Discrepancy between instructor and student evaluations of instruction: Effect on instructor

To find out whether a discrepancy between the instructor's and the student's evaluations of teaching influence teaching, 13 introductory and educational psychology instructors and their students were given a Student Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ) twice: on the fourth week of a fall term and eight weeks after feedback sessions with the instructors. The instructors received feedback on the direction and amount of initial discrepancy. The results showed that the unfavorable discrepant instructors (instructor rating better than students) changed more on skill, feedback, rapport, general teaching ability, and the overall value of the course than the favorably discrepant instructors (student ratings better than instructor). The unfavorably discrepant instructors improved their teaching significantly more than the favorably discrepant instructors.This article is based on portions of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph. D. degree at the University of Michigan. The author wishes to acknowledge the help given by Wilbert J. McKeachie and Alvin F. Zander and thank them for their suggestions. An earlier version of the paper was presented at the 81st Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Montreal, Que., August 1973.     

A diagnostic assessment for introductory molecular and cell biology

We have developed and validated a tool for assessing understanding of a selection of fundamental concepts and basic knowledge in undergraduate introductory molecular and cell biology, focusing on areas in which students often have misconceptions. This multiple-choice Introductory Molecular and Cell Biology Assessment (IMCA) instrument is designed for use as a pre- and posttest to measure student learning gains. To develop the assessment, we first worked with faculty to create a set of learning goals that targeted important concepts in the field and seemed likely to be emphasized by most instructors teaching these subjects. We interviewed students using open-ended questions to identify commonly held misconceptions, formulated multiple-choice questions that included these ideas as distracters, and reinterviewed students to establish validity of the instrument. The assessment was then evaluated by 25 biology experts and modified based on their suggestions. The complete revised assessment was administered to more than 1300 students at three institutions. Analysis of statistical parameters including item difficulty, item discrimination, and reliability provides evidence that the IMCA is a valid and reliable instrument with several potential uses in gauging student learning of key concepts in molecular and cell biology.     

Instructional practices in reformed undergraduate STEM learning environments: a study of instructor and student behaviors in biology courses

ABSTRACT

Theoretically, organisational culture, instructor training, and learning space design influence how faculty teach STEM courses. Previous studies have used classroom observation protocols to characterise the range of teaching practices in mostly teacher-centered, traditional STEM classrooms. In this study, we examined the classroom behaviour of 13 STEM faculty teaching biology courses in a reformed undergraduate STEM learning environment. Our findings indicate that instructors teaching in this reformed environment guided student learning (58.4?±?1.9%) almost three times more than they presented information (20.0?±?2.2%). Students worked individually or in groups and talked to the whole class (57.1?±?1.8%) 1.5 times more than they received information (35.5?±?1.9%). We found significant positive correlation between ‘instructor presenting’ and ‘students receiving’ information (r?=?0.743, p?=?1.4?×?10^?4) and ‘instructor guiding’ and ‘student working and talking’ in class (r?=?0.605, p?=?7.2?×?10^?5), suggesting that instructors can change their own classroom behaviours and expect concurrent change in their students’ behaviours. Finally, sequencing teaching practices in high active-engagement classrooms showed instructors move and guide student group work and lead whole class discussions before lecturing to students, which could lead to deeper learning of conceptual knowledge. We discuss insights from these findings that have implications for acculturating evidence-based teaching practices in STEM departments.     

Characterization of human genetics courses for nonbiology majors in U.S. colleges and universities

We characterized college human genetics courses for nonscience majors (NSM) by 1) determining the number of U.S. institutions offering courses and the number of students taking them; and 2) surveying course instructors on course demographics, content, materials, and pedagogies. Between 2002 and 2004, an estimated 480 institutions of higher education (15.2%) offered a course: 8.4% of 1667 associate colleges, 16.1% of baccalaureate institutions, 25.3% of master's institutions, and 32.9% of doctoral institutions. This indicates a need to increase access to genetics education in 2-yr colleges. Based on instructor responses, approximately 32,000–37,000 students annually complete an NSM human genetics course out of approximately 1.9 million students earning a college degree each year (2.0%). Regarding course content, instructors consistently rated many concepts significantly higher in importance than the emphasis placed on those concepts in their courses. Although time could be a factor, instructors need guidance in the integration of the various concepts into their courses. Considering only 30.2% of the instructors were reportedly trained in genetics (another 25.4% in molecular and cellular biology) and the small fraction of students completing NSM human genetics courses, these results demonstrate the need for increasing the availability of these courses in undergraduate institutions of higher education, and particularly at 2-yr colleges.     

