Student Evaluations Of Instructors Research Articles

Smart choice with smart device: the use of apps in accelerated online education for nontraditional students

PurposeBased on student responses to a set of customized questionnaires, this study aims to present evidence that while student evaluations of instructors and courses remain consistent, a designated mobile app enhances perceived online learning experience.Design/methodology/approachThis study addresses quality assurance issues in accelerated online graduate-level education by identifying factors that influence nontraditional adult student preferences for using mobile applications (apps).FindingsIt is evident that affordability and functionality are the two most important determinants of nontraditional student preferences for app-based learning, followed by mobility and ease of purchase.Originality/valueThese findings underscore the potential of app learning to bolster positive perceptions of online education. Findings of this study imply that integrating additional app learning tools can be used as a quality assurance mechanism and enhance nontraditional students’ satisfaction through improving their perceived online learning experience.

Effects of Instructor Accent on Undergraduate Evaluations and Learning at a Catholic College

Catholic institutions of higher education are called to form citizens who fight against injustice, including persistent racial oppression. To do this, Catholic, public, and other private institutions must provide students opportunities to learn about and confront racism (Johnston, 2014). It is important that these institutions confront these issues because they employ faculty and staff who may experience systemic racism and can provide cultural knowledge to aid deconstructing racist ideologies. Undergraduate student evaluations of instructors or faculty, however, indicate discrimination against those perceived as non-white and with non-native English accents. This study focuses on one form of racism at a Catholic liberal arts college: bias against instructors who speak with a non-native English accent. This between-groups experimental study was guided by critical sociolinguistic theory and sociocultural theory to examine patterns in undergraduate engagement with material that varied only by instructor accent. Participants (n=98) completed a pre-assessment, a microlecture (randomized by accent), a post-assessment, and a microlecture evaluation. The study’s theoretical frameworks suggest that students would demonstrate bias against non-white presenters, despite the Catholic context and having no visual cues about the race or ethnicity of the presenter. Pre-and post-assessment results indicated that the microlecture had some limited effects on student learning regardless of instructor accent; however, instructors that were perceived as white had significantly higher ratings in terms of the student belief that they “showed enthusiasm about the subject matter” and that “watching this microlecture improved [their] score on the quiz.” These findings suggest continued work is needed to understand and confront issues of systemic racism in higher education.

Delivery Modes: Learning Effectiveness and Student Satisfaction

We use objective and subjective measures of learning outcomes to compare learning effectiveness and student perceptions across three different delivery modes, traditional (face-to-face), hybrid, and online. For the objective measures, we use scores on rote, critical thinking and engagement assessment tools in the introductory international business course. For the subjective measures, we compare student perceptions by analyzing scores from the Student Evaluation of Instructors (SEIs) surveys that are administered at the completion of each course section. We find differences in the critical-thinking and engagement components whereby students in the hybrid delivery group performed better than their counterparts in the traditional and online groups. Online students had in general lower scores across the board, especially on the engagement dimension. In their totality, the objective data results support the value of the in-person factor for learning effectiveness. On the student perceptions side, results show similar assessment of learning experiences in the traditional and hybrid modes across most dimensions. Students were more critical in assessing instructors and learning experiences in online course sections.

Do I Sound Funny to You? The Role of Instructor Gender and Accent on Student Learning and Evaluation in a Digital Learning Environment

In academia, student evaluation of instructors is the most utilized assessment of educators’ effectiveness, which in turn, can influence faculty promotion, tenure and career trajectory. However, ample body of literature demonstrates that students’ implicit bias and stereotyped expectations can negatively impact their evaluation of instructors in the classroom and in online learning environments. Studies on gender and age bias revealed that digital resources and instructors are evaluated differently based on the voice qualities that carry different age and gender characteristic. Further, in our previous study, male voice containing ethnic characteristics expressed in different accents showed differences in student evaluations despite the consistently positive learning outcomes. In the current, IRB‐exempt study (#17‐1510), the experimental condition expanded to test students’ learning outcomes and evaluation of digital resources narrated by a female voice with different ethnic qualities. Four identical digital learning resources introducing histology, embryology and anatomy of the pituitary were narrated by a female voice actor in 4 different accents (American, Chinese, Indian, British). Professional science students who had not yet learned any aspect of pituitary gland were recruited to participate in a randomized single blind study. Participants were randomly assigned to 4 groups (A, B, C, D) and received one of the four digital resources. All students completed a pre and post‐quiz before and after tutorial viewing and a resource and instructor evaluation. Learning outcomes were assessed by pre and post‐quiz comparison using Two‐Way ANOVAs. Quantitative data from evaluations were analyzed by Two‐way ANOVAs with Tukey post hoc tests where appropriate. Internal reliability of the evaluation items was measured across 4 groups by Cronbach’s Alpha (0.88, 0.94 for digital resource and instructor, respectively).126 students completed the study (A, n=33, B, n=28 C, n=32. D, n=30). All groups performed significantly better on the post‐quiz compared to the pre‐quiz (p<0.05; partial η2 = 0.53), but the performance increase across the 4 groups was not significantly different (p>0.05) suggesting that learning occurs from the digital tutorials and that narrator accent has no effect on learning. There was no significant difference in evaluation scores for the tutorial or the instructor across the 4 groups (p>0.05). Interestingly, all 4 groups rated the tutorials higher than the instructor (p<0.05; partial η2 = 0.14), suggesting that students value the digital resources higher than the instructor narrating them. This study reveals for the first‐time, student learning and evaluation of a female accented digital instructor, which may have important implications in the increasingly diverse and digital world of education.

