Uses and misuses of student evaluations of teaching effectiveness

1995 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald D. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Effectiveness ◽  
Student Evaluations ◽  
Student Evaluations Of Teaching

scholarly journals Student evaluations of teaching: teaching quantitative courses can be hazardous to one’s career

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bob Uttl ◽  
Dylan Smibert
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Effectiveness ◽  
Merit Pay ◽  
Student Evaluations ◽  
Individual Student ◽  
Student Evaluations Of Teaching ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
Personnel Decisions ◽  
Parametric Statistics ◽  
Grading Standards ◽  
The Impact

Anonymous student evaluations of teaching (SETs) are used by colleges and universities to measure teaching effectiveness and to make decisions about faculty hiring, firing, re-appointment, promotion, tenure, and merit pay. Although numerous studies have found that SETs correlate with various teaching effectiveness irrelevant factors (TEIFs) such as subject, class size, and grading standards, it has been argued that such correlations are small and do not undermine the validity of SETs as measures of professors’ teaching effectiveness. However, previous research has generally used inappropriate parametric statistics and effect sizes to examine and to evaluate the significance of TEIFs on personnel decisions. Accordingly, we examined the influence of quantitative vs. non-quantitative courses on SET ratings and SET based personnel decisions using 14,872 publicly posted class evaluations where each evaluation represents a summary of SET ratings provided by individual students responding in each class. In total, 325,538 individual student evaluations from a US mid-size university contributed to theses class evaluations. The results demonstrate that class subject (math vs. English) is strongly associated with SET ratings, has a substantial impact on professors being labeled satisfactory vs. unsatisfactory and excellent vs. non-excellent, and the impact varies substantially depending on the criteria used to classify professors as satisfactory vs. unsatisfactory. Professors teaching quantitative courses are far more likely not to receive tenure, promotion, and/or merit pay when their performance is evaluated against common standards.

The Ethics Of Setting Course Expectations To Manipulate Student Evaluations Of Teaching Effectiveness In Higher Education: An Examination Of The Ethical Dilemmas Created By The Use Of SETEs And A Proposal For Further Study And Analysis

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Catherine S. Neal ◽  
Teressa Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teaching Effectiveness ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Student Evaluations ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Student Evaluations Of Teaching ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
Course Rigor ◽  
Overall Evaluation ◽  
Attendance Policies

Because student evaluations of teaching effectiveness (SETEs) are an important and widely used tool used in the evaluation and reward systems for faculty members in higher education, a discussion and analysis of the ethical problems that may arise as a result of the conflict created by expectations of performance is provided.  This discussion specifically focuses on ethical issues related to setting course expectations and attendance policies to manipulate students’ perceptions of course rigor and the overall evaluation of the course and the instructor.

scholarly journals “Somebody has to teach the ‘broccoli’ course”: Administrators Navigating Student Evaluations of Teaching (SET)

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-103
Author(s):  
Luis Francisco Vargas-Madriz ◽  
Norma Nocente ◽  
Rebecca Best-Bertwistle ◽  
Sarah Forgie
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Effectiveness ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Student Evaluations ◽  
Teaching Evaluation ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Student Evaluations Of Teaching ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
Evaluation Of Teaching ◽  
Large Research

Student Evaluations of Teaching (SET) have been the most consistently administered tool, and they are still extensively used in higher education institutions to assess teaching effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to explore how SET are used by administrators in the teaching evaluation process at a large, research-intensive Canadian university. A basic qualitative research design was used in this project, and semi-structured interviews were used to obtain administrators’ experiences. The research question that guided this study was: How are SET (and other tools) used in the evaluation of teaching at this university? Findings showed that although participants mostly utilized a couple of SET statements as indicators of effective teaching, they were certainly aware of the intrinsic issues concerning these tools, and that they are continually seeking to obtain more evidence if SET results are below their benchmarks.

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