A path analysis of factors often found to be related to student ratings of teaching effectiveness

The relationships among several variables outside of the instructor's classroom control and student ratings of teaching effectiveness are investigated in a causal network. Student ratings are relatively independent of external variables. Students may be able to take into account more factors than generally assumed when they rate their instructors.     

The validity of student ratings of teaching quality: Factorial structure,comparability, and the relation to achievement

Student ratings are widely used to assess teaching quality in primary and secondary education. This necessitates a thorough examination their validity and reliability in such contexts. To this end, we present validity evidence for using student ratings of teaching quality based on their factorial structure, comparability across grades and subjects, and relation to achievement. Based on data from the 2019 Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and its national extensions in Norway (N = 3951 5th graders and N = 4575 9th graders), we could confirm a theoretically assumed three-dimensional factor structure (i.e., classroom management, cognitive activation, and supportive climate). Moreover, classroom management and supportive climate were more comparable across grades and subjects then cognitive activation. Finally, classroom management was associated with achievement across all groups, whereas other dimensions showed mixed results, especially across grades. Overall, the findings indicate that students, especially in Grade 9, can provide a valid assessment of teaching quality.     

A theory of planned behaviour-based analysis of TIMSS 2011 to determine factors influencing inquiry teaching practices in high-performing countries

ABSTRACT

Given the abundance of literature describing the strong relationship between inquiry-based teaching and student achievement, more should be known about the factors impacting science teachers’ classroom inquiry implementation. This study utilises the theory of planned behaviour to propose and validate a causal model of inquiry-based teaching through analysing data relating to high-performing countries retrieved from the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study assessments. Data analysis was completed through structural equation modelling using a polychoric correlation matrix for data input and diagonally weighted least squares estimation. Adequate fit of the full model to the empirical data was realised. The model demonstrates that the extent the teachers participated in academic collaborations was positively related to their occupational satisfaction, confidence in teaching inquiry, and classroom inquiry practices. Furthermore, the teachers’ confidence with implementing inquiry was positively related to their classroom inquiry implementation and occupational satisfaction. However, perceived student-generated constraints demonstrated a negative relationship with the teachers’ confidence with implementing inquiry and occupational satisfaction. Implications from this study include supporting teachers through promoting collaborative opportunities that facilitate inquiry-based practices and occupational satisfaction.     

Measuring teaching quality in several European countries

Teaching quality has been observed in large representative samples from Flanders (Belgium), Lower Saxony (Germany), the Slovak Republic, and The Netherlands. This study reveals that measures of “creating a safe and stimulating climate”, “clear and activating instruction”, and “teaching learning strategies” were reliable and fully or at least partially scalar equivalent across these countries. Flemish teachers score higher, on average, on measures related to creating a safe and stimulating learning climate than do teachers in Lower Saxony, the Slovak Republic, or The Netherlands. With regard to the provision of clear and activating instruction, no significant differences arose in average scores across the 4 countries. Dutch teachers scored significantly higher on teaching learning strategies than teachers in Flanders and Lower Saxony but did not differ significantly from teachers in the Slovak Republic. Flemish and Slovak teachers earned higher average scores on teaching learning strategies than teachers in Lower Saxony.     

Meta-analysis of faculty's teaching effectiveness: Student evaluation of teaching ratings and student learning are not related

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) ratings are used to evaluate faculty's teaching effectiveness based on a widespread belief that students learn more from highly rated professors. The key evidence cited in support of this belief are meta-analyses of multisection studies showing small-to-moderate correlations between SET ratings and student achievement (e.g., Cohen, 1980, Cohen, 1981; Feldman, 1989). We re-analyzed previously published meta-analyses of the multisection studies and found that their findings were an artifact of small sample sized studies and publication bias. Whereas the small sample sized studies showed large and moderate correlation, the large sample sized studies showed no or only minimal correlation between SET ratings and learning. Our up-to-date meta-analysis of all multisection studies revealed no significant correlations between the SET ratings and learning. These findings suggest that institutions focused on student learning and career success may want to abandon SET ratings as a measure of faculty's teaching effectiveness.     