器乐教学中慢练的重要性

器乐教学中,教师的教授和学生学习方法的配合是非常重要的。在练习中,慢练的重要性就更为突出。努力配合教师调整自己的学习思维方式和看待事物的角度,了解学习的规律,尽力去理解教师的教学意图和接受合理的思维过程和学习方法,进行正确的操作练习。慢练的目的是变得更快,一首完全成熟的作品,也需要慢练,在慢练中巩固意识,使自身的演奏更加细腻、更具感染力。     

The Force of Personality: Gottfried Keller's Educational Philosophy

We set out to identify the benefits and drawbacks of using more than one instructor to teach single section science courses at a large research university. Nine courses were investigated involving widely differing subjects and levels. Teaching models included: sequential teaching with two to six instructors each covering only their own modules, two teachers present in class at all times, and hybrids of these two models. A three-question survey was answered by 957 students and 17 instructors. Dominant advantages identified by both groups were variety of teaching style or perspectives and instructor expertise, with instructors being more likely to identify expertise as the primary advantage. Dominant disadvantages identified were adjustment to teaching style and expectations and confusion and communication issues. Data suggest that advantages are maximized and disadvantages minimized either in courses with two or more instructors interacting and collaborating in class or when special care is taken with coordination and collaboration if the course is sequentially taught. We conclude with specific recommendations to instructors and departments based on evidence from the data.     

RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOUR AS EFFECTIVE TEACHING: A NEW LOOK AT STUDENT RATING OF PROFESSORS

Items in student rating instruments unavoidably contain biases in favour of particular concepts of excellence which make them invalid for measuring the teaching effectiveness of a wide variety of college instructors. The use of scores from such instruments to penalise or reward faculty in salary, tenure and promotion decisions may adversely affect dedicated instruction. Given this problem, an alternative is proposed in which students report whether instructors acted responsibly rather than excellently. Proposed is a two-;part instrument which uses students to monitor acceptable employee behaviours in teaching settings to satisfy management needs, while at the same time providing qualitative feedback to the instructor for the purpose of self‐improvement.     

Limited contracts,limited quality? effects of adjunct instructors on student outcomes☆

A growing literature documents significant differences in college student outcomes between adjunct and full-time instructors, although less is known regarding the causes of these differences. Many existing studies implicitly treat instructor quality—as measured by an instructor’s effect on student outcomes—as a fixed trait. However, instructor quality itself may be sensitive to employment rank, given that adjunct and full-time instructors work under very different conditions. Understanding mechanisms driving these differences is important for informing policy decisions aimed at improving student outcomes. Using panel data on first-semester students at public colleges in Arkansas, this paper first establishes that adjuncts have significantly worse student outcomes than full-time counterparts on a number of metrics. Next, I investigate mechanisms underlying differences in outcomes across instructor rank. I take advantage of the panel structure of the data and use an instructor fixed effects approach to provide evidence that within instructors, student outcomes improve when the instructor is full-time, compared to when the instructor is an adjunct. Results indicates improving student outcomes is about more than just getting better instructors, since instructor quality is not a fixed trait. Rather, factors like an instructor’s conditions of employment and teaching and working environment may affect the outcomes of their students.     

Under pressure: How faculty gender and contract uncertainty impact students’ grades

Although rising average grades appear to be common at post-secondary institutions in the U.S., there is still little work examining mechanisms driving this increase in grades. This paper uses data from a public research university to examine one mechanism in particular: instructor level incentives that are linked to gender and contract status. We hypothesize that instructors with more job uncertainty due to their rank will be most incentivized to award higher grades, as this may lead to better evaluations of teaching and an increase in retention probability. Our results indicate that students receive higher grades when their class is taught by a female instructor with more job uncertainty than if the class were taught by a tenured female faculty member. These higher grades appear to reflect more lenient grading rather than better preparation for follow-on courses. However, for students taking classes with male instructors, there is no significant difference across instructor rank in grades received. Our results have important implications for thinking about the role faculty contracts may play in affecting grading distributions.     

