Ibrahim Gardner
Student evaluations of teaching (SETs) are a controversial topic in the academic community. While some argue that they are an important gauge of students' classroom experiences and can help instructors improve their teaching methods, others believe that they can be biased and unreliable. Some even argue that they encourage poor teaching and contribute to grade inflation. In some cases, instructors' salaries and promotions may be influenced by student evaluations, leading to concerns about the potential impact on teaching quality. However, the weight given to student evaluations varies, and other factors, such as research output and professional work, are also considered in compensation decisions.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Student evaluations impact instructor pay | Student evaluations are used for faculty tenure, promotion evaluations, and pay determination. |
| Student evaluations are biased | Student evaluations are biased against female instructors, people of colour, minorities, and those with foreign accents. |
| Student evaluations are inadequate | Student evaluations do not measure teaching effectiveness and encourage poor teaching and grade inflation. |
| Student evaluations are influenced by unrelated factors | Student evaluations are influenced by factors unrelated to teaching quality, such as minority status, foreign accent, gender, and the discipline being taught. |
| Student evaluations are not mandatory | Not all students fill out evaluations, and those who do may be biased towards extremely positive or negative responses. |
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What You'll Learn
Student evaluations are used for pay raises and promotions
Student evaluations are often used by academic institutions to determine pay raises and promotions for instructors. While some institutions and instructors value student feedback as a way to improve their teaching methods and course content, others argue that student evaluations are an inadequate assessment tool for evaluating instructor performance.
Instructors' pay raises and promotions may be influenced by student evaluations, which can include ratings and comments from students. These evaluations can play a role in performance reviews, influencing decisions regarding pay increases and promotions. However, it is important to note that student evaluations are not the sole factor considered in these decisions.
Student evaluations can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of teaching methods and course content. Students' feedback can indicate areas where the instructor is excelling or needs improvement. By considering student evaluations, instructors can make informed decisions about their teaching approaches and identify aspects of the course that require adjustments.
However, there are concerns about the reliability and validity of student evaluations. Research suggests that student evaluations may be biased against certain instructors, such as female instructors or those from minority backgrounds. Additionally, student evaluations may not accurately reflect the quality of instruction, as they can be influenced by factors such as grading leniency, course difficulty, and students' expectations.
It is worth noting that the use of student evaluations as a sole metric for evaluating instructor performance and making decisions about pay raises and promotions is controversial. Some argue that student evaluations should be considered alongside other factors, such as peer reviews, to ensure a more comprehensive assessment of an instructor's teaching effectiveness and contribution to the institution.
While student evaluations can provide valuable feedback for instructors, it is important for institutions to carefully consider their role in evaluating instructor performance and making decisions about pay raises and promotions. By weighing student evaluations alongside other relevant factors, institutions can strive for a fair and comprehensive assessment process.
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Student evaluations may be biased against female instructors
Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs) are used by academic institutions across North America to evaluate faculty performance and influence decisions regarding hiring, promotion, pay raises, and retention. However, it has been argued that SETs are an inadequate assessment tool and should not be used for summative evaluation due to their biased nature.
Research has revealed that SETs exhibit gender bias against female instructors, with studies finding that students rate female instructors more poorly than male instructors. This bias is more pronounced in male-dominated departments, where women teaching upper-level courses receive lower evaluations. The bias also worsens with critical feedback and instructor age, with older female instructors receiving lower ratings than younger women. Additionally, female instructors who display agentic and assertive traits may be judged more harshly due to incongruent gender stereotypes.
The bias in SETs is not limited to student evaluations but is also present in peer evaluations, reflecting broader societal biases. Furthermore, the bias varies by discipline and student gender, and it influences even seemingly objective aspects of teaching, such as the promptness of assignment grading. The use of SETs as a basis for personnel decisions can be discriminatory towards female lecturers and contribute to the progression of women in academic careers.
To address this issue, it has been suggested that moving departments towards gender parity and emphasizing the achievements of both male and female faculty members could help ease biases in teaching evaluations. Additionally, alternatives to SETs, such as open forums and discussions, may increase student awareness of their potential biases.
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Student evaluations do not measure teaching effectiveness
Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs) have been criticised for not being a valid measure of teaching effectiveness. They are influenced by several factors unrelated to teaching quality, such as the student's grade expectations and enjoyment of the class, the instructor's gender, race, age, and physical attractiveness, and even the weather on the day the survey is completed. For example, research shows that students tend to reward teachers who grade leniently with positive SETs and choose courses that promise good grades. This suggests that SETs may inadvertently encourage poor teaching and grade inflation.
