Student Ratings of Teaching Quality Dimensions: Empirical Findings and Future Directions

Richard Göllner,Wolfgang Wagner,Benjamin Fauth

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-75150-0_7

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter discusses current issues in research on the validity of student ratings of teaching quality. We first discuss the advantages and limitations of student ratings of teaching quality based on theoretical considerations regarding the teaching quality concept. Research reveals that the validity of student ratings differs depending on the aspect of teaching quality being rated (i.e., classroom management, cognitive activation, or student support). Extending this research, we propose that future studies on the validity of student ratings should take into account students’ cognitive processing while responding to survey items. We discuss three areas that seem promising for future research: the complexity and comprehensibility of survey items, the referent and addressee of items, and finally, the idiosyncratic nature of student ratings.

Highlights

Assuring reliable and valid measures is a key issue in assessing teaching quality in schools or classrooms for evaluative purposes
Teaching quality—in terms of teachers’ classroom management, the support teachers provide to students, or the extent to which learning is cognitively demanding—can be assessed in different ways, each of which entails a number of advantages and disadvantages (Derry et al, 2010; Desimone et al, 2010; Fraser & Walberg, 1991; Wubbels et al, 1992)
The authors argue that raters might compensate for uncertainty in high-inference ratings by more strongly adjusting their ratings to match their general impression, which might in turn be unrelated or only partially related to the teaching quality dimension in question

Summary

Introduction

Assuring reliable and valid measures is a key issue in assessing teaching quality in schools or classrooms for evaluative purposes. Student ratings represent a promising way to evaluate teaching because they provide firsthand impressions and are more efficient in assessing teaching quality than alternatives such as classroom observations. Students’ ability to provide reliable and valid information about teaching quality. We first describe a common framework of teaching quality and present recent findings on the differential validity of student ratings for conceptually different aspects of teaching quality. We show that the way in which students are asked about teaching quality in surveys raises awareness of the potential and limitations of student ratings and can help us identify existing gaps in the field of teaching quality research

The Concept of Teaching Quality

Why Should Student Ratings Be Used to Assess Teaching Quality?

Future Directions for the Use of Students’ Ratings

Complexity and Comprehensibility

Framing

The Idiosyncratic Nature of Student Ratings

Closing Remarks