Abstract
<p class="apa">This study examined the results of a student evaluation of faculty against the grades awarded and the level of the course for a higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates. The purpose of the study was to determine if the grades awarded in the course and/or level of the course impacted the evaluation scores awarded to the faculty member. The study utilized a 25-question student perception survey coupling course results with the overall course grade point average (GPA) and the course level. All courses were undergraduate. Descriptives for the responses were obtained prior to conducting a factor analysis for the purposes of dimension reduction. The analysis included 184 course pairings. The data set was examined to verify satisfaction of assumptions appropriate for factor analysis. Reliability analysis yielded a Chronbach’s alpha of 0.974. The factor analysis identified three underlying factors accounting for 80.07% of the variance. These three factors were identified as (1) overall perception of instruction, (2) the relationship of the grade and course level and (3) course management. Results of the study did not indicate that the grades given in a class nor the level of the course significantly affected the evaluations provided by the students. Grades and the level of the course were found to align. Student achievement in the course was also found to relate to the student’s perception of fair treatment by the faculty member.</p>
Highlights
Instructional evaluation by students continues to be a hotbed of concern for many faculty members and their respective institutions. Sojka, Gupta, and Detter-Schmetz (2002) reference the long-standing, love-hate relationship between higher education and student course evaluations of instruction beginning in the early 1930’s and continuing into the present day
This study examined the results of a student evaluation of faculty against the grades awarded and the level of the course for a higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates
The purpose of the study was to determine if a relationship existed between or among the course grade point average (GPA), course level and the 25 student evaluation responses
Summary
Instructional evaluation by students continues to be a hotbed of concern for many faculty members and their respective institutions. Sojka, Gupta, and Detter-Schmetz (2002) reference the long-standing, love-hate relationship between higher education and student course evaluations of instruction beginning in the early 1930’s and continuing into the present day. Sojka, Gupta, and Detter-Schmetz (2002) reference the long-standing, love-hate relationship between higher education and student course evaluations of instruction beginning in the early 1930’s and continuing into the present day. These researchers point out that many issues are perceived as affecting student ratings of the instructional effectiveness of faculty. A few years earlier, Greenwald and Gillmore (1997) found that higher grades led to higher ratings of faculty These researchers determined that faculty teaching courses deemed as more demanding were likely to receive lower student evaluations than faculty teaching courses deemed as less demanding. The more demanding courses could be said to occur in the junior and senior levels of baccalaureate programs where higher levels of specialization are expected
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