Faculty ratings and student grades: A university-wide multiple regression analysis.

Studied the relationship between grades professors give their students and ratings those students give their professors, using multivariate techniques and a large sample size (2,360 of 2,449 course sections taught in the spring semester of 1973) to avoid weaknesses of previous studies. Results show the following: (a) Only one factor was present among the 8 rating items; (b) the correlation between average student grade in each course section and average student rating of the teacher of that section was .35; (c) average grade was the best predictor of average rating; and (d) when average grade was added to several other available predictors, it significantly improved the multiple correlation from .25 to .39. Findings suggest that students' grades probably do influence their ratings of faculty, accounting for about 9% of the total variance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment State of Mind, Learning Dispositions, and Academic Performance During the College Transition.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation among attachment state of mind, students' learning dispositions, and academic performance during the college transition. Sixty-two students were involved in a short-term longitudinal study and were interviewed with the Adult Attachment Interview. Students' learning dispositions were assessed at the end of high school (Time 1) and halfway through their 1st semester in college (Time 2). Academic records were collected at Time 1 as well as at the end of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd college semesters. Autonomous students showed better learning dispositions throughout the transition and were less likely than dismissing and preoccupied students to experience a decrease in these dispositions between Time 1 and Time 2. In addition, dismissing students obtained the lowest average of grades in college, and this association was mediated by changes in quality of attention during the transition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The strategic approach to contraceptive introduction

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual educators have faced many barriers in their professions, including harassment, discrimination, and even nationwide antigay political campaigns. Recently, lesbian, gay, and bisexual educators, particularly on college campuses, have challenged such stigmatization by coming out. Because previous research has demonstrated that interpersonal contact with lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals is related to less heterosexist attitudes, the current study investigated the impact of a gay instructor's coming out on his students' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. Data were collected from 156 undergraduate students enrolled in an Introductory Psychology course, 40 of whom were taught by a gay instructor. Herek's (1984, 1994b) Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men (ATLG) scale was used to measure students' relative levels of heterosexism and was administered to students at the beginning and end of the semester. Midway through the semester, the gay instructor disclosed his gay identity to his students as part of a lesson about sexual orientation. Results from the postcourse survey indicated that students in the gay instructor's course section exhibited improved attitudes. Conversely, students enrolled in the same course in sections taught by heterosexual instructors demonstrated no change in their attitudes. Implications of these findings are discussed, and it is argued that gay instructors' coming out may positively affect their students' attitudes toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. However, these efforts by individual instructors must only be a small part of more comprehensive institutional efforts by university communities to address homophobia and heterosexism in educational settings.     

Student/instructor attitude similarity, student ratings, and course performance.

Investigated the validity of student ratings of instructional effectiveness by exploring the relations among student ratings, course performance, and the perceived attitude similarity of students and their instructors. 349 college students enrolled in 22 classes first rated instructor effectiveness on a 28-item rating form and then rated their own attitudes plus instructor attitudes on an attitude scale adapted from D. Byrne (1971). Another 296 college students enrolled in 19 classes rated instructor effectiveness and then their own attitudes plus instructor attitudes on an attitude scale adapted from F. E. Hofman and L. Kremer (see record 1980-33352-001). For both S groups, official end-of-term grades were also collected. Consistent with prior research, modest correlations were found between student ratings and perceived attitude similarity. There was also a modest relation between similarity and course grades. These relations were greatly reduced (56.2 and 44.5%, respectively) when the large influence of instructors on ratings and achievement was removed. Findings fail to support the claim that perceived attitude similarity is a substantial source of bias in student ratings. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting achievement early and late in the semester: The role of motivation and use of learning strategies.

