The student evaluation of teaching: its failure as a research program, and as an administrative guide

This paper points up the methodological inadequacy of the "student evaluation of teaching" as a research program. We do this by reference to three, interrelated arguments. The first is that the student evaluation of teaching cannot claim to capture the wisdom of a crowd because, as a research program, it fails to meet Surowiecki's conditions for the existence and articulation of the wisdom of a crowd. The second argument extends the first, by stating: (a) the "student evaluation of teaching" research program fails to provide the methodological controls needed to differentiate cause from effect, or put differently (b) the methodological underpinnings of this research program is tantamount to the misapplication of a closed-system paradigm to an open social system. The third argument has two parts. These are that this research program is predicated on: (a) a false analogy between the workings of a business and a university, and therefore (b) on a mischaracterization of the student-professor relationship. These three arguments, these three failures, suggest that the "student evaluation of teaching" research program is methodologically ill-conceived and incoherent, and therefore cannot, with any credulity, serve as a guide to the administration and governance of a university.Student evaluation of teaching, validity, biases, fallacies

Optimization of Independent College Students Evaluation of Teaching Assessment System Based on the PDCA Model

Student evaluation of teaching is one of the important ways of independent college teaching quality evaluation, which has a positive practical significance to promote independent college teaching reform, and improve the teaching quality. In recent years, at the same time in the further carry out the work of student evaluation of teaching, more and more problem is highlighted. In this paper, from two aspects of roles and work itself, analysis of the present status of the independent college student evaluation of teaching. On this basis, student evaluation of teaching is introducing the theory of PDCA cycle, which is continuously correcting problems found in student work, optimizing the evaluation working process, , so to promote the communication between teachers and students cooperation, to achieve real actual effect of student appraisal evaluation of teaching Keywords: PDCA；Student evaluation of teaching；Independent college；Optimization DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-32-11 Publication date: November 30th 202

Student evaluation of teaching : keeping in touch with reality

Student evaluation of teaching is commonplace in many universities and may be the predominant input into the performance evaluation of staff and organisational units. This article used publicly available student evaluation of teaching data to present examples of where institutional responses to evaluation processes appeared to be educationally ineffective and where the pursuit of the ‘right’ student evaluation results appears to have been mistakenly equated with the aim of improved teaching and learning. If the vast resources devoted to student evaluation of teaching are to be effective, then the data produced by student evaluation systems must lead to real and sustainable improvements in teaching quality and student learning, rather than becoming an end in itself

Student Evaluation of Teaching

The analysis of factors which influence student valuations of teaching is the subject of this paper. An empirical test, using the evaluations carried out in the School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University shows that the grades granted by instructors do not relate significantly to the evaluations of that instructor by students. Factors which do relate to higher evaluations include: early morning classes, small classes, optional subjects, and senior classes. From a survey of how faculty react to the evaluations, it appears that most faculty do not find the evaluations useful in making improvements in their own teaching.La présente communication a pour butd 'analyser les facteurs qui influencent les étudiants dans leur évaluation des professeurs. Une étude, basée sur des sondages effectués au School of Business and Economies de Wilfrid Laurier University, montre que l'opinion des étudiants ne semble pas proportionnelle aux notes attribuées par les professeurs. Les évaluations positives sont reliées aux facteurs suivants: heure matinale du cours, petites classes, matières facultatives et cours avancés. Un autre sondage semble montrer que la plupart des professeurs ne trouvent pas les évaluations très utiles pour perfectionner leur enseignement

Pre-service K-8 Teachers’ Professional Noticing and Strategy Evaluation Skills: An Exploratory Study

This study sheds light on three teaching competencies: Pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) professional noticing of student mathematical reasoning and strategies, their ability to assess the validity of student reasoning and strategies, and to select student strategy for class discussion. Our results reveal that PSTs with strong awareness of mathematically significant aspects of student reasoning and strategies (focused noticing) were better positioned to assess the validity of student reasoning and strategies. PSTs with higher strategy evaluation skills were more likely to choose the strategy to engage class in justification or to advance students’ conceptual understanding compared to PSTs with low strategy evaluation skills

Data mining technology for the evaluation of web-based teaching and learning systems

Instructional design for Web-based teaching and learning environments causes problems for two reasons. Firstly, virtual forms of teaching and learning result in little or no direct contact between instructor and learner, making the evaluation of course effectiveness difficult. Secondly, the Web as a relatively new teaching and learning medium still requires more research into learning processes with this technology. We propose data mining – techniques to discover and extract knowledge from a database – as a tool to support the analysis of student learning processes and the evaluation of the effectiveness and usability of Web-based courses. We present and illustrate different data mining techniques for the evaluation of Web-based teaching and learning systems

Professional partnership between universities and schools: the use of a diagnostic tool to support development of student teachers’ professional skills

This paper describes a case study concerning a student teacher at risk of failing a teaching placement, who was supported by colleagues and university tutors through the use of a diagnostic tool in the form of a checklist. The checklist comprised a number of categories relating to aspects of teaching and learning within the classroom and was used consistently by staff to provide feedback to the student and as a basis for discussion and evaluation of his lessons. Scrutiny of the checklists, completed over a four week period, staff questionnaires and staff and student interviews indicate that the student and teaching staff found the tool user friendly and helpful in identifying areas of good practice and those requiring development. Other benefits for the student included the development of a pro-active approach to planning lessons and reflection on practice. The tool may be useful as a means of providing formative feedback and initiating dialogue relating to practice, particularly at an early stage of a teaching career

Communicating outcomes of students\u27 evaluations of teaching and learning: one-size-fits-all?

Student evaluations of teaching are increasingly used to measure the teaching of individual academics in Australian higher education. The outcomes of these evaluations are variably made available to the individual academics themselves, to university management and to the public. However, communicating evaluation outcomes to each of these audiences assumes a different purpose and necessitates different objectives, foci and methodology. The need for these differences is sometimes forgotten with a &lsquo;one-size-fits-all&rsquo; approach in Australian higher education. This paper examines these differences and discusses some of the issues surrounding the communication of the outcomes of student evaluations of teaching.<br /