A number of research reports and meta analyses on student evaluation of college teaching were reviewed. Student ratings were found to be multidimensional, reliable, valid, and relatively unbiased. Results were useful for feedback, course selection, and personnel decisions. Marsh's Students' Evaluations of Educational Quality (SEEQ) was also…

Students' evaluations of university teachers cannot be adequately understood if their multidimensionality is ignored. Instruments collecting student evaluations of teaching should measure separate components of teaching effectiveness with consideration of the construct validity and content validity of the multiple dimensions. (SLD)

The reliability, long-term stability, and generalizability of student ratings of teacher effectiveness are discussed. The Students' Evaluation of Educational Quality (SEEQ) instrument is examined from these perspectives. The multidimensionality of student response to such evaluation instruments must be recognized. (SLD)

The validity of students' evaluations of university teacher effectiveness must be demonstrated through a construct validation approach. Empirical relations between students' evaluations of teaching effectiveness (such as the Students' Evaluation of Educational Quality instrument) and other indicators of effective teaching are examined. (SLD)

Methodological problems have so biased the search for potential biases in student ratings of university teachers that the search itself has approximated a witch hunt. Meta-analysis and systematic review are required for more accurate estimates of the size of effects that have been reported and the conditions under which they were found. (SLD)

The Dr. Fox effect is defined as the overriding influence of instructor expressiveness on students' evaluations of college and university teaching. Studies of this effect are reviewed, and the implications for the value of student evaluations of teachers are considered. (SLD)

Studies of the usefulness of student ratings of university teachers are often inadequate. The wide range of questions about how students use the other students' evaluations and how these evaluations can be used by administration and faculty to improve teacher effectiveness is a rich field for further research. (SLD)

A paradigm is described for studying the applicability of two North American instruments (the Students' Evaluation of Educational Quality and Frey's Endeavor) to other countries. Factor analyses of studies in Australia, Spain, and Papua New Guinea support the generality of the instruments' factors to the educational contexts of other countries.…