Furthermore, SETs are often used to make important decisions about faculty hiring, promotions, and merit increases, which can be unfair and potentially illegal. While SET scores appear objective due to their numerical nature, they are sensitive to students' biases and are not necessarily correlated with student learning or the use of effective teaching strategies. For instance, a professor who is engaging and has a sense of humour may receive higher SET scores than a professor who employs evidence-based teaching strategies but is less entertaining.
Additionally, SET scores are difficult to compare meaningfully, especially between very different classes in terms of size or subject matter. The interpretation of SET scores also requires knowledge of the distribution of scores, which may not always be available.
Given these limitations, alternative methods for evaluating teaching effectiveness have been suggested. These include evaluating the materials professors create for classes and conducting regular teaching observations. However, the interrater reliability of peer observations may not be consistently high, and the valid assessment of multifaceted phenomena such as teaching effectiveness requires scientifically rigorous investigations.
While student evaluations can provide valuable feedback for instructors and facilitate dialogue on improving teaching quality, they should be used formatively rather than for summative evaluations or decisions about instructor compensation.
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Student evaluations are influenced by unrelated factors
Student evaluations are often considered when determining an instructor's pay, promotion, and hiring. However, student evaluations are influenced by factors unrelated to teaching quality, which calls into question their effectiveness as a metric for instructor performance.
Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs) were first developed in the 1920s by educational psychologist Herman H. Remmers to provide university teachers with feedback on how their teaching was perceived by students. While the intention was to help instructors make improvements, Remmers warned that these evaluations should not be accepted as the ultimate measure of merit. Despite this, university administrators began to use SETs as a basis for decisions about merit increases and promotions.
Over time, SETs have become a popular tool for evaluating instructor performance, with some institutions implementing awards for "Best Professor" based on student evaluations. However, research has shown that student evaluations are influenced by factors such as grade satisfaction, leniency of the instructor, course difficulty, and the student's overall enjoyment of the course. These factors may not accurately reflect the teaching effectiveness or quality of instruction provided by the instructor.
Additionally, student evaluations can be biased against certain demographics of instructors. Factors such as minority status, foreign accent, and gender have been found to influence student evaluations, which can lead to unfair and potentially illegal hiring, promotion, and salary decisions.
Furthermore, student evaluations may not provide a comprehensive representation of teacher performance or learning outcomes. Without a clear definition of what constitutes "high-quality teaching," evaluations can be influenced by factors unrelated to the construct itself. For example, an instructor's likeability or accessibility to students may impact their evaluation scores, but these factors may not directly relate to their teaching effectiveness.
In conclusion, while student evaluations can provide valuable feedback for instructors and administrators, they should be carefully considered alongside other metrics when making decisions about instructor pay, promotions, and hiring. Relying solely on student evaluations can lead to unfair outcomes and incentivize instructors to prioritize positive evaluations over academic rigor.
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Student evaluations should be adjusted for fairness
Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs) are often used by universities as a basis for decisions about pay raises, promotions, and merit increases. However, there is much debate surrounding the fairness of this practice.
While some argue that SETs provide valuable insights into students' learning experiences, others point out that they are flawed measures of teaching effectiveness and can encourage poor teaching and grade inflation. Research suggests that SETs are influenced by factors unrelated to teaching quality, such as the instructor's minority status, foreign accent, gender, and the discipline they are teaching. For example, a study found that students in both France and the United States rated online professors more positively when they believed the instructor was male. Additionally, students tend to reward lenient grading instructors and easy courses with positive SETs, which can result in grade inflation.
Furthermore, the response rate of student evaluations is often low, and there is no guarantee that the responses of those who do complete the surveys would be similar to those who do not. Small class sizes can also skew the results, as average SET scores in these classes can be more significantly influenced by outliers, luck, and error.
To address these concerns, some researchers recommend removing any systematic gaps in SET scores explained by non-instructional factors, such as gender, via regression adjustment or matched subsample analysis. Additionally, it is suggested that SETs should be used in combination with other evaluation methods, such as independent evaluators, interviews with students, teaching observations by experts, and peer review of instructional materials, to obtain a more accurate picture of faculty performance.
While adjustments can be made to improve the fairness and accuracy of SETs, it is important to recognize that even unbiased, reliable, and valid student evaluations can still be inherently unfair due to the complex relationship between SET scores and instructor quality.
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Frequently asked questions
Student evaluations may be considered when determining instructor pay raises and promotions, but they are not the sole factor. Other factors include research output, professional work, involvement on campus, and academic advising.
The weight of student evaluations varies. Some institutions use them as a basis for merit increases and promotions, while others consider them as one of many factors in pay decisions.
Yes, there are concerns about the validity and potential biases of student evaluations. Evaluations may be influenced by factors such as grade satisfaction, instructor minority status, and course difficulty, rather than teaching effectiveness.
Alternatives include evaluating professors relative to other professors teaching the same subject or using specified feedback on areas for improvement.