论学生评教及高校教学质量保障体系的改善

学生评教是高校教学质量保障的一项根本制度,它的建立使学生拥有了表达教学意愿的常规渠道,有助于高校树立服务学生的办学宗旨。我国高校开展学生评教工作的时间不长,在实际工作中还存在学生代人评教、形式意义大于实质意义、评教结果被误用、制度设计存在漏洞等问题。为此,应从树立正确的学生评教观、构建科学的学生评教制度、借鉴国外的先进经验等方面,改进我国高校的学生评教制度,完善我国高校教学质量保障体系。     

The impact of national educational policies on student achievement: a European study

This paper investigates the impact of national policies for improving teaching and the school learning environment (SLE) on student achievement. In each participating country (i.e., Belgium/Flanders, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Ireland, and Slovenia), a sample of at least 50 schools was drawn and tests in mathematics and science were administered to all Grade 4 students (N = 10,742) at the beginning and end of school year 2010–2011. National policies were measured through (a) content analysis of policy documents, (b) interviews with policymakers, and (c) head-teacher questionnaires. Multilevel analyses revealed that most aspects of national policies for teaching and SLE were associated with student achievement in each subject irrespective of the source of data used to measure them. Implications are, finally, drawn.     

基于神经网络的高校教师课堂教学质量评价

在分析了高校教师教学质量评价特点的基础上,构建了一种基于模糊理论与神经网络的高校教师教学质量评价体系。该模型将教学评价指标概念量化成确定的数据作为网络的输入,模糊综合评价结果作为输出。该方法既克服了评价主体在评价过程中的主观因素,又得到了满意的评价结果,具有广泛的适用性。     

学生评教对课堂教学质量影响的研究

文章首先分析了我国学生评教产生的宏观背景,然后根据学校学生评教情况,通过数据分析来说明学生评教对课堂教学质量的影响。同时,针对学校学生评教中存在的问题,参考其他高校的成功经验,对如何改进学校学生评教,发挥其在促进教学改革,提高教学质量方面的作用提出建议。     

Quality lies in the eyes of the beholder: A mismatch between student evaluation and peer observation of teaching

Abstract

The study described in this article was prompted by the poor performance of students in an ‘at risk subject’ in a science faculty at a university in South Africa. Teacher performance could contribute to poor performance among students, therefore the performance of one of the science teachers whose students were performing poorly was evaluated by his students and through peer observation of his teaching. The article draws on a merger between Bernstein's ideas on framing as well as deep and surface approaches to learning to form a theoretical framework that underpinned the study. Peer observation showed that the teacher employed predominantly teacher-centred, passive approaches to teaching, and the facilitation of active learning was minimal, that is, framing was strong. Students, however, evaluated their teacher positively, indicating that he was an ‘effective’ teacher. Therefore, the perception of what constitutes ‘quality teaching’ is viewed differently by peers and students. This is most likely due to the incompatibility between peers' conception of teaching and students' conception of learning. Therefore, students' feedback on teaching is not necessarily accurate or useful.     

Measuring teaching quality and student engagement in South Korea and The Netherlands

Six observation scales for measuring the skills of teachers and 1 scale for measuring student engagement, assessed in South Korea and The Netherlands, are sufficiently reliable and offer sufficient predictive value for student engagement. A multigroup confirmatory factor analysis shows that the factor loadings and intercepts of the scales are the same, within acceptable boundaries, in both countries. Therefore, we can compare the average scores of teachers in both countries in a reliable and valid way. The 289 Dutch teachers score significantly better on “creating a safe and stimulating learning climate” and “intensive and activating teaching” and almost significantly on “efficient classroom management”. We find no significant differences in “clear and structured instruction”. The 375 South Korean teachers perform significantly better than the Dutch teachers on “teaching learning strategies” and almost significantly on “differentiating instruction”. Furthermore, we find better student engagement in South Korea.     

提高高等数学教学质量的对策

高等数学作为高校教学中的基础学科,对培养学生分析问题和解决问题的能力具有义不容辞的责任;教师应营造良好的课堂环境,激发学生的学习兴趣;通过数学实验、数学建模竞赛,在知识的应用中激发学生的学习兴趣,提高教学质量。     

Student ratings of college teaching: a comparison of faculty and their students

Based on the review of student ratings myths by Aleamoni (1987, 1999), a survey research design was used to analyse differences between college students' (n = 968) and faculty's (n = 34) perceptions. Generally, students held stronger beliefs in these myths, in that they believed faculty with excellent publication records were better qualified to evaluate teaching and that student ratings on single general items are accurate measures of teaching effectiveness. On the other hand, faculty believed that student ratings were invalid and unreliable. Further examination of student characteristics revealed that male students held stronger beliefs in these myths. Finally, students' beliefs in these myths were correlated with their actual ratings of nine dimensions of the Student Evaluation of Educational Quality. A discussion as well as suggestions for using student ratings is provided.     

