ERIC Number: EJ972749
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1052-8008
EISSN: N/A
Are Students Telling Us the Truth? A Critical Look at the Student Evaluation of Teaching
Clayson, Dennis E.; Haley, Debra A.
Marketing Education Review, v21 n2 p101-112 Sum 2011
Over 99 percent of business schools use student evaluation of instruction to measure teaching and classroom performance. The resultant measures are utilized in judgments of merit pay, tenure, and promotion. In such an environment, an inspection of exceptions to their assumed validity is justified. This paper investigates one such issue that is rarely reported. Simply put: to what extent are students telling us the truth when they evaluate instruction? A literature review indicates that students (1) ignore or falsify answers in light of variables considered more important, (2) give subjective impressions in response to objective questions, and (3) at times give purposefully misleading and false responses. A survey of students found that a majority knew of respondents who had falsified evaluations and that an estimated 30 percent of evaluations contain answers the students knew were not true. In light of these findings, the validity of student evaluation of teaching to improve individual instructor performance, modify curriculum, and create comparative scales to evaluate faculty is called into question. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Student Evaluation of Teacher Performance, Validity, Data Collection, Merit Pay, Tenure, Faculty Promotion, Ethics, Opinions, Phenomenology, Student Attitudes, Response Style (Tests), Social Desirability, Social Bias, Teacher Effectiveness, Prediction, Grades (Scholastic), Student Motivation, Negative Attitudes
M.E. Sharpe Inc. 80 Business Park Drive, Armonk, NY 10504. Tel: 800-541-6563; Tel: 914-273-1800; Fax: 914-273-2106; e-mail: info@mesharpe.com; Web site: http://www.mesharpe.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A

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