Student opinion of the value of student evaluations

Abstract

This is an empirical investigation of student attitudes towards evaluation of instruction questionnaires. A 13-item attitude questionnaire was administered to 440 students in the Schools of Law and Engineering at Tel-Aviv University. Results indicated that students generally considered evaluation of instruction of value and were willing to participate in subsequent evaluations. They felt their evaluations were significant in influencing faculty promotion and selection; however, they were uncertain of their effect on improving the level of instruction. Criteria relevant for evaluation were the course work-load and instructor's grading policy; the instructor's academic status or talent for “entertaining” was of little importance. Students' academic expectations or self-definition made little significant difference either in attitude toward evaluations or in choice of rating criteria. However, students with high academic expectations were less ready to make evaluations, were unsure whether evaluation was part of the students' domain, and granted greater weight to the instructor's rank - all of which could indicate their identification with the norms of the academic world.