Student evaluations of course and teacher: factor analysis and SSA approaches

The present study attempts to discover organizing principles in college students’ evaluations of their formal and informal educational programs. The study was conducted during the 1998–99 academic year. The data consisted of 14,344 assessment sheets completed by students at the Jordan Valley Regional College in Israel. Each assessment sheet contained 12 variables. Factor analysis revealed two main factors: the course (seven variables) and the teacher (five variables). A Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) revealed an additional distinction. Some of the evaluation items relate directly to the course or teacher and some relate to the interaction between the course or teacher and the students. Distinguishing between these categories could be helpful in identifying or correcting bias in student evaluations.