Toward a more comprehensive approach to evaluating teaching effectiveness: supplementing student evaluations of teaching with pre–post learning measures

Abstract

The use of student evaluations of teaching (SETs) to assess teaching effectiveness remains controversial. Without clear guidelines regarding how to best document effective teaching, faculty members may wonder how to convincingly demonstrate teaching effectiveness in preparation for promotion and tenure review. Based on a study that examined the relations among student grades, learning, and SETs, we identify a relatively unencumbered approach to documenting teaching effectiveness more comprehensively than through the use of SETs alone. Students enrolled in eight sections of general psychology (N = 165) completed pre‐ and post‐ measures of learning, SETs, and a brief demographic questionnaire. Results of a regression analysis provided partial support for the notion that SETs and learning measures assess distinct aspects of teaching effectiveness. In preparing documentation for promotion and tenure review, faculty members should consider including measures of student learning along with SETs in order to document teaching effectiveness more convincingly and comprehensively.