Issues and Myths

Issues and Myths related to Student Evaluations of Teaching 

There are a number of common beliefs and frequently made assertions relating to Student Evaluations of Teaching. 

We have made a loose categorization of some of these myths under the following sub headings. 

• teacher 
• student 
• class 
• subject 
• discipline 
• other

The Teacher

Question

Male teachers generally receive higher ratings than female teachers. 

Answer

False - there is actually a slight tendency in the reverse, that is for female teachers to receive better ratings. If that relates to female teachers behaving in more supportive ways then this is NOT a bias but rather a reflection of a real performance difference.

Question

In general, older and more experienced teachers tend to receive lower ratings.

Answer

False - experience does tend to lead to better ratings. However, those younger teachers who prove unsuccessful and thus tend to leave academia may cloud this issue.

Question

Teachers of higher research productivity tend to receive lower ratings for teaching.

Answer

False - the relationship is actually minimal. This contradicts the oft-touted claim by "traditional" universities that research activity is strongly related to teaching. 

Question

Student achievement tends to be higher in classes in which a range of specific teaching skills have also been rated high.

Answer

True - students of teachers who are more skilled tend to achieve better. 

Question

Teacher warmth and enthusiasm are generally unrelated to ratings
of teaching competence. 

Answer

False - teacher enthusiasm has a positive effect on both student motivation and learning, and not just on ratings in isolation. 

The Student

Question

Answer

True - if higher expected grades are an indication of actual better learning and performance, which in turn is attributable to better teaching, then this is NOT a bias. 

Question

Ratings provided via questionnaires in which the students provide their names are higher than ratings provided anonymously. 

Answer

True - which is why anonymous ratings are treated as more credible. 

Question

Research has found a slight same-gender preference. That means male students give higher ratings to male teachers and female students give higher ratings to female teachers. 

Answer

True - what needs to be clarified here is whether these findings relate to different and discriminative gender related behavior. But the main point is that this effect is 'slight' and is outweighed by differences attributable to variations in teaching performance. 

Question

The ratings of global teacher competence provided by current students typically closely agree with the ratings provided by past students. 

Answer

True - another myth shattered! 

Question

"What would the current students know. They need to get out into the real world to realize the worth of a subject."  

Answer

Not so - poor teaching is detected by the students and they tend not to forget it when they leave university.

The Class

Question

Answer

True - teaching is (necessarily) a bit more remote and distant in large classes and so perceived by the students as not as good. So this is NOT a bias effect.

The Subject

Question

More difficult subjects with a greater workload receive slightly higher ratings than do easier subjects with lower workloads. 

Answer

True – this contradicts the 'myth' that teachers can get better ratings by giving their students an easy time. The general interpretation is that students rate well those subjects in which they judge that they 'learn lots' . 

Question

Ratings for subjects taken at early undergraduate level tend to be slightly higher than ratings for subjects taken later. 

Answer

False - ratings tend to be higher in later years. But this coincides with smaller classes, typically electives, and usually in the student's chosen major. So the teaching is  probably more effective.

The Discipline

Question

The academic field or discipline has no bearing on the ratings.

Answer

False - in general, teaching in the humanities tends to receive slightly higher ratings to that in fields such as science and engineering but the reasons are not simple.  There may be 'socialized' differences in the ways that teachers in different fields interact with students. Fields with a more 'right or wrong' flavour to them might engender 'harsher' judgment criteria applied to teachers by students.  But the important implication is that teachers should be assessed by comparison with colleagues in their own fields.

Other

Question

Answers

False - actually there is no difference. An average over a range of specific questions gives much the same answer as asking a global 'is this a good teacher?' question. But student evaluations are about more than just global ratings.  You don't get much specific and targeted feedback from a single global question. So what should you do? If you're asking specific questions anyway, then there's no point in having an extra global question as well. It is redundant, and it could mean that Heads of Departments do not bother to look at the detail. 

Question

Student ratings are better indicators of subject satisfaction and effectiveness than they are of teacher effectiveness. 

Answer

False – it is a 'no difference' finding. Students can equally well provide feedback on the operation of a subject as they can on the performance of an individual teacher.