Recognition of teaching excellence has become a global trend in higher education as various schemes and awards are established as a way to assure stakeholders of the quality of teaching in universities. At present, there is a lack of research into what teaching excellence means from an institutional perspective. This study explores the…

Dressing formally or informally as an academic may be a trade-off when it comes to managing impressions towards students, but the extant body of literature remains limited with only mixed results. This research is the first focussed investigation to examine the effects of academic dress formality on the 'big two' of impression formation,…

The role that part-time faculty play in higher education is changing. No longer are part-time faculty used on an occasional basis at a few institutions. These individuals now play a critical part in the delivery of higher education to students. This study was developed to answer questions regarding how the performance of adjunct faculty is…

The USA has served as a beacon of hope for thousands of foreign students and academics with its diverse and superior opportunities created by a system of meritocracy unparalleled in the world. In keeping with other industries, academia is increasingly becoming a global village and foreign-born professors constitute a large proportion of university…

With the proliferation of computer networks and the increased use of Internet-based applications, many forms of social interactions now take place in an on-line context through "Computer-Mediated Communication" (CMC). Many universities are now reaping the benefits of using CMC applications to collect data on student evaluations of…

We examined web-based ratings and open-ended comments of teaching-award winners (n = 120) and research-award winners (n = 119) to determine if teaching-award winners received more favourable ratings and comments on RateMyProfessors.com. As predicted, students rated teaching-award winners higher than research-award winners on measures of teaching…

While there has been a good deal of discussion about the scholarship of teaching and learning, and models have been developed to understand its scope, the effects on students' learning of academics engaging in the scholarship of teaching and learning are unclear. In the context of initiatives to develop the scholarship of teaching and learning in…

Although many studies have examined techniques used to evaluate faculty performance, the literature has generally provided mixed results regarding the proper ways to measure teaching effectiveness. This paper provides the results of a survey of 1300 administrators and faculty of AACSB International accredited institutions. Respondents were asked…

Although measures of student ratings of instruction have been developed and examined empirically, students' attitudes about the utility of these ratings have yet to be meaningfully quantified. Using survey responses from 1229 students at a major Canadian university, we developed a psychometrically sound measure of the usefulness of student…

The present article examined the validity of public web-based teaching evaluations by comparing the ratings on RateMyProfessors.com for 126 professors at Lander University to the institutionally administered student evaluations of teaching and actual average assigned GPAs for these same professors. Easiness website ratings were significantly…

Asserts that in order for teaching evaluation to encourage improvement, there must be a measure of all elements that make teaching what it is. Proposes a model that highlights the significance of conceptions, knowledge, and the context within which the instructional event takes place. Suggests activities and instruments that may assess teaching…

Evaluated key factors motivating students to participate in teaching evaluation. Found that students generally consider an improvement in teaching to be the most attractive outcome. The second most attractive outcome was using teaching evaluations to improve course content and format. Using teaching evaluations for a professor's tenure, promotion,…

Describes the process used at the University of Natal (South Africa) to assess quality in teaching as the basis for academic promotion decisions. Considers development of the assessment model, the evaluation criteria used in assessing teaching portfolios, and the successes and problems inherent in the system. (DB)

The Nominal Group Technique, in which groups of students jointly evaluate a course, is proposed as an alternative to individual course evaluation questionnaires for student assessment of college teacher performance. Evaluation of a new course by three cohorts of students using the technique is reported. Strengths and weaknesses emerging in the…

The author proposes that the unique benefit of self-evaluation for college faculty is the close involvement it gives the teacher in considering the effectiveness of their own teaching. Different methods of self-evaluation are considered, and a technique involving keeping a course log that has been found successful is explained. (Author/MSE)