A cross-cultural comparison of biology lessons between China and Germany: a video study

Given the globalization of science education and the different cultures between China and Germany, we tried to compare and explain the differences on teacher questions and real life instances in biology lessons between the two countries from a culture-related perspective. 22 biology teachers from China and 21 biology teachers from Germany participated in this study. Each teacher was videotaped for one lesson on the unit blood and circulatory system. Before the teaching unit, students’ prior knowledge was tested with a pretest. After the teaching unit, students’ content knowledge was tested with a posttest. The aim of the knowledge tests here was for the better selection of the four samples for qualitative comparison in the two countries. The quantitative analysis showed that more lower-order teacher questions and more real life instances that were introduced after learning relevant concepts were in Chinese lessons than in German lessons. There were no significant differences in the frequency of higher-order questions or real life instances that were introduced before learning concepts. Qualitative analysis showed that both German teachers guided students to analyze the reasoning process of Landsteiner experiment, but nor Chinese teachers did that. The findings reflected the subtle influence of culture on classroom teaching. Relatively, Chinese biology teachers focused more on learning content and the application of the content in real life; German biology teachers emphasized more on invoking students’ reasoning and divergent thinking.     

The effect of integrated course and faculty development: Experiences of a university chemistry department in the Philippines

It is widely recognized that lectures continue to dominate college chemistry instruction, especially in developing countries, and that lectures limit student intellectual engagement. To address this concern, a General Chemistry course in a Philippine university was reconstructed to implement an instructional cycle consisting of three phases: a plenary or mini‐lecture, seatwork activity, and a summary or closure. An expert instructor coached the instructors to improve their teaching. Two instructors were involved in pilot implementation and 13 instructors in a large‐scale implementation. This article describes the instructors’ adoption of the instructional cycle using qualitative and quantitative methods that involved multiple data sources. The instructional cycle and intensive coaching enabled most instructors to change their practices, shift their focus from teaching to learning, and enhance their knowledge of student learning difficulties. Nine instructors were able to significantly change their teaching and apply meaningful student seatwork in their lessons. These nine instructors used student seatwork and activities 30–70% of the time, whereas previously 90% of the time involved lectures. Videotape records showed that more than 70% of the students were continuously on task. Four instructors had considerable difficulties in applying the new approach but also had difficulties with conventional lectures. The project constituted the start of a departmental reorientation with a focus on effectiveness of teaching and learning. Subsequently the faculty and course development model developed in this study was used to revise other courses. The theory of Rogan and Grayson proved useful in describing the change processes.     

College students' perceptions of the theory of evolution

Although a well‐corroborated scientific theory, the theory of evolution has continued to cause dilemmas for some individuals who have not easily been able to accommodate the concepts of this theory within their “cognitive culture.” The reason lies in the overlap of some ideas that the theory advocates with other social, epistemological, and religious beliefs. This study describes how 11 college biology students who completed a course on the theory of evolution perceive the relationship among their epistemological beliefs about science, their beliefs about religion, and their perception of nature and causality and their position regarding the theory of evolution. It also compares the different positions of the students to that of the course instructor. Questionnaires and semistructured interviews were used to collect data. Qualitative methods were used to analyze the data and identify the various positions of the students and course instructor. The students' positions ranged from complete acceptance to complete rejection of the theory of evolution. The results suggest that students' personal beliefs should not be dismissed or underestimated when teaching the theory of evolution. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 395–419, 2008     

Development of PCK for novice and experienced university physics instructors: a case study

The current study assessed and compared university students' perceptions' of a novice and an experienced physics instructor's Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). Two college physics instructors and 116 students voluntarily participated in this study. The research model comprised three workshops, mid-term and final evaluations and instructor interviews. The results showed that each instructor's PCK performance in four categories was slightly improved, though the difference was not statistically significant and only the category of Instructional Representation and Strategies (IRS) was found to be statistically different by students' evaluations of their instructor's PCK. The experienced instructor emphasized life examples and experiments, whereas, the novice instructor emphasized explanations and quizzes. Furthermore, the PCK questionnaire provided university instructors with adequate information so the instructors could receive students' feedback as available sources to reflect on their teaching to improve their quality of teaching. Research implications of this study are provided along with suggestions for future research.     

