A literature review suggests a measure of consistency, stability, and validity of student ratings of teacher performance, with specific variables found to have a positive relationship with the ratings. It also appears the use of the ratings can lead to improved instruction under certain circumstances. (Author/MSE)

A study investigated five university teachers' conceptualizations of actual and desired lecturing behavior and teaching situation and had teachers and students rate the semester's lecturing behavior. Results indicate the lecturer's interpretation of student ratings and ideas about lecturing are crucial to effective use of student ratings for…

Issues in the debate over student evaluation of college faculty are discussed, including appropriate measures of teaching effectiveness, reasons for assessing teaching, reliability and validity of student ratings, and how assessments are conducted. Guidelines for implementing a system of regular, institutionwide evaluations are outlined. (MSE)

Data describing college students' study orientations in relation to their evaluations of courses and preferences for different kinds of learning environment are reexamined in light of recent suggestions that failing students perceive their learning context atypically. Implications of this disintegration of coherent perception patterns are examined…

A study of 11 courses in 2 institutions (n=999 students) indicates that courses and teaching in which students have adopted deeper strategies for learning also have higher student ratings, supporting, in general, the validity of student ratings. (Author/MSE)

A study measured teaching effectiveness by level of agreement between student and faculty perceptions of the teachers' instructional behavior attributes and use of them. Results show little agreement between faculty and students on five attributes. Implications for instructional evaluation and for improving teaching are drawn. (MSE)

Student questionnaires used at the University of Waterloo are examined regarding students' willingness to complete them, variability of professor ratings over time, and usefulness of the responses to the university administration. The greatest value of the questionnaires, from an administrative perspective, is for flagging courses and faculty in…

A new questionnaire entitled "Evalec" (for evaluating faculty lecturing) incorporates principles of both the appropriate teaching-learning model and the students' more subjective dimension. This allows for transformation of student perceptions into constructive advice to the teacher. (MSE)

The validity of student rating of teaching is discussed in terms of the effect that students' perceptions of teacher personality might have on that rating. A procedure of using student feedback to evaluate teaching was used in an effort to minimize the effect of teacher personality on students' ratings. (Author/MLW)

Analysis of interviews with 55 undergraduate university students in Hong Kong finds student perceptions of teaching quality fit into four categories, or quadrants, formed from the interactions between their beliefs about learning (passive or active) and about teaching (transmissive or nontraditional). Results confirm the significance of implicit…

A discussion of student ratings of faculty looks at problems in measurement and interpretation, including such factors as the ability of raters to evaluate complex behaviors, the salience of personal characteristics in judging task performance, and emphasis on the students as consumer. (Author/MSE)

The influences of class size and the number of students completing surveys on faculty and course ratings were studied. For classes of 30 or more, a 50 percent response rate gives an acceptable indication of rating, while for a class of less than 30, about 80 percent return is needed. (Author/SW)

Three types of higher education lecturing styles are described and their differences are discussed in the context of current conceptions of teaching and pedagogical principles. The three lectures are subsequently characterized as content-driven, context-driven, and pedagogy-driven. Evaluation data suggest that the more pedagogically oriented the…

A group of second-year Israeli students were asked to select the three most important characteristics of a good college teacher from a list of 15. The two most significant were the method of instruction and the teacher's ability to spark intellectual growth. Research talents, personality, and academic status were of little concern. (Author/LBH)

A study of the relationship between students' evaluation of university instruction and instructors' self-ratings at Tel-Aviv University found only a modest relationship. Discrepancies between teacher and student ratings were not found in relation to teacher training but were found in relation to the amount of teaching experience. (MSE)