A study of the validity of student ratings of college faculty focused on the relationship of student outcomes to faculty ratings. Subjects were students of 36 full-time instructors; outcome measures included subject matter knowledge, student self-ratings, and measures of short- and long-term motivation (interest in the subject matter). Results…

Recent research on formative and summative evaluation concluded that: (1) student ratings are most common and increasing in popularity; (2) student ratings are reliable; (3) evaluations influence salary, tenure, and promotion; (4) evaluations improve teaching effectiveness; (5) faculty satisfaction varies with institutional context; and (6)…

This study examined effects of student evaluation of faculty teaching for 7 departments in the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Western Ontario over a 21-year period. The sample of teachers included 1322 faculty members who had taught undergraduate courses in one or more year between 1973-74 through 1993-94. The same 10-item teaching…

A survey of faculty attitudes shows that, although the existing evaluation system--including peer, graduate student, and undergraduate student assessments--is perceived as narrow in focus, ineffective in improving teaching, and inflexible, faculty are optimistic that a satisfactory system is possible. (Author/MSE)

Formative evaluation of teaching is discussed, and ways of obtaining diagnostic feedback that will lead to improved teaching in large lecture classes are examined. A Teacher Behaviors Inventory is included. (MLW)

The percentage of universities using student ratings to evaluate teacher performance is steadily increasing, but this method can be abused if it is the sole criterion of evaluation. Recent surveys of faculty attitudes towards teaching evaluation indicate that most faculty members are in favor of systematic evaluation, prefer student ratings to…