Explaining the substantial inter-domain and over-time correlations in student achievement: the importance of stable student attributes

Multi-domain and longitudinal studies of student achievement routinely find moderate to strong correlations across achievement domains and even stronger within-domain correlations over time. The purpose of this study is to examine the sources of these patterns analysing student achievement in 5 domains across Years 3, 5 and 7. The analysis is of longitudinal population data of over 22,000 students and utilizes fixed-effects models to incorporate stable general and domain-specific latent factors. These latent factors correspond to a general cognitive-ability-like factor and specific aptitudes in particular, or types of, subject areas. The preferred model incorporates both general and domain-specific latent factors with stronger effects for the general factor, although the domain-specific factors are particularly strong for spelling and numeracy. When taking into account general and domain-specific latent factors, the effects of student’s socioeconomic status (SES) and school SES are trivial.     

The performance of a student evaluation of teaching system

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) is now commonplace in many universities internationally. While much effort has been devoted to examining the statistical validity of SET instruments, there has been limited examination of the methodological and consequential validity (together referred to as ‘utility’) of the ways in which SET data are used. This paper examines the SET system at Deakin University from the perspective of utility. It draws on publicly available SET results for an entire annual cycle of unit offerings. Consideration is given to the representativeness of the data produced, and to the utility of the data reported, by the system. While this investigation focuses on the SET system currently employed at Deakin University, it offers both an analysis methodology and conclusions that can be applied more generally.     

Teacher professionalism and student evaluation of teaching: will better teachers receive higher ratings and will better students give higher ratings?

The use of student evaluations of teaching performance has been an important but controversial tool in the improvement of teaching quality during the past few decades. Although student evaluations of teaching are implemented in many faculties, not everyone is convinced of the desirability and utility of these ratings. In this paper, we present the results of a study with regard to the existence of a higher‐order factor that might influence students' perceptions of teaching and, thus, explain the variance in teacher rating scales. A second question concerns the effect of students' grades on teacher ratings and of other factors influencing this relationship (for instance, students' overall grades).     

积极探索教学改革努力提高办学质量

高等职业教育要如何深化改革、稳步发展是必须探讨的课题．职教部作为宁德师专高等职业教育的一个窗口，十几年来，正不断地深入开展教学改革，更新教育理念，提高教学质量和学生的综合素质，在闽东的经济建设和社会发展中发挥着重要的作用．     

Influence of improved teaching practices on student satisfaction ratings for two undergraduate units at an Australian university

To track the quality of instruction delivered at the University of Western Australia, the university surveys all units using its Students’ Unit Reflective Feedback (SURF) metrics, and faculties use these metrics to benchmark student satisfaction. Consequently, teaching staff are actively encouraged to adopt teaching practices that will increase the average levels of these metrics. Using a ‘before-after’ approach, we compared these metrics before and after the implementation of improved teaching practices that addressed specific weaknesses identified through student responses for two undergraduate units. Despite the implementation of improved teaching practices, SURF scores did not increase significantly for the two units assessed, due possibly to the components of the academic programme covered by the SURF questions, the field-based nature of the units, and the difficulty in measuring an increase in the SURF scores of units which already score highly. This poor sensitivity of the SURF metrics to the implementation of improved teaching practices could have implications for their use for performance assessment by the university.     

浅谈如何提高国际法教学效果

在法学课程中,国际法有其自身的特殊性。针对国际法的特点,通过国际法与国内法的比较研究,理论联系实际的案例教学法,并坚持与时俱进、不断充实与更新教学内容,能够取得较好的教学效果。     

Strengthening internal quality assurance processes: facilitating student evaluation committees to contribute

Student evaluation committees play a crucial role in internal quality assurance processes as representatives of the student body. However, the students on these committees sometimes experience difficulty in providing constructive and structured feedback to faculty in an environment characterised by a strong power differential between student and staff. This study aimed to evaluate a leadership and quality assurance training implemented for students involved in internal quality assurance. Furthermore, we explored how students give shape to their internal quality assurance role. Students from three health sciences programmes participated in a mixed methods study to evaluate the training and reflect on their internal quality assurance role. Overall, the students were very enthusiastic about the training. Qualitative data analysis indicated that in their internal quality assurance role, students: (1) harnessed the power of the entire student population; (2) tried to create focus and take charge; (3) searched for a common ground with staff, and (4) they explained how they dealt with the power differential. Providing training for students with internal quality assurance roles is a valuable endeavour. Future research needs to investigate further ways to help students to contribute to internal quality assurance processes in higher education.