Title: Faculty Evaluation Systems: Student Evaluations of Faculty
1Faculty Evaluation SystemsStudent Evaluations
of Faculty
- What are we measuring?
- The evaluation of teachers is a mark of a good
college. Ernest Boyer, 1987, p.155
2IntroductionCommunity College Faculty Evaluation
- Community College Teaching Mission
- Diverse mission of a comprehensive community
college - As a Community College Teaching is at the Center
of our Purpose. - RSCC a Teaching Institution First Foremost
- Can we Measure (Evaluate) Teaching Excellence?
3Defining Teaching Excellence Three Major
Emphases
- 1) Input
- Student, teacher and course characteristics
- 2) Process
- Classroom atmosphere, teacher behavior, student
learning activities, course organization,
evaluation procedures - 3) Product
- End-of-course learning, affective/cognitive
change, skills acquisition - Long-term learning, affective/cognitive change,
skills acquisition
4Presentation Outline
- Part 1 Faculty Evaluation Systems (Purpose)
- Part 2 Faculty Evaluation System Student
Evaluations of Faculty (Student Ratings - One
Piece) -
5Part 1 Faculty Evaluation- Whats the purpose?
- Overall institutional purpose is key to
- proper evaluation.
- Formative Summative
- Improve Pedagogical Methods Student Learning
- Faculty, Course Curriculum Development
- Excellence in Teaching
- Tenure Promotion
6Faculty Evaluation Purpose Accountability
- Renewed attention to undergraduate
- instruction
- State Legislature, Coordinating and Governing
Boards - Accrediting Bodies
- SACS
- "The institution regularly evaluates the
effectiveness of each faculty member in accord
with published criteria, regardless of
contractual or tenured status." - "Standards for all educational programs include
all on-campus, off-campus, and distance learning
programs." - Source The new SACS Comprehensive Standards
governing Educational Programs.
7Evaluation of College Faculty
- First student ratings took place in the late
1800s (Sioux City). - Last 2 decades, evaluation of college faculty has
increasingly become a way of life for those in
higher education. - Today, virtually all American colleges assess
faculty performance using student evaluations
along with other instruments.
8Faculty Evaluation Systems
- Comprised of multiple measures
- Student Evaluations of Faculty
- Peer Evaluations
- Self Evaluation
- Supervisor Evaluation
- Exit Interviews Alumni Surveys
- Teaching Portfolios/Dossier
- Classroom observation
9Part 2 Student Evaluation of Faculty (Ratings)
- Most widely used structured method of evaluating
faculty in higher education - Integral to most systems is the instrument by
means of which student opinions observations
are collected. - Student appraisal of instruction seems
appropriate because, students are the only ones
who observe teaching for an entire course.
10Student Evaluations of Faculty (Ratings)
- Do these ratings accurately portray teaching
effectiveness?
11Student Evaluations of FacultyQuality of
Ratings? Legitimacy?
- Higher education tends to question the quality
and legitimacy of the info. collected through
student ratings of faculty .
12Concerns about Evaluations (student ratings)
- No surprise a significant of studies focused on
objectivity and validity of such evaluations
2,000 published studies - Concerns include
- Low validity reliability
- Appropriateness of items (instrument)
- Correlation between grades evaluation
- Measure How good an entertainer rather than how
good his/her teaching skills are - Popularity contests that reward classroom
entertainers easy graders - Students dont take these seriously
13Concerns Continued
- Student opinion can be affected by variables
beyond the faculty members control.. - Class size
- Course content
14Student Evaluations of Faculty Grades Ratings
- Research findings support the notion that
instructors CANNOT purchase FAVORABLE student
ratings through easy grading. - Research also indicates the relationship between
grades ratings is a function of the better
achieving students greater interest and
motivation.
15Despite reservations
- More than half of the higher education
institutions in the nation continue to use
student appraisals of faculty within their
faculty evaluation systems. - Student perceptions of end-of-course evaluations
indicate that do take these seriously, but they
need to understand how the results are used
16The Quality of Evaluative Information
- Reliability Free from error (Computing
Measurement- accurate and consistent results) - Validity Meaning (Measuring what you think you
are?) - Generalizability Representativeness
- (Whose opinions are reflected by data?) (Does
sample of info. portray the totality of the
persons teaching?) - Utility (What purposes can the data serve?)
17The Instrument Asking the right questions
- Definition of teaching quality (input, process
product) - Purpose of evaluation
- Usefulness of evaluative info. Information
should be detailed, diagnostic, and focused on
specific teaching behaviors and course
characteristics to derive maximum benefit of
information.
18The Instrument Evaluative Questions
- Two types of evaluative questions found in most
student evaluation instruments - 1) Student reaction to instructor traits or
behaviors characteristics of course material
and social and physical environment - 2) Student outcomes (Progress toward general or
specific educational goals) - 3) You might find a third type Demographics
-
19The Instrument Format of Questions
- Whether outcomes or trait questions
- Multiple Choice/Scaled Responses
- (Best of points for a particular scale
empirical question) - Some better than others
- Open-ended
- Augment multiple choice items
- Helpful constructive recommendations for
improvement
20Areas of Measurement Grouping the Questions
- Global require high inference (making judgments)
- Instructor
- Course
- General (instructional climate)
- Specific Items (descriptive diagnostic)
- Course management
- Instructor characteristics style
- Reading material/assignments
- Exams
- Student behavior (effort, involvement, etc.)
- Student outcomes of instruction
- Open-ended
21High Inference Questions vs. Specific Questions
- Specific multiple choice/open-ended probing
questions - Diagnostic information
- Most useful for course/instructor improvement
- Very general or high inference rating scale items
- How would you rate this instructors overall
teaching ability? - Little helpful diagnostic information
- Most useful for administrative decisions,
advisement of students
22RSCC Faculty Evaluation Instrument - completed by
students
- Examples
- Question 9 The Instructors examinations and/or
assignments reflected the content and emphasis of
the course. - Question 10 The instructor returned
examinations and/or assignments within a
reasonable time and with appropriate
explanations. - Interpretation?
- Self or course improvement?
- Exam or assignment improvement?
- Question 9 reworded The instructors
examinations reflected the course content. -
23Flexibility of Instrument
- Many institutions tried a single institutional
instrument - Criticism from faculty and students as irrelevant
to the specific needs of particular programs
and/or courses - Solutions
- Leave room on the questionnaire for the
instructor to add his/her own items - Module approach different instruments for
different programs/courses (labs, distance
learning courses, clinicals, small or large
lecture etc.)
24Flexibility of Instrument
- Does one size fit all?
- Different instruments for different types of
courses? - Lab
- Clinical
- On-line
- IDEA Room
- Small lecture or large lecture
- Seminar
- Other
25Utility of Assessment Information depends on
- Quality of instrument
- Reporting
- Relies on faculty perceptions of evaluation
process quality issue - Student perceptions of the evaluation process
26Summary
- In sum, then, provided that data are gathered
carefully, reported appropriately, and
interpreted judiciously, student evaluations
appear to make a useful contribution to course
improvement, faculty/self development, personnel
decisions, and, possibly to student learning.
27Remember
- Research tells us that Students early
evaluations are quite stable and instructors
should be aware that the first few days of class
may be very important in determining the eventual
image students evaluate at the end of the course.
28Questions?
- Can we measure teaching excellence?
- Future direction?
- (Planning/Implementation Time)