A common criticism of student ratings of instruction is that they are affected by the personal style of the instructor rather than an instructor's ability to convey instructional material. It was found that instructor expressiveness had a substanial impact on student ratings but a small impact on student achievement. (Author/PN)

Contrary to previous research, grading standards did not affect student achievement. The effect of standards on ratings was significant but not consistent for types of ratings (instructor expressiveness, lecture content), instructors, or differences in standards. Under certain conditions, higher grades either adversely affected ratings or had no…

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of teacher grading standards on student ratings of teacher performance. In experiment one, three teacher characteristics were factorially manipulated: instructor expressiveness (high, low), lecture content (high, low), and grading standards (B, C+, C). In experiment two, student incentive…