The Role of Instructor Accent on Student Learning & Instructor Evaluation in a Digital Learning Environment

Student evaluations are one of the most common modalities by which instructors in higher education are assessed professionally. However, research indicates that student evaluations of instructors may be directly or indirectly influenced by factors unrelated to the efficacy of the teacher. As digital resources & online classes become more ubiquitous, student interactions with teachers grow limited, possibly rendering evaluations of instructors more susceptible to pre‐existing student bias. Recent studies show that students evaluate digital resources and instructors differently based on perceived gender & age of the narrator, despite positive learning outcomes, but little research has examined whether the same is true based on perceived instructor ethnicity. To study how instructor accent affects student learning and evaluation of instructors in a digital learning environment, an IRB‐exempt study was designed and 4 digital resources on the histology of the pituitary gland were produced. All the 4 modules were identical in content, but each module was narrated in a distinct accent (standard American, Chinese, Indian & British) by one individual. Graduate and professional health science students who had not yet learned the educational content were recruited to participate in the study and were randomized into 4 groups, with each group given access to 1 resource. Student learning outcomes were measured by pre‐ vs. post‐quiz comparison using a paired t‐test. Student perceptions of the digital resources & their narrator were assessed using a Likert‐scale survey that evaluated both the learning module (7 questions) and the instructor (16 questions). Likert survey responses were analyzed with a two‐way Repeated‐Measures MANOVA. The survey also allowed for written comments, which were thematically analyzed. Common keywords and phrases were coded, and frequency noted. 58 students participated in the study. Results demonstrated a statistically significant increase in post‐quiz performance (p=7e−21), regardless of assigned digital resource, signifying learning occurred irrespective of perceived instructor ethnicity. Despite identical content, students rated the organization & effectiveness of the module differently, depending on narrator accent. An American narrator rated higher than a Chinese narrator in terms of organization (p=0.03), but a British narrator rated higher than an American narrator in terms of helping students gain new appreciation for the material (p=0.04). Students also rated the instructor differently on characteristics such as enthusiasm and whether they enjoyed listening to the instructor present information. The British narrator was rated higher for pleasing characteristics (p=0.02), but the Indian instructor was rated higher for seeming to present material in a well‐organized manner (p=0.04) & the Chinese instructor was rated higher for identifying appropriate concepts (p=0.03). This study reveals for the first time, students' ethnic bias in the evaluation of educational resources and instructors in digital environment, which may have important implications in the increasingly diverse and digital world of education.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Dissecting the voice: Health professions students' perceptions of instructor age and gender in an online environment and the impact on evaluations for faculty.

Gender and age bias is well-documented in academia with many studies demonstrating bias in students' evaluations of instructors. Failure of an instructor to meet gender or age-based expectations can translate to lower scores or negative comments on evaluations. While there is some evidence of bias in students' evaluations of online instructors, current studies have not fully examined the relationship between bias and instructor vocal characteristics. First-year dental students at two institutions were randomly assigned one of four videos on spinal cord anatomy to view. Videos contained identical content but were narrated by individuals of different gender and age (younger man, younger woman, older man, older woman). Students completed a content-based prequiz, watched the video, completed a postquiz, and answered a questionnaire evaluating the video and instructor. Students at Institution A rated the younger man and younger woman highest for nearly every evaluation category. At Institution B students rated the older man and younger woman highest. Results reveal that the older woman's voice received the lowest rankings for nearly every question in both samples. This report confirms the presence of gender and age bias in student evaluations of instructors in an online environment and demonstrates that bias may surface in response to vocal characteristics. Bias may impact older women more significantly than other groups. Differences in results from Institution A and Institution B suggest that factors affecting student perceptions of instructors, and the roles that gender and age bias may play in student evaluations, are complex and may be contextual. Anat Sci Educ 9: 537-544. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.

