College teaching should be approached with the same careful delineation of problems and systematic attempts to find solutions which characterize research. Specific methods for the diagnosis of instructional problems include audio-video taping, use of teaching assistants, colleague assistance, classroom tests, student projects in and out of class,…

This article argues that the 1981 work of Carbno presented unwarranted conclusions because its design included an improper operationalization of the object of measurement, given the problems addressed, and because the sample sizes employed were too small. (Author/PN)

The critical issues, in a dispute between Romney's interpretation of his results and Gillmore's interpretation, are described as whether the teacher factor should be treated as fixed or random in the analysis of variance model and what conclusions can be drawn from the results of the study. (Author/MLW)

Identifies four additional data patterns that discriminate among five theories of students' expected grades/teacher ratings correlation. The presence of all four of these markers in student ratings data is consistent with the theory that the correlation is due to an unwanted influence of instructors' grading leniency. (MMU)

Most previous studies of the dependability of student ratings of instruction have used the class as the unit of analysis, thus confounding the effects of the course, the teacher, and the interaction between the two. This paper presents two studies in which generalizability theory is applied to data collected within designs allowing for independent…

Romney's 1977 findings indicate that within student ratings, the course that an instructor teaches is as important a determiner of resulting ratings as the instructor himself. Reanalysis of his data indicates that the course effect is actually quite small, a result consistent with earlier studies. (Author/LBH)

Generalizability theory is used here to separate the ratings of courses by students into various components. Results indicate reliable findings when generalizing over students and items (to rate teachers and courses), and over students, items and courses (to rate teachers). (JKS)

About 200 undergraduate classes were evaluated in three consecutive terms with surveys that assessed grades and course workloads. Major features of the covariance structure model developed were that courses giving higher grades were better liked and that courses giving higher grades had lighter workloads, showing effects of instructors' grading…

The generalizability issue is reviewed through previously published results and by presenting new data. When classes (teacher-course combinations) are used as the object of measurement, studies show very consistent results. However, when either the teacher or the course is treated as the object of measurement, with the other being a facet over…

The efficacy of student ratings is examined through existing research, and it is concluded that although the ratings are generally reliable and valid indicators of teaching effectiveness and are not strongly influenced by extraneous factors, additional independent evaluation means are needed. (MSE)

Generalizability theory is described and applied to data collection methods for student ratings of instruction. Three generalizability coefficients (generalizing over both students and items, generalizing over students only, and generalizing over items only) are defined, and the appropriateness of each for various purposes is discussed.…

This report presents statistical analyses of data derived from the first year's use of the Instructional Assessment System. Included are: means, standard deviations, and several reliability estimates for each item within each form; inter-item correlations; and correlations of items with non-evaluative variables. Among the major results discussed…