Relations among motivation, learning strategy use, and achievement were examined. Questionnaires were group administered to 283 high school students in geometry classes early and late in the semester. Path analyses were used to determine the effects of motivation (ability perceptions, expectancies, and perceived value) and use of learning strategies (metacognitive, general cognitive, geometry specific, and effort) on achievement early and late in the semester. Early, both expectancies and value predicted the use of strategies; expectancies and use of geometry specific and effort strategies influenced grades. Later, value predicted strategy use; geometry self-concept and metacognitive strategy use influenced grades. No sex differences were found. Results concerning motivation are congruent with previous reports. Strategy use findings suggest that teachers emphasize the use of content specific strategies early in a new course and metacognitive strategies later. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Laboratory experience versus subject pool.

Describes a program which integrates the "subject pool" needs of university investigators with the educational objectives of the introductory psychology course. As part of the course requirements students participate as Ss in a number of hours of "laboratory experience," which consists of an experiment plus an educational session related to the experiment. To increase the students' involvement and demonstrate their understanding of the research the students write laboratory reports. The present system has been operating for 3 yrs and handles about 5,000 experimental hours and reports each year. An evaluation is presented to demonstrate the success of the program from the students' points of view. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teacher–student interactions: Effects of student race, sex, and grade level.

Studied quantitative and qualitative differences in students' initiating behaviors, teachers' verbal feedback, and students' available response opportunities in 63 classrooms in relation to student race (Black or White), sex, and grade level (kindergarten through 5th grade). There were 430 White males, 311 White females, 296 Black males, and 291 Black females. Interactions were collected using an observation system, and data were standardized for each classroom to account for the representation of each of the 4 sex/race categories. Results indicate that male students initiated more positive and negative interactions with teachers than did female students. Quantitatively, White female students at both the lower-elementary (LE) and the upper-elementary (UE) levels received less teacher feedback than did students in the other sex/race categories. Black female students received less teacher feedback in the UE grades than in the LE grades, as was the case for White female students. Qualitative differences in feedback indicated that male students received more negative and nonacademic feedback than did female students and that UE female students received less academic feedback than did UE male students. Findings show that UE Black female students were provided fewer opportunities to respond in the classroom than were LE Black female students. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exploratory factor analysis of students' ratings of a problem-based learning curriculum

PURPOSE: To identify the factor structure underlying medical students' initial experience with a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum and to examine the stability of this structure as students acquire further experience with PBL. METHOD: The PBL curriculum at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine begins in the students' second year and is divided into 11 domains. In 1992-93 students were asked to evaluate their learning experiences in the first and last domains of their first PBL semester, by using a five-point Likert scale to rate 19 items. Principal-components analysis and varimax rotation were used to identify the factors underlying the students' ratings. RESULTS: Ratings of the first and last domains were available from 101 and 71 students, respectively. Analysis yielded four meaningful factors: learning materials, small-group process, tutor effectiveness, and academic support. These four factors shifted in relative importance as the students progressed through the curriculum: for the first domain, tutor effectiveness accounted for the highest percentage of variance in the data; for the last domain, this factor ranked third, after learning materials and small group process. Internal reliabilities for the ratings of the last domain of the semester were higher and more consistent, ranging from .92 to .97. CONCLUSION: The students' initial dependence on the tutor progressed to an emphasis on learning resources. This shift is congruent with the theoretical model of the dynamics of PBL. The results suggest that the survey instrument provides a reliable measure of the multidimensional constructs underlying students' experience with PBL.     

Self-actualization level as a predictor of practicum supervision effectiveness.

20 counseling students at high and low levels of self-actualization (as measured by the Personal Orientation Inventory) were randomly assigned to high or low self-actualizing supervisors to assess the effects of such assignment on change in self-actualization during the course of the beginning practicum semester. A control group of 5 counseling students not enrolled in the practicum were also pre- and posttested to assess their change in self-actualization during the same semester. It was assumed that counselor growth in self-actualization would be affected by the level of self-actualization of the supervisor. Results do not support this assumption. Counseling students tended to gain in self-actualization whether or not they were enrolled in a practicum and regardless of the level of self-actualization of the supervisors to whom they were assigned. Evidence linking counseling effectiveness and self-actualization is advanced; speculation about supervision effectiveness and self-actualization requires further testing. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explaining attributions for achievement: A path analytic approach.