Health Science Students' Evaluation of Courses and Instructors : The Effect of Response Rate and Class Size Interaction

This study aims at investigating the effect of response rate and class size interaction on students' evaluation of instructors and the courses offered at heath science colleges in Saudi Arabia. A retrospective study design was adapted to ascertain Course Evaluation Surveys (CES) conducted at the health science colleges of the University of Dammam [UOD] in the academic year 2013-2014. Accordingly, the CES data which was downloaded from an exclusive online application 'UDQUEST' which includes 337 different courses and 15,264 surveys were utilized in this study. Two-way analysis of variance was utilized to test whether there is any significant interaction between the class size and the response rate on the students' evaluation of courses and instructors. The study showed that high response rate is required for student evaluation of instructors at Health Science colleges when the class size is small whereas a medium response rate is required for students' evaluation of courses. On the other hand, when the class size is medium, a medium or high response rate is needed for students' evaluation of both instructors and courses. The results of this study recommend that the administrators of the health science colleges to be aware of the interpretation of students' evaluations of courses and instructors. The study also suggests that the interaction between response rate and class size is a very important factor that needs to be taken into consideration while interpreting the findings of the students' evaluation of instructors and courses.

Use of a team-based learning-influenced approach in an ambulatory care course

ObjectiveTo describe the development of an ambulatory care-focused elective course that used select elements of team-based learning (TBL) and to evaluate students' acceptance and opinions of these instructional changes. MethodsA three-credit-hour ambulatory care elective course for third-year pharmacy students was transformed from a traditional lecture-based format to an active learning format influenced by TBL. The primary course objectives were for students to be able to assess patient cases and solve pharmacotherapeutic dilemmas using a problem-solving framework. ResultsResults of a survey administered to gather students' opinions of the course format revealed improvement in agreement scores after the second semester of using these new instructional methods. Student evaluations of instructors were more favorable prior to implementation of TBL-influenced methods. However, there was a trend toward consistent improvement in evaluations after the initial year of using TBL-influenced methods. ConclusionsThis instructional method influenced by TBL is a creative strategy to promote active learning in a case-based, ambulatory care elective course.

Examining the Influence of Team Project Design Decisions on Student Perceptions and Evaluations of Instructors

Although there is an increasing focus on the importance of incorporating team projects into business curricula, the way team projects are implemented varies significantly among instructors. Student team literature has explored different methods for effectively teaching teamwork; less is known about student attitudes toward these methods, in particular, how this affects student attitudes toward the instructor. We use the research on team effectiveness and organizational justice to develop hypotheses regarding two categories of design decisions: grading and use of class time. We collected data from instructors at a United States college on how they designed team projects and from students in these courses regarding perceived fairness and evaluation of their instructor. Results indicate that design decisions influence U.S. students' evaluations of instructors, consistent with the individualistic U.S. culture and with perceptions of fairness. Our findings should be of interest both to U.S. academicians, given the extreme weight evaluations are given in the promotion and tenure process, and academicians from other cultures as a cultural insight about U.S. students. Our results also point to the potential tension instructors face when challenging students to develop the necessary skills to function effectively in a global society.

Student Evaluations: Advice for Novice Faculty

Student evaluations can be a valuable method to transform teaching strategies and course design in nursing education. Negative student comments are difficult to view as constructive criticism and have the potential to lead to negative changes, rather than positive, productive changes for improved instruction and course design. This article provides a glimpse of recent empirical evidence regarding student evaluations of instructors as well as providing novice faculty with suggestions for promoting positive change in teaching strategies.

A Test of the Reciprocity Effect in the Student Evaluation of Instructors in Marketing Classes

Grades given to students and evaluations given to instructors are related. Several explanations have been advanced to explain the relationship. The most damaging to the validity of the student evaluation process is a reciprocity relationship. A study of marketing classes found that every prediction made by a reciprocity hypothesis was validated. Implications are reviewed.

