The reliability and validity of student ratings of faculty can be affected by the ethical decisions of those evaluated and evaluating. Systems of faculty evaluation should have their own codes of conduct for students, faculty, and administrators. Nine scenarios offer illustrations. (Author/MSE)

Looks at popular myths surrounding student evaluations of faculty and cites research that provides insight into what is known concerning student evaluations and their use. (EV)

Provides suggestions for how faculty can encourage students to take faculty evaluations seriously and to provide thoughtful and constructive criticism. (EV)

Are online student ratings the "wave of the future"? This chapter introduces numerous advantages and challenges of adopting an online system for student evaluation of teaching; in it, the authors preview the research of the other authors of this volume and suggest areas that universities can investigate when determining the desirability of…

For student rating data to be useful in improving college teaching, consultants and faculty need to know how different evaluative purposes effect evaluation results, and they must be able to interpret and use the data at hand. A series of steps should be followed to help ensure valid data interpretation. (MSE)

Describes student quality teams as a way to help faculty make the process of getting student feedback more reflective and collaborative. (EV)

Student ratings reflect the variety and range of teacher behaviors and the instructional successes and failures. Although researchers, practitioners, and users of rating systems acknowledge their multidimensionality, it is not fully used. Understanding the context of evaluations and identifying how intended uses and audiences affect data…

There is steadily accumulating evidence of the misuse or overuse of ratings data, but this does not invalidate their usefulness. The research literature has been concerned almost exclusively with the construction of ratings instruments. There has been little systematic study about creating evaluation systems that truly respond to the needs of…

Discusses written comments by students on faculty evaluations and suggests how faculty can organize them to provide usable feedback to improve their teaching and student learning. (EV)

Many U.S. institutions of higher education are initiating and expanding the use of the Internet for collecting and reporting student ratings of instruction. The primary objective of this study was to better understand the effects of the Internet on student ratings of instruction in higher education. More specifically, data were collected to…

Offers suggestions about how faculty can incorporate technology into midsemester student feedback, asserting that it gives students more opportunities to provide input. (EV)

Offers suggestions for writing student rating scale questions that target individual faculty needs and interests. (EV)

Observation of 401 college teachers indicates that teachers of different academic disciplines (arts/humanities, social sciences, natural sciences/mathematics) differ in the frequency of specific classroom teaching behaviors, but that what makes an effective teacher, in the perception of students, is consistent regardless of discipline.…

Describes a streamlined process for using student focus groups to obtain student feedback on faculty and course effectiveness. (EV)

When faculty evaluation systems are proposed, students, faculty, and administrators often think only of questionnaires and assignment of data-processing tasks. Much more must be considered, including balancing the needs of all constituencies, designing student-rating forms and administration procedures, and the treatment and uses of the…