Student Evaluation Of Teaching Questionnaires Research Articles

Academics’ Perceptions of Good Teaching: Assessing the Degree of Parity with Student Evaluation of Teaching Questionnaires

ABSTRACTThere is a dearth of studies on academics’ perceptions of good teaching in transitional economies such as Uganda and the degree of parity between academics’ conceptions of good teaching and the items in the student evaluation of teaching (SET) questionnaires. Against this backdrop, the article reports on a study that explored how academics at Makerere University, Uganda, perceive good teaching and compared the resultant perceptions with the items in the SET questionnaires. The study employed a qualitative approach and data was collected by using semi-structured interviews and reviewing documents. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the data from the interviews while the data from the documents was analysed using content analysis. The findings showed that academics perceive good teaching as: being knowledgeable; being student-centred; demonstrating good communication skills; undertaking research-based teaching; demonstrating professionalism; being approachable; and being organised. Finally, the findings demonstrated a convergence between academics’ perceptions of good teaching and most of the items in the SET questionnaires.

Unreliability in Student Evaluation of Teaching Questionnaires: Focus Groups as an Alternative Approach

The conventional method used to measure teaching effectiveness is the student evaluation of teaching questionnaire (SET). Research on the validity and reliability of SETs is vast, though riddled with inconsistencies. The many “myths” of SETs are investigated and the incongruities are demonstrated. We hypothesize that the discrepancies in empirical studies come from misunderstanding and inappropriate actions by students. To address the complexity inherent in these problems, we suggest the use of focus groups as an alternative approach or complement to the standard SETs. A recommended format and guidelines for running classroom focus groups are provided. Institutional constraints and implementation concerns are addressed as well. This article lays the foundation for implementing a change in student assessment of teaching by proposing a method to compensate for bias in SETs, using focus groups as an evaluation tool, either as a stand-alone process or as a supplement to current methods.

A multivariate method for analyzing and improving the use of student evaluation of teaching questionnaires: a case study

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) questionnaires are the most common methods of evaluation used by European universities to assess the quality of teaching delivered by their lecturers. A series of multivariate statistical methods were applied to analyze the underlying structure of the SET questionnaire used by the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (UPV) in order to develop an appropriate methodology for extracting, analyzing, and interpreting the information contained in the questionnaire. In a first step, a confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA) was developed in order to evaluate the reliability, validity and dimensionality of it, by means of two relatively new parameters commonly used in structural equation modelling: the compound reliability and extracted variance for each latent construct. In a second step, cluster analysis (CA) was used to test the ability of the questionnaire for the identification of different categories of lecturers. In the last step, a tree classification method, the chi-squared automatic interaction detector (CHAID), was used in order to characterize the different lecturer’s categories obtained with CA according to all available information regarding the teaching staff and subjects.

Rewarding good teaching: A matter of demonstrated proficiency or documented achievement?

Good teaching can be construed from two perspectives. From one point of view, teaching is seen as a developmental process in which the individual acquires knowledge and skills through practice. Recognition is then based on the teacher meeting specified proficiency criteria as measured by such procedures as student evaluation of teaching questionnaires and colleague appraisal. A second perspective is to view good teaching in terms of instructional achievements. Here judgements are often based on a teacher's portfolio submission where assessments are made on the extent to which the teacher has contributed to the quality of teaching within the institution. This paper describes developments at the University of New South Wales in recognizing and rewarding good teaching based on the second perspective, and on how teaching staff are assisted in developing teaching portfolios to document teaching achievements. These developments are discussed in relation to the issues of what constitutes evidence for ‘good teaching’ and concerns that teaching staff have raised about the process of documenting teaching.