A Multivariate Analysis of Selected Class Characteristic and Student Rating of Instruction

Pohlmann, John T.

doi:10.1207/s15327906mbr1001_5

Cited by 49 publications

(36 citation statements)

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“…Lecturers differed from course to course, the content of courses varied and the students differed. The results of the Likert scale ratings used in this study were predicted on the basis of previous research findings (Pohlmann, 1975). The three aspects of the course including 'human related factors', 'feelings about course content' and 'hygiene factors' were all regarded more favourably by students on the elective course than by those on the required course.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…In a subsequent study by Gage (1961) this was also found to be the case, although the study only used a series of Likert style rating scales. In another study, Pohlmann (1975), evaluated five aspects of courses, namely an overall view of how good the course was, how interested the tutor was in each student, how difficult the student found the course, whether assignments were clearly marked and how good the tutors actual presentation was. Pohlmann found that, employing these factors undergraduate students' evaluations on the elective courses were better on all measures than for the required courses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This takes the issues examined in this study far further than in that by Lovell & Haner (1955) and other researchers who only looked at rating scales. It also looks at a wider range of items than did Pohlmann (1975) who concentrated solely on the presenter and did not take other aspects of courses into account Some of the observations made about the variables present in the above research had a direct bearing on the selection of suitable training programmes for use in the present research project. Karen Chan (2001), found, nearly all evaluation studies measured the impact of teachers, but not student centred, or active learning approaches.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effects of the elective or required status of courses on student evaluations

Darby

2006

Journal of Vocational Education & Training

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This study examined the impact on a course evaluation of the course being either an elective or a required part of a training programme. Three elective and three required courses were evaluated using both a scaled and an open ended response form. Many variables were taken into account when examining the effect of course status, which other researchers have tended to neglect. These included the type of training method employed, the presenter and the type of student. It was found using a scaled response form that the elective courses received more favourable responses than the required courses on all three measures used, while on the open ended response forms, this occurred for two of the measures. It is suggested that, when comparing course evaluations, care should be taken to ensure that the status of the course as elective or required is taken into account. IntroductionThe literature into course evaluations using students is typified by that of Maynard et al (2002), who looked at how well psychology students remembered course material. From this they deduced that some presentations were better than others. Bradley et al (2005), emphasised the need to base evaluations on educational processes including course aims, objectives and outcomes. The study of factors which influence student perceptions of a course is an important area of research because of the trend towards the use of student evaluations in schools by OFSTED inspectors, and in colleges and universities as part of their external grading process. In many institutions such evaluations are mandated for all courses and are a subject for discussions with staff during performance appraisals. There is a growing tendency to include the evaluation of support units such as the media services and computing services departments on the basis of student ratings. In the United States many lecturers are actually paid on the basis of their student ratings. These evaluations are further used for comparisons between institutions and often form part of the calculations used for ranking them. The significance of those ratings will be very much less if the greater part of any difference is a result of the type of course content or other variables rather than the actual delivery.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effects of the elective or required status of courses on student evaluations

Darby

2006

Journal of Vocational Education & Training

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“…For example, Aleamoni and Graham (1974) Goodhartz (1948), Guthrie (1954), Hildebrand et al (1971), Hillery and Yuk (1974), Jiobu and Pollis (1971), and Solomon (1966) found no relationship between class size and student ratings. Some investigators have also reported curvilinear relationships between class size and student ratings (Gage, 1961;Kohlan, 1973;Lovell and Haner, 1955;Marsh et al, 1979;Pohlmann, 1975;Wood et al, 1974).…”

Section: Class Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

A review of the research on student evaluation and a report on the effect of different sets of instructions on student course and instructor evaluation

Aleamoni

Hexner

1980

Instr Sci

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An extensive review of the research concerning the effect of different variables on student ratings is presented. A study is then reported comparing the effects of different sets of instructions on student evaluations of the course and instructor. The results indicated that the students who were informed that the results of their ratings would be used for administrative decisions rated the course and instructor more favorably on all aspects than students who were informed that the results of their ratings would only be used by the instructor.In the mad rush to make courses "relevant" and meet new demands of accountability, colleges and universities have proposed many methods of evaluating the effectiveness of instruction. Such proposals generally indicate that many elements of the instructional setting need to be evaluated by several different audiences. Unfortunately, most proposals that are operationalized rest solely on the use of student ratings of instructors and informal colleague opinions. That students are able to provide reliable and valid evaluations of instructional quality has come to be recognized (Aleamoni, 1978;Costin et al., 1971).Much of the research on student rating of instructors has been concerned with the effect of different variables on these ratings. Due in part to the use of different course evaluation forms and to the use of differing research methodologies, the results of these investigations are often discrepant.Some of the variables which have been investigated include (a) reliability and validity of student ratings, (b) reliability and validity of student rating instruments, (c) class size, (d) sex of the student and sex of the instructor, (e)

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“…As such, the teaching of these courses has been debated among faculty over the years as being 'more difficult' to teach. To that end, several large studies consistently find teachers of elective courses receive more favorable evaluations than their colleagues teaching required classes (Drago & Wagner, 2004;Whitten & Umble;Pohlmann, 1975;Lovell & Haner, 1955). Researchers have suggested a number of possible reasons for these findings, including student attitudes towards the topic, the quantitative nature of some of the required courses, student perception of quality, the professor's teaching style (Bosshardt, 2001;Marsh & Roche, 1997) and the students interest and engagement (Darby, 2006a); all of which affect STEs.…”

Section: Class Type (Core or Elective)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Tail Wagging the Dog; An Overdue Examination of Student Teaching Evaluations

Miles

House

2015

IJHE

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Purpose: 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.Design/methodology/approach: This research is utilizes over 30,000 individual student evaluations of 255 professors, spanning six semesters, during a three year time period to test six hypotheses. The final sample represents 1057 classes ranging in size between 10 and 190 students. Each hypothesis is statistically analyzed, with either analysis of variance or a Regression model. Findings:This study finds support for 5 out of 6 hypotheses. Specifically, these data suggest STEs are likely to be closest to "5" (using a 1-5 scale with 5 being highest) in small elective classes, and lowest in large required classes taught by females. As well we find support for the notion that higher expected course grades may lead to higher STEs. Practical implications:The practical significance of this research is important. First this research utilized a large data set spanning several years and hundreds of professors and thousands of students and rigorous statistical analysis to assert several important findings. Indeed STEs are impacted significantly by class type, class size, the gender of the professor and the expected course grade. With these findings we suggest a more comprehensive mechanism is in order for evaluation of teaching effectiveness. Social implications:This research could have great social implications if widely read across academic circles. Indeed the tail is wagging the dog; or the student is influencing teaching across America's universities. It is time to examine teaching effectiveness through a different lens, because using teaching evaluations to determine promotion and tenure, sparse bonus allocation, and teaching awards may be short sighted. Research limitations:While this research is statistically accurate, it is limited by the notion that the data was collected from one large area. As such, care should be taken in generalizing these results to other areas that may have different demographic composition, funding etc. Originality/value:To the best of the authors' knowledge this research is the first of its kind to statistically analyze such a large body of data and provide a useful guide to help evaluate professors utilizing what information is available.

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A Multivariate Analysis of Selected Class Characteristic and Student Rating of Instruction

Cited by 49 publications

References 4 publications

The effects of the elective or required status of courses on student evaluations

The effects of the elective or required status of courses on student evaluations

A review of the research on student evaluation and a report on the effect of different sets of instructions on student course and instructor evaluation

The Tail Wagging the Dog; An Overdue Examination of Student Teaching Evaluations

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