The usefulness of student evaluations in improving college teaching

Aleamoni, Lawrence M.

doi:10.1007/bf00121277

Cited by 48 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The study reports the longterm follow-up of an instructional intervention conducted during academic year 1971-72 by Aleamoni (1978). In this study, a significant increase in student ratings was reported after both feedback and consultation were provided to instructors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

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The use of evaluative feedback for instructional improvement: A longitudinal perspective

Stevens

Aleamoni

1984

Instr Sci

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Both the available experimental evidence and recent reviews are unclear regarding the effectiveness of student ratings feedback for instructional improvement. Provision of feedback has not consistently produced improvement. Feedback accompanied by consultation has resulted in more consistent instructor improvement. However, the literature on interventions for instructional improvements has failed to address the longitudinal nature of improvement and development. The present study examined follow-up data over a ten-year period on instructors who had participated in a quasi-experimental study of the effectiveness of consultation and feedback conducted in 1971 and 1972. The results obtained indicate that instructors who had originally received feedback with consultation maintained higher student ratings and used instructional resources more during follow-up than instructors who originally received feedback only. This result must be tempered by several interpretative considerations regarding sample size, power, and experimental control. A number of concerns were also expressed regarding the adequacy of the current literature for describing a developmental event, instructional improvement, through the use of short-term studies. Recommendations are made for increased durations of study and alternative tactics of experimental design and control.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…In the original study (Aleamoni, 1978) 33 instructors at the University of Arizona during the Fall, 1971 and Spring, 1972 semesters served as subjects. All instructors were teaching courses in the College of Agriculture.…”

Section: Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

The use of evaluative feedback for instructional improvement: A longitudinal perspective

Stevens

Aleamoni

1984

Instr Sci

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“…They therefore may need the advice of colleagues and instructional consultants on how to modify their approach (AAUP, 1974;Centra, 1973;Sherman, 1976). Aleamoni (1974a) indeed found that results from computer-scored questionnaires together with individual consultation sessions did bring about important positive changes in class performance as measured by subsequent student ratings.…”

Section: Evaluation To Improve Teachingmentioning

confidence: 95%

The evaluation and improvement of teaching in higher education

Goldschmid

1978

High Educ

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Four procedures to evaluate teaching (by students, peers, video-recordings, and direct measurements of student learning) and three uses of the evaluation results (improving teaching, personnel decisions, course handbooks) are reviewed in the light of empirical evidence. Special emphasis is placed on the timing and validity of student ratings and the instruments used. Since none of the procedures appear sufficient in and by itself, a multiple indicator approach, especially for personnel decisions, would seem to be the most defensible one.While it is essential to take evidence of teaching effectiveness into account in considerations for tenure and promotion, faculty must also be given opportunities to become professionals as teachers. Higher education units, designed primarily for this purpose, appear to be effective as judged by their clients (the faculty they have served), but have failed to make an impact on the faculty as a whole. What is requited now is an institutional commitment to quality instruction, i.e. a departmental policy on the evaluation of teaching and faculty development.

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“…In support of such a suggestion, Smock and Crooks (1973), stated that "any evaluation plan which does not include an adjunct service which can effectively assist faculty members in the improvement of their teaching performance is ethically questionable". Aleamoni (1973), reported in his study that instructors who received expert advice on the information provided on student evaluations, received higher ratings from students than those who did not receive expert advice. This report, by Aleamoni seemed to have been counteracted when he later stated that there was no conclusive evidence to show that a relationship exists between feedback and improvement of instruction (1974).…”

Section: Improvement Of Instruction and Teacher Effectivenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improvement of instruction and teacher effectiveness: are student ratings reliable and valid?

Arubayi

1987

High Educ

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This paper reviews the evidence on whether student ratings are reliable and valid enough to be used for the purpose of the improvement of instruction and teacher effectiveness. A consensus of evidence available in the literature tends to show a measure of consistency, stability and validity of student ratings. Several variables such as sex of rater and ratee, class size, mood of students, rank of instructors, grades students were expecting, time of the day courses are taught, to mention only a few, have been found to have a low to high positive relationship, with student ratings. It also appears that the use of student ratings leads to the improvement of instruction, provided the evaluation data are fed back to the instructor and that an expert or consultant provides assistance to the instructor.

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The usefulness of student evaluations in improving college teaching

Cited by 48 publications

References 6 publications

The use of evaluative feedback for instructional improvement: A longitudinal perspective

The use of evaluative feedback for instructional improvement: A longitudinal perspective

The evaluation and improvement of teaching in higher education

Improvement of instruction and teacher effectiveness: are student ratings reliable and valid?

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