Abstract
Survey-based formats of assessing teaching quality in higher education are widely used and will likely continue to be used by higher education institutions around the world as various global trends contributing to their widespread use further evolve. Although the use of mobile devices for course evaluation continues to grow, there remain some unresolved aspects of the classic paper and web-based modes of evaluation. In the current study, the multigroup confirmatory factor analysis approach (MGCFA), an accepted methodological approach in general mixed-method survey research, was chosen to address some of the methodological issues when comparing these two evaluation modes. By randomly assigning one of the two modes to 33 continuing training courses at a Swiss higher education institution, this study tested whether the two different modes of assessing teaching quality yield the same results. The practical implications for course evaluation practice in institutions of higher education as well as the implications and limitations of the chosen methodological approach are discussed.
Highlights
Assessment of teaching quality was primarily used for formative purposes
The stepwise multigroup confirmatory factor analysis approach (MGCFA) analysis implies invariance across modes when measuring the quality of teaching with the instrument in use, based on two baseline models that are not completely identical
This indicates that the data collected with paper-andpencil questionnaires are of equal quality to the data collected by online questionnaires, and the latent means and correlations between the factors are comparable for both modes
Summary
Assessment of teaching quality was primarily used for formative purposes. Despite the well-known critiques of the use of survey-based formats to assess teaching quality in higher education, higher education institutions all over the world continue to use them (Spooren et al 2017). This trend is fuelled by the abovementioned changes in the intentions of the use of such information over the last half century as well as the relative ease of implementing and standardising the procedure and collecting, processing, and communicating large amounts of data. It will remain important to ensure that this method produces valid and reliable data
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