Instructors’ perspectives on the utility of student ratings of instruction

This study investigates instructors’ attitudes about student ratings of instruction. The sample consisted of 357 instructors at a major Canadian university, where student evaluation is carried out in all courses at the end of each term. Instructors tend to agree that the student rating practice is an acceptable means of assessing institutional integrity, and is useful to administrators in making summative decisions. However, they consider the student evaluations only marginally valuable in their impact on enhancing instruction. Implications for the development of student ratings are discussed.     

Student Ratings and Professor Self-Ratings of College Teaching: Effects of Gender and Divisional Affiliation

Twenty female and 23 male professors at a liberal arts college participated along with their 803 undergraduate students in a questionnaire study of the effects of professor gender, student gender, and divisional affiliation on student ratings of professors and professor self-ratings. Students rated their professors on 26 questions tapping five teaching factors as well as overall teaching effectiveness. Professors rated themselves on the same questions as well as on nine exploratory ones. On student ratings, there were main effects for both professor gender (female professors were rated higher than male professors on the two interpersonal factors) and division (natural science courses were rated lowest on most factors). These patterns were qualified by significant interactions between professor gender and division. Although professor self-ratings varied by division, there were few significant correlations between professor self-ratings and students' ratings. Implications for future research are discussed.Appreciation goes to Laura Capotosto and Julie Phelan for their research assistance.Suzanne Montgomery is now at Widener Law School, Philadelphia, PA, USA.     

Who is the expert? Construct and criteria validity of student and teacher ratings of instruction

In this article, we examine the construct and criteria validity of student and teacher ratings as indicators of instructional features. As parsimonious measures, student and teacher reports are frequently used to assess aspects of the learning environment. From a methodological perspective, however, both approaches have been questioned. Whereas student ratings are occasionally criticised as being undifferentiated and easily influenced by personal preferences, teacher reports are sometimes considered to be biased by self-serving strategies or teaching ideals. Instead of pitting one method against the other, our study aimed at establishing the specific value of each approach. The analyses draw on data from a German extension to the 2003 PISA assessment, in which 288 mathematics teachers and their students completed questionnaires using identical items to tap various aspects of instruction. Mean student ratings were computed for each class. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed specific conceptual structures for student and teacher ratings, with teachers elaborating on the use of tasks and methods, and students focusing on their teacher’s support in personal and learning matters. Three shared dimensions were also established: occurrence of classroom management problems, degree of cognitive autonomy during lessons, and tempo of interaction. Teacher/student agreement on these dimensions varied across constructs, with considerable agreement on classroom management, low agreement on cognitive autonomy, and no significant agreement on whether or not the interaction tempo was appropriate. Accordingly, correlations with external criteria (student motivation, teacher motivation, mathematical achievement scores, and characteristics of the tasks set in class) also varied across constructs. We conclude that student and teacher ratings are best suited to tapping different aspects of the learning environment, and recommend that care be taken in choosing a data source appropriate for the construct to be measured.

美国华盛顿大学学生评教系统分析与启示

美国华盛顿大学在长期发展中形成了卓越的学生评教系统。该评教系统包括实施启动、问卷设计和数据处理三大关键环节,构建起以组织—制度—文化为核心的三个保障支柱。参考华盛顿大学的实践经验,在培育和发展我国高校学生评教系统的过程中,应当建立评教组织网络、形成教育性的评教制度和打造独特的评教文化。     

Reliability and agreement of student ratings of the classroom environment: A reanalysis of TIMSS data

In educational research, characteristics of the learning environment are generally assessed by asking students to evaluate features of their lessons. The student ratings produced by this simple and efficient research strategy can be analysed from two different perspectives. At the individual level, they represent the individual student’s perception of the learning environment. Scores aggregated to the classroom level reflect perceptions of the shared learning environment, corrected for individual idiosyncrasies. This second approach is often pursued in studies on teaching quality and effectiveness, where student-level ratings are aggregated to the class level to obtain general information about the learning environment. Although this strategy is widely applied in educational research, neither the reliability of aggregated student ratings nor the within-group agreement between the students in a class has been subject to much investigation. The present study introduces and discusses different procedures that have been proposed in the field of organisational psychology to assess the reliability and agreement of students’ ratings of their instruction. The application of the proposed indexes is demonstrated by a reanalysis of student ratings of mathematics instruction obtained in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (N = 2,064 students in 100 classes).

