Norming of Student Evaluations of Instruction: Impact of Noninstructional Factors

Online learning has become more popular in higher education with its advantages of flexibility and accessibility. However, there have been challenges to students’ learning experience in online learning. One critical challenge would be providing interactions between students and instructors as good or effective as in the face‐to‐face environment. However, providing face‐to‐face interactions in online learning is not feasible because students and instructors are not physically present together. In this study, we introduce and empirically investigate social presence as student learning experience in online learning in which physical presence does not exist. Drawing upon the social presence and online learning literature, we propose a research model to explore how the interactivity of communication tools can drive social presence and student satisfaction in online learning. Furthermore, this study examines gender difference as a moderator in the model. Data were collected from undergraduate students who were taking online business statistics courses where an interactive communication tool was required to use for class communication and collaboration. The results showed that social presence driven by tool interactivity had a significant impact on student satisfaction in online learning. We also found that gender difference moderated the relationship between tool interactivity and social presence in online learning.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Roles of Social Presence and Gender Difference in Online Learning

Park

Kim

2020

“…In a provocative article, Bauerlein () suggested that research should only count one‐sixth or even zero toward tenure, while the weight attached to teaching should rise proportionally. Nargundkar and Shrikhande () found that nontenure track faculty in business schools had significantly higher student evaluation ratings than tenure track (untenured) faculty. Perhaps the difference is due to different incentive structures.…”

Section: Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementing Comprehensive Teacher Training in Business Doctoral Programs

Brightman

Nargundkar

2013

Self Cite

The advent of digital course offerings, the use of social media, the integration of the Khan Academy into curricula, the use of smart phones and tablets, and massive online courses place greater emphasis than ever on effective teaching. While business schools fund faculty development in teaching, too few doctoral programs offer systematic teacher training. We discuss the lack of, and the need for, comprehensive teacher‐training programs. We present the Robinson College of Business model and offer recommendations on how to get started. It is time for PhD programs to certify that their students are capable of teaching upon graduation.

“…In the evaluation literature, there are relatively few studies that look at factors affecting evaluations in colleges of business and engineering. The research presented here distinguishes itself from previous research in business (e.g., Nargundkar & Shrikhande, ; Peterson et al., ), and adds to the body of knowledge in several ways. First, it specifically contrasts data from a college of business and a college of engineering, showing the differences in the effects of various factors on SET.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…Prior work has also examined the effect of SET on whether students are required to take a specific course (core) or whether they are taking the course as an elective. Some research has shown that instructors teaching elective courses receive higher SET scores than those for core courses (e.g., Aleamoni & Thomas, ; Gage, ; Kapel, ; Lovell & Haner, ; Nargundkar & Shrikhande, ). Isely and Singh () and McPherson and Jewell () found a correlation between low SET scores and the proportion of students taking core (required) rather than elective courses.…”

Section: Literature Review and Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Differences in Nonteaching Factors Influencing Student Evaluation of Teaching between Engineering and Business Classrooms

Narayanan¹,

Sawaya

Johnson

2014

In recent years, there have been increasing calls from the government and other organizations to provide easy public access to student evaluations of teaching. Indeed, the increasing ease of displaying and viewing large quantities of information, and competition among universities and majors for students, makes it likely that an era of greater transparency of this type of information is at hand. While students' evaluation of teaching (SET) is one quantitative metric that rates the instructor, it may be influenced by factors that are often beyond the instructor's control. In this study, we analyze a longitudinal data set from both engineering and business schools of a large public university, and identify factors that influence SET. We show which factors have the highest influence on overall SET scores, and contrast these between engineering and business colleges. Colleges within the same university may have differences in the factors affecting SET, and recognition of this is important in effectively and fairly evaluating SET scores. We also provide recommendations regarding information that should be displayed along with the SET, particularly when SET scores are made public, so that instructors are not unduly penalized when their evaluations can be influenced by factors over which they have no control.