Teaching and Learning Styles of Community College Business Instructors and Their Students: Relationship to Student Performance and Instructor Evaluations

This study was designed to determine whether a match between instructors' teaching styles and students' learning styles would foster student success as evidenced by higher course grades and final exam scores. Further, student evaluations of instructors were examined to determine whether a match between instructors' teaching styles and students' learning styles would yield more positive evaluations of instructor effectiveness. Study participants included five business instructors and 99 students from two community colleges. There was no significant relationship between learning style/teaching style match and student success as indicated by course grades, final exam scores, and evaluations of instructors. A significant relationship existed, however, between course grades, final exam scores, instructor evaluations, and GPA.

Exploring the beliefs surrounding student evaluations of instruction in criminology and criminal justice undergraduate courses

Student evaluations of instructors are given consideration in a number of important decisions concerning instructors such as hiring, merit pay, and in the tenure and promotion process. However, a number of popular beliefs surround the interpretation of these evaluations. Using student evaluations for the three research-oriented universities in the state of Florida as a database, a number of these beliefs are explored. Specifically, the effects of instructor attributes (such as gender, rank and grades) and course characteristics (such as class size, type, number of course meetings, and time of day offered) on the end of the semester student evaluation rankings are discussed.

Student Evaluations and Consumer Orientation of Universities

ABSTRACT In response to a more competitive marketplace for students, universities have attempted to become more responsive to one group of consumers, the students. Student evaluations of instructors have become an increasingly important aspect of faculty evaluation. This paper examines student evaluations of instructors to determine how increased responsiveness to one set of consumers may affect the “product” delivered to other consumers.

The Halo Effect and Student Evaluations of Instructors

High correlations between students' ratings ( n = 1,861) of the clarity of the instructors' voices, the instructors' interest in whether students learned and the availability of the instructor for extra help suggest that large reliability coefficients based on internal consistency may also reflect the operation of a halo effect.

A Statistical Interpretation of Student Evaluation Feedback: A Comment

Blackwell examines a paper on student evaluation of instructors by David Dilts which appeared in the Journal of Economic Education, Spring 1980. Although critical of the methods used in the article, he praises the intent of the paper and demonstrates that there are two ways of accomplishing what he believes was the intended purpose.

A Survey of Faculty Opinions about Student Evaluations of Instructors

Teachers support the practice of having student evaluations, but they express some doubts about what ratings mean and how the results are used.

Grade inflation: causes and cures

The grade point averages of college students have increased annually since the early 1960's, while scores on standard aptitude tests have dropped. Most educators believe the escalation of grades is not due to increased learning or better students. Hence, the phenomenon is often referred to as “grade inflation.” The five causes of grade inflation discussed are 1) innovations like Pass/Fail options in grading systems, 2) a rise in anti-elitist philosophy, 3) increased use of mastery learning and competency-based evaluation without appropriate accommodations in grading systems, 4) student evaluation of instructors, and 5) competition for student enrollments both within and between institutions. The authors propose a package of four reforms to eliminate grade inflation and allow grades to effectively perform their positive functions of feedback, record-keeping, and motivation. The first reform calls for appropriate use of and clear separation of norm-reference and criterion-reference grading. Second, numerical scores would not be lumped into letter grade categories. Third, readily interpreted, standardized scores would be used as grades. Finally, transcripts would provide some information to describe the populations with which students are compared when standardized scores are used.

Stability of Student Evaluations of Instructors and Their Courses with Implications for Validity

A course-instructor evaluation form was administered to 775 undergraduates in 15 large and small section introductory courses after the second class meeting and again near the end of the semester. The median pretest posttest correlation was +.60. Students were generally more negative toward their course and instructor at the end of the semester than they were at the beginning. As a separate portion of this project, two instructors deliberately attempted to alter their students' evaluation in one of two large sections of their introductory psychology course. In both cases, there was a significant overall mean difference between the experimental and control groups on the initial evaluation but there was no difference on the end-of-semester evaluation. The results of this study indicated that although students quickly form reasonably lasting judgments of their instructors and courses they are also able to alter their judgments as warranted by changing situations. These findings appear to provide support for the validity of student evaluations.

Adult Teacher Self-Improvement Through Evaluation By Students

Student groups on several campuses have procured student evalua tions of instructors and made these results available to other students for a fee. The charge against student ratings of this sort is that they are not carefully obtained and in too many instances reflect an inaccurate appraisal. However, student evaluation of teaching, properly obtained, has been found to be positively cor related with other criteria of effective teaching and may be con sidered a useful device for teacher self-improvement. This article reports data obtained when the writer administered student evalua tion rating forms to adult students in graduate classes. Attention is called to variability in student response, as well as suggested in terpretations of the information obtained. A copy of the evalua tion form is appended.