (5) giving several examples to explain complex topics.
Student Ratings of Teaching: A Summary of Research and Literature
IDEA PAPER #50 " Ratings of overall effectiveness are moderately correlated with independent measures of student learning and achievement. Students of highly rated teachers achieve higher final exam scores, can better apply course material, and are more inclined to pursue the subject subsequently. " (Davis, 2009, p. 534) 1 Authors listed in alphabetical order.
Appraising Teaching Effectiveness: Beyond Student Ratings. IDEA Paper
1999
Evaluating faculty effectiveness is important in institutions of higher education. Although evaluation is inherently threatening to most faculty members, the vast majority take their assignments seriously and want to conduct them as effectively as possible. Assessing faculty performance is a complex and time-consuming process. If it is done poorly or insensitively, it can have an adverse effect on institutional quality. Whether or not individual institutions elect to commit the resources required for valid evaluations depends on the degree to which they agree with these propositions: (1) all members of the institution should be accountable for their activities and performance; (2) the conduct and use of credible evaluation programs have an important influence on the welfare and future excellence of the individual, the department, and the institution; and (3) when improvement efforts are supported by institutional policy and guided by comprehensive and valid appraisals of current functioning, the well-being of the individual and the institution are affected positively. (Contains 18 references.) (SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
Appraising Teaching Effectiveness: Beyond Student Ratings
2000
Evaluating faculty effectiveness is important in institutions of higher education. Although evaluation is inherently threatening to most faculty members, the vast majority take their assignments seriously and want to conduct them as effectively as possible. Assessing faculty performance is a complex and time-consuming process. If it is done poorly or insensitively, it can have an adverse effect on institutional quality. Whether or not individual institutions elect to commit the resources required for valid evaluations depends on the degree to which they agree with these propositions: (1) all members of the institution should be accountable for their activities and performance; (2) the conduct and use of credible evaluation programs have an important influence on the welfare and future excellence of the individual, the department, and the institution; and (3) when improvement efforts are supported by institutional policy and guided by comprehensive and valid appraisals of current functioning, the well-being of the individual and the institution are affected positively. (Contains 18 references.) (SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.