Challenges in designing student teaching evaluations in a business program

Abstract

Purpose -This article aims to present an empirical analysis of the effects of changes in the student teaching evaluation (STE) form in a business school. Design/methodology/approach -The authors discuss a case of STE re-design in a business school that focused on improving the STE instrument. They utilize empirical data collected from students that completed both the original and the revised STE form in several semesters of undergraduate economics courses to examine the effect of changing the evaluation scale and the fashion in which written comments are solicited. Findings -There are three results of interest to departments considering a change to student evaluation instruments. First, the authors find that a shift from a four-point scale to a five-point scale leads to a decrease in evaluation scores even after making an adjustment for scaling. Second, they find that students tend to give lower scores on comparison-type questions that ask for a comparison of the instructor or the course to the student's entire college experience. A larger share of such comparison-type questions may depress the mean scores on composite evaluations. Third, soliciting written feedback in a specific section of the form is an effective way to increase both the number of written comments and the size of each comment. Practical implications -Student teaching evaluations serve as an assessment instrument and are frequently used in faculty promotion decisions. A discussion of best practices in designing the STE is provided in order to caution the stakeholders of the problems that may arise and to guide academic institutions in the review of evaluation procedures. Originality/value -The authors start with an example of STE re-design and then analyze empirical data from several semesters. Analysis of the literature and empirical evidence leads to recommended best practices that make STE data more useful both as a summative measure for administrative decisions and as a formative measure used by faculty looking to improve their teaching skills and course design.

High-quality vs low-quality teaching

“…Among various aspects of learning outcomes, instructional quality has been the central focus (Kwan, 1999). Perhaps, the most widely used assessment tools for measuring instructional quality in the higher education setting is student evaluations of teaching (SET) (Chulkov and Van Alstine, 2012; Steinberg and Kraft, 2017). While SET plays a pivotal role in faculty promotion, tenure and/or merit raise decisions (Dommeyer et al , 2004), SET also provides important feedback to the faculty regarding how the course may be adjusted and what teaching techniques may be adopted.…”

Eliciting student feedback for course development: the application of a qualitative course evaluation tool among business research students

“…If implemented correctly, student evaluations of teaching and learning can play an important role in the delivery of quality higher education. While feedback from students about their learning experiences is predominantly used by universities to inform promotion and tenure decisions (Kember, Leung, and Kwan 2002) and aid professional development (Chulkov and van Alstine 2012), it can also provide valuable insights into the strengths and weaknesses associated with the delivery of a particular course or programme (Ahmadi, Helms, and Raiszadeh 2001;Shah and Nair 2009;Blair and Valdez Noel 2014;Mohammed and Pandhiani 2017). Furthermore, the data gathered from course and lecturer evaluations could provide university administrators with important insights into what motivates students and how to respond appropriately to students' changing needs (Grebennikov and Shah 2012;Smithson et al 2015;Grebennikov and Shah 2017;Blair and Valdez Noel 2014).…”

Student Evaluations of Teaching, Course and Student Characteristics at Andrews University

“…It is used by administrators and instructors to make important decisions regarding development of the course and the instruction (Al-Issa & Sulieman, 2007;Ali & Ajmi, 2013;Beuth et al, 2015;Driscoll & Cadden, 2010). Also, it is used by students to make better decisions regarding which course they want to take and to be aware of the course levels of difficulty before the registration process (Adams & Umbach, 2012;Ali & Ajmi, 2013;Atek, Salim, Ab Halim, Jusoh, & Yusuf, 2015;Beuth et al, 2015;Brockx, Spooren, & Mortelmans, 2011;Chulkov & Jason Van, 2012;Donnon, Delver, & Beran, 2010;Driscoll & Cadden, 2010;Fah, Yin & Osman, 2011). Furthermore, SET is considered an important tool that could have negative impacts on the development of teaching if it does not give accurate results (Ali & Ajmi, 2013).…”

“…Researchers reported that educators face different challenges when it comes to designing SET. For example, shifting from a four-point scale to a five-point scale in SET affected the results of SET and led the students to give less positive feedback (Chulkov & Jason Van, 2012). Such a finding suggests that researchers who had used five-point scale might have found more negative rating scores than those who used a four-point scale.…”

“…Student Evaluation of Teaching is a critical tool used by administrators and instructors to make serious decisions regarding developing the course and the instruction (Al-Issa & Sulieman, 2007;Chulkov & Jason Van, 2012). It is considered an important tool that could have negative impacts on the development of teaching if it did not give accurate results (Ali & Ajmi, 2013;Fairris, 2012).…”