A nonmotivational, expectancy-confirmation model of asymmetrical achievement attributions was compared to a theory of attributional egotism. Data permitting tests of the theories and comparisons between them were collected over an entire semester from students taking examinations in an undergraduate course. 469 students provided expectancies, bases for expectancies, and attributions for 3 examinations. It was found that Ss' expectancies were unrealistically high at the beginning of the course but became more accurate over time. Path analysis indicated that expected scores were based on prior performance and, increasingly throughout the semester, on expected effort. ANOVA revealed that Ss were generally egotistical in their outcome attributions, stressing internal factors following success and external ones following failure. Attributions were also influenced by the degree to which expectancies were confirmed if such expectancies were clearly based on the attribution factor in question. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Students' evaluations of instruction: A longitudinal study of their stability.

Investigated the long-term stability of students' evaluations of instructional effectiveness. Ss were 1,374 undergraduate and graduate business administration majors from 100 classes who completed their programs at a comprehensive state university between 1974 and 1977. Each S provided course and instructor evaluations at the end of each class and again at least 1 yr after program completion. Results show large and significant correlations (median r?=?.83) between end-of-term and retrospective ratings (relative agreement). Differences between the 2 sets of ratings (absolute agreement) were small; the median rating was 6.63 for retrospective ratings and 6.61 for end-of-term ratings. Separate analyses showed relative and absolute agreement to be consistent in quantitative and nonquantitative courses taught at both graduate and undergraduate levels. These findings demonstrate that students' evaluations collected at the end of a course are remarkably similar to the retrospective ratings provided by the same students several years later. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Participative management in the college classroom.

Hypothesized that students encouraged to provide information and decision-making efforts for classroom procedures of importance to them give more favorable ratings to various aspects of the instructor's teaching effectiveness and to their perceptions of what they have learned than do students not given this encouragement and opportunity. 2 graduate classes of 25 students each designed their course within the latitudes of administrative constraints. As controls, 2 other graduate classes were presented the identical course design the following semester as dictated by the instructor. Results indicate reasonable support for the hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem-solving appraisal, self-reported study habits, and performance of academically at-risk college students.

We examined the relations among problem-solving appraisal, self-reported study habits, and academic performance for 63 college students enrolled in a developmental course for academically unprepared students. The participants completed measures of self-appraised problem-solving ability and study habits. Indexes of academic ability and performance were also collected. Regression analyses revealed that problem-solving appraisal was significantly predictive of study habits and semester grade-point average. The results indicate that problem-solving appraisal is related to study habits and academic performance among academically at-risk students, and they suggest that problem-solving appraisal encompasses more than social skill. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A training unit in individual testing at the undergraduate level.

"An undergraduate training unit in individual testing, conducted properly, is very much in accordance with good educational principles and in the best interests of psychology as a profession." The testing unit takes eight weeks, is part of a two semester course; prerequisites are two semesters of general psychology and one semester of statistics; average enrollment is fourteen students largely psychology majors. Textbooks used at present are Cronbach, the training manual on military psychology, and Terman and Merrill. The test used is the Stanford-Binet Form L. An evaluation of the course including verbatim comments of students is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effectiveness of SVIB academic interest scales in predicting college achievement.

Determined the effectiveness of various SVIB academic interest scales in predicting 1st semester grades for 388 freshman males. Both the R. M. Rust and F. J. Ryan (see 29:4) and the D. P. Campbell and C. B. Johansson (see 41:3) scales contributed to a multiple correlation coefficient consisting of high school rank and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores in predicting academic performance. A single-item, self-evaluation rating scale failed to predict GPA significantly. Although the degree of relationship between the interest scales and grades tended to be somewhat greater for "marginal" students, the r's were not significantly different from those obtained with more able students. The use of modified, "placement" instructions did not greatly affect the mean scores or the magnitude of the correlations. (26 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes toward higher education and course evaluation.