How valid are student perceptions of teaching quality across education systems?

In an international context, teaching quality is often assessed via student surveys. Yet, there is little empirical evidence for the validity of students' perceptions of teaching quality across education systems. Following an argumentative validation approach, we evaluate the reliability, stability, and international comparability of students' perceptions of teaching quality as well as their predictivity on student outcomes. Based on longitudinal data from six education systems our main findings include that student perceptions of teaching quality are 1) reliable on the class level, 2) stable between two measurements, and 3) metric invariant across education systems, yet 4) their effects on achievement, interest, and self-efficacy vary between the aspects of teaching quality and education systems. Our study provides first substantial empirical findings for the validity of student perceptions across education systems and points towards culture-specific differences in the effectiveness of teaching.     

关于函数极值教学的两点探讨

就函数极值的教学提出了两点探讨意见,指出了现有教材对极值定义和判断方法中存在的误区。     

提高高校办学质量要注重四个研究

为切实保证办学质量的提高,高校教育教学质量建设应该注重四个\"研究\"——研究社会:高校要面向社会,顺应社会发展需要;研究教师:高校要关注教师队伍建设,加强师德师风建设,提高师资队伍教学水平;研究学生:高校要针对不断变化的学生实际,因材施教;研究教材:高校教学应源于教材,高于教材。     

College student perceptions of teaching and learning quality

Numerous instructional design models have been proposed over the past several decades. Instead of focusing on the design process (means), this study investigated how learners perceived the quality of instruction they experienced (ends). An electronic survey instrument containing nine a priori scales was developed. Students responded from 89 different undergraduate and graduate courses at multiple institutions (n = 140). Data analysis indicated strong correlations between student self-reports on academic learning time, how much they learned, First Principles of Instruction, their satisfaction with the course, perceptions of their mastery of course objectives, and global course ratings. Most importantly, these scales measure principles with which instructional developers and teachers can evaluate their products and courses, regardless of design processes used: provide authentic tasks for students to do; activate prior learning; demonstrate what is to be learned; provide repeated opportunities for students to successfully complete authentic tasks with coaching and feedback; and help students integrate what they have learned into their personal lives.

浅议中职学校的数学教学

文章从职业学校数学教学的特殊性出发,分析了职业学校学生的学习特点,及目前数学教材的现状。提出了关于加强职业学校数学教学的个人看法和做法。     

浅析英国高等教育质量保障体系的服务性功能——以英国教学质量信息网和全英学生民意调查为例

英国高等教育质量保障体系自2002年起进行了重大改革,文章主要从英国教学质量信息网建设和全英学生民意调查的开展出发,分析论证了英国高等教育质量保障体系的服务性功能,得出只有充分满足公众的问责及教育质量信息需求,充分调动和发挥学生主动积极性,才能为高校不断提高教学质量提供持续动力,并实现质量保障效益的最大化。     

从兰州大学学生评教结果看本科课堂教学质量影响因素

以兰州大学连续八个学期的学生评教数据为分析对象,探讨了影响本科课堂教学质量的因素。研究发现：学生评教数据可以客观有效地反映教师课堂教学质量。教师教学内容、基本素质、教学思想和教学方法是影响课堂教学质量的重要因素,其中教学内容是最重要的影响因素;教师学历、职称和教龄对课堂教学质量没有影响。因此,为进一步提升本科课堂教学质量,教学管理者应继续推进学生评教制度,发挥其促使教师教学水平提高的本体功能;大学教师应自觉提升教学能力;学校应改善教师评聘制度,引导大学教师潜心教书育人。     

Teachers’ interpersonal relationships and instructional expertise: How are they related?

This study explores new directions to study and combine measurements of instructional expertise and teachers’ interpersonal relationships with students. The sample comprises 34 in-service teachers. The My Teacher questionnaire (MTQ) was used to operationalize teachers’ instructional expertise. The Questionnaire of Teacher Interaction (QTI) was used to describe teachers’ interpersonal relationships with students. Hypotheses were tested using circular mixed-effects models. Results indicate that teachers’ interpersonal relationships differ at successive levels of instructional expertise. Results further indicated that increases in instructional expertise are associated with a sharp decrease in the within-class variance in interpersonal relationships. Specifically, the higher teachers’ instructional expertise, the more teachers' interpersonal relationships are described as “directing” and “helpful” by all students in the class.