Effect of instructor and class characteristics on students' class evaluations

Student evaluations of their classes and instructors are widespread in higher education and have both practical and theoretical importance. This study examined the relationship between class average evaluations and characteristics of the instructor and of the class in an off-campus setting with nontraditional students. A stepwise multiple regression analysis found that four variables—the time format of the class, the number of classes taught in the program by the instructor during the year, whether a term paper was required, and the size of the class—explained 13.5% of the variance in class average evaluations. The addition of average class grade increased the explained variance by 6%. Evaluations were higher in classes taught with more intensive time formats, in classes taught by instructors teaching more frequently in the program, in classes where term papers were required, and in classes with fewer students. Evaluations were also higher in classes where the average class grade was higher. Other course and instructor characteristics had little or no effect on overall class evaluations. The results support the view that nontraditional students react similar to traditional students in their evaluations of their classes. The results also suggest the importance of time format as a factor affecting class evaluations.An earlier version of this paper was presented at Western Psychological and Rocky Mountain Psychological Association Meeting, April 1989.     

CREDENTIALS NEEDED FOR TEACHING BIOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY IN THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Biology and chemistry instructors at 50 institutions within th North Carolina Community College System were surveyed concerning the types of courses they teach, the diversity of students in their courses, their own academic preparation, how they would have altered their academic preparation for their current position, their preceived value of secondary school teaching in their current position, and additional comments about preparation for teaching in the community college. Personel officers at these institutions were surveyed on degrees they require for hiring biology and chemistry instructors, additional qualifications they seek in instructors, and whether they believe secondary school teaching experience to be of benefit for someone considering a community college teaching position.

Major concerns in hiring an instructor are a stong academic preparation in the teaching field and a second major or minor in a related science field. An additional concern is the ability to address the special needs of the diverse student population found in the community college setting. The instructors suggest that programs in science education can help teachers improve their instructional techniques, and 7 6% of the instructors who have taught in secondary schools indicate that this experience had been beneficial in their community college teaching.     

From Corrector to Collaborator: The Range of Instructor Roles in Writing‐Based Natural and Applied Science Classes

This study of writing‐intensive (WI) undergraduate natural and applied science courses examined the relationships among instructors' course goals, instructional activities, and students' assessment of their learning of content and writing. Using multiple sources of data, investigators found that instructors held common goals but varied greatly in their instructional activities. Findings suggest that science instructors can be described along a continuum anchored by instructor as corrector on one end and instructor as collaborator on the other. Instructors who were the sole audience for a single writing assignment were correctors. Collaborators varied writing tasks, encouraged collaboration, and emphasized professional contexts for writing; they generally received highest student satisfaction ratings. Peer editing assignments that simulated critical, anonymous journal reviews affected female and male students differently. The findings support the National Academy of Science's teaching standards and assumptions concerning the crucial roles of instructors in socializing students into science communities. We discuss instructional strategies that may be more inclusive to traditionally underrepresented groups such as females and minorities. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 3–25, 2000     

Students' evaluation and instructors' self-evaluation of university instruction

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between students' evaluations of university instruction and self-ratings of instructors. The sample consisted of 52 instructors, from the School of Education at Tel-Aviv University, who taught 93 classes. The instructors, as well as their students, responded to a 20-item instructional-practices questionnaire. Instructor self-ratings had only a modest relationship with the ratings given by students (a median correlation of .28). Discrepancies between instructor ratings and ratings given by the students were further analyzed for (1) varying training in teaching - no difference was found; and (2) number of years of teaching experience - differences were noted; the self-ratings of less experienced instructors were closer to student ratings.     

Relationship with instructor and other variables influencing student evaluations of instruction

This study examined some of the factors which influence college students’ evaluations of their instructors. Data were collected from 557 students enrolled in a basic speech communication course. Overall, a student's relationship with the instructor was the best predictor of the student's evaluation of the instructor. This study lends partial support to the idea that students evaluate male and female instructors differently. The variables examined in this study were better predictors of student evaluation of female than male instructors.     

Teaching One-Way ANOVA with engaging NBA data and R Shiny within a flexdashboard

This paper provides introductory statistics instructors with the capacity to use engaging National Basketball Association (NBA) data within a web application to either strengthen students' understanding or introduce the concept of variance and one-way analysis of variance. Using engaging data within the classroom provides context to data that students deem applicable to their lives. This paper not only provides a lesson plan for teaching these concepts but also provides a web application and the engaging NBA dataset if the instructor decides to use the app or the data in another context. The NBA data selected to focus on the debate “Who is the greatest NBA player of all time?”. By using context students are familiar with and interested in, we can get them interested in and further engaged in statistics.