Tested the hypothesis that course evaluations are related to (a) students' and instructors' own and perceived attitudes toward higher education and college teaching and (b) congruence between students' and instructors' own and perceived attitudes. Two experiments were conducted with 24 college instructors and 889 students. The evaluation measure contained 18 5-step items drawn from previous studies; factor analysis yielded 4 factors—Intellectual Challenge, Student–Instructor Rapport, Content/Structure, and Teaching Method—accounting for 64% of the variance in the final instrument. Regression analyses show that attitudes accounted for close to 50% of evaluative variance. The most efficient subset of predictors was instructors' attitudes as perceived by students such that the attribution to instructors of attitude items preferred by students was associated with positive course evaluation. These items tended to be progressive or social in orientation. Results support the hypotheses which were derived from directive state and balance theories. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Students' evaluations of university teaching: Dimensionality, reliability, validity, potential baises, and utility.

Reviews findings and research designs used to study students' evaluations of teaching effectiveness. The focus of the investigation is on the author's own research that has led to the development of a students' evaluations of educational quality measure, but it also incorporates a wide range of other research. Based on this overview, class-average student ratings are (a) multidimensional; (b) reliable and stable; (c) primarily a function of the instructor who teaches a course rather than the course that is taught; (d) relatively valid against a variety of indicators of effective teaching; (e) relatively unaffected by a variety of variables hypothesized as potential biases; and (f) seen to be useful by faculty as feedback about their teaching, by students for use in course selection, and by administrators for use in personnel decisions. It is suggested that in future research a construct validation approach should be used in which it is recognized that effective teaching and students' evaluations designed to reflect it are multifaceted, that there is no single criterion of effective teaching, and that tentative interpretations of relations with validity criteria and with potential biases must be scrutinized in different context and examine multiple criteria of effective teaching. (136 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parents' job insecurity affects children's grade performance through the indirect effects of beliefs in an unjust world and negative mood.

The authors postulated a model in which children's perceptions of their parents' job insecurity indirectly affect their grade performance through the effects of beliefs in an unjust world and negative mood. A total of 127 undergraduate students (55 male, 72 female) completed questionnaires on their perceptions of their parents' job insecurity and their own beliefs in an unjust world and negative mood. The parents reported on their own job insecurity. In addition, students provided their course grades from the previous semester 3 months after completing the questionnaires. Support for the proposed model was provided using LISREL VIII. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Grades Expected and Grades Received--Their Relationship to Students' Evaluations of Faculty Performance.

This report studied the relationship between students' ratings of faculty performance and the grades they expected and those they received in a required introductory English course. The evaluative instrument was specifically designed for this course, and 549 first-semester freshman students, randomly assigned to 30 sections taught by 15 faculty who volunteered to participate, rated their instructor's performance. The total ratings for each subscale (defined as Instructional Methods, Interpersonal Relationships, and Content Competency) were analyzed using ANOVA comparisons by letter grade. Significant differences (p     

All together now? College students' preferred project group grading procedures.

Three hundred sixty undergraduate students were randomly assigned to evaluate 1 of 12 versions of a hypothetical college syllabus from a course in which student project groups were used. As hypothesized, students reported the highest course-enrollment intentions and most positive perceptions of the group grading procedure when both individual and group performance on the group project was evaluated. In addition, students with low grade point averages (GPAs) exhibited stronger course-enrollment intentions than students with high GPAs when group work accounted for a high percentage (50%) of students' course grades and when group performance was evaluated. Contrary to hypotheses, students did not prefer courses in which they had input into the grading of their group work. Implications for the use of group grading procedures are discussed, in addition to future research directions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)