Animadversion error in student evaluations of faculty teaching effectiveness.

Compared the midterm grades of each of 86 business students to the grade the student gave the professor on his teaching effectiveness. A 1-way analysis of variance showed better than chance correspondence (h2 = .23). This tendency was entitled the animadversion error, and its importance in subordinate-supervisor ratings is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Legal issues in faculty evaluation of student clinical performance

Faculty evaluation of the clinical performance of medical students and residents is a great responsibility. However, many faculty members are reluctant to fulfill this responsibility with complete candor because of the fear of legal liability and lawsuits by dissatisfied students. This article examines current methods and uses of evaluation and problems created when they are incomplete or disingenuous. Legal issues arising in this process are then discussed, with emphasis upon the Supreme Court's 1978 Horowitz decision. Finally, the substantive and procedural implications of Horowitz for faculty practice are explained. It is argued that the law permits and encourages full and honest faculty evaluation of clinical performance.     

Effect of instructor-leader behavior on student performance.

Consideration and initiating structure behaviors are manipulated by E while teaching 4 sections of general psychology to 85 undergraduates. Classes taught with high consideration were higher on 3 dependent measures of performance than Ss taught with low consideration. These measures were submission of bibliographies, examination scores, and research credits. Ss taught with high initiating structure performed higher on the bibliography measure, and an interaction between the effects of consideration and initiating structure for research credits was noted. Results show that teacher behavior can be investigated as leader behavior by examining experimentally variables derived through questionnaire methodology. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of subsequent performance on evaluations of previous performance.

Tested the hypothesis that subsequent performance levels would bias the recall and evaluations of a ratee's previous level of performance with 183 undergraduates, who rated 3 videotaped lectures in either immediate or delayed rating conditions. The 1st videotape depicted an average level of performance and was followed by either 2 good lectures or 2 poor lectures. A significant performance level?×?time of rating interaction was found, in which memory-based ratings were biased in the direction of subsequent performance (i.e., when there was a delay between observation and rating, Ss who had seen an average lecture followed by good lectures rated that average lecture more favorably than did Ss who had seen that same lecture followed by poor lectures). It is suggested that raters are biased in favor of recalling behaviors that are consistent with their general impression of a ratee and that subsequent performance may systematically alter the rater's recall of the ratee's previous behavior. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of previous performance on evaluations of present performance.

In Study 1, 82 undergraduates viewed 3 videotaped lectures presented by the same lecturer. Ss in the good-performance condition viewed 2 good lectures, followed by a lecture of average quality. Ss in the poor-performance condition viewed 2 poor lectures, followed by the same average lecture. Results show significant contrast effects both for ratings of the frequency of several critical behaviors and for performance evaluations. Ss in the poor-performance condition assigned more favorable behavior ratings and higher performance evaluation ratings to the 3rd (average) lecture than did Ss in the good-performance condition. In Study 2, 71 Ss were used to test the hypothesis that memory biases were responsible for the contrast effects observed in Study 1. Ss viewed the same videotapes but rated the 3rd tape from memory the day after viewing the tape. Results show weak, nonsignificant contrast effects, suggesting that memory biases were not sufficient to explain the results of Study 1. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of instructor/course evaluations on student course selection.

Instructor/course evaluations had an impact on student election of courses as shown by the frequency with which 1,150 students elected differentially rated classes. Prior to registration students were given reports on student evaluations of political science courses. A comparable group of students did not receive the ratings. The course rated most highly was elected more frequently by those with access to ratings despite the fact that it was also rated as requiring more work. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How characteristics of student essays influence teachers' evaluations.

Explored the question of why competent evaluators award the ratings they do to college students' expository essays. Essays were rewritten to be stronger or weaker in 4 categories: content, organization, sentence structure, and mechanics. 12 evaluators first used a 4-point holistic rating scale to judge the essays' quality. Then they rated whether each of the 4 rewriting categories in each rewritten essay was strong or weak (perceptions). ANOVAs revealed content and organization to affect ratings most (p?p?p?     

Validity and usefulness of student evaluations of instructional quality.

The average of a total of 720 undergraduates' evaluations for each section of a computer programing course correlated positively with the average of student performance on a standardized final examination. Since alternative explanations were ruled out, results support the validity of the student evaluations. Half of the 18 instructors (feedback) were also given the results of student evaluations conducted during the term. Students in the feedback sections later rated their instructors as better teachers, but performed no better on the standardized final examination. Findings suggest student evaluations are valid measures of instructional quality and provide useful feedback to the instructor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of self-differentiation and anonymity in group on deindividuation.

Investigated the effects of deindividuating conditions (i.e., anonymity) on the behaviors and feelings of self-differentiated and less self-differentiated individuals. 40 male 17–18 yr olds were divided on the basis of their scores on the portable rod-and-frame test into self-differentiated and undifferentiated groups. Each S was exposed to transgressive and prosocial behavior of 2 group members who were confederates. Exposure to the models' behavior occurred under conditions of anonymity or identifiability. Additionally, measures of Ss' feelings were taken. Data indicate that relative to identifiability conditions, the transgressions and prosocial actions of the models had stronger effects on the behaviors of undifferentiated Ss under anonymity conditions. Also, undifferentiated Ss felt less self-conscious and less inhibited under anonymity than identifiability conditions. The behaviors and feelings of self-differentiated Ss were relatively unaffected by the anonymity–identifiability manipulation. A conceptual link between self-differentiation, self-awareness, and deindividuation is proposed. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of earned and assigned grades on student evaluations of an instructor.

Experimental manipulation of grades assigned to 148 members of an introductory psychology class was performed to determine the effects of actually earned and randomly assigned grades. Earned grade had minor effects on evaluation of the instructor, but assigned grade produced significant modifications in ratings. Less adequate Ss showed greater evaluation rating shifts as a function of manipulations performed. Responses made to attribution questions were consonant with responses to evaluation items. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of nonpathological sex role stereotypes on student evaluations of psychiatric patients.

50 male and 50 female undergraduate judges evaluated statements (drawn from the MMPI Mf and L scales) that were attributed to male and female seriously disturbed psychiatric patients but that were not symptomatic of disturbance. When a male judge rated a female patient who expressed an attitude conventionally associated with a masculine sex role, she was evaluated as more disturbed than if she had described herself neutrally or in terms of a feminine stereotype. No similar bias occurred among female judges or in evaluations of male patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Feedback expectancy and shifts in student ratings of college faculty.

Studied the effects of college student evaluations on faculty performance. 10 professors in a feedback condition received the results of student evaluations (15 classes), collected midway through the semester, whereas 9 professors in the control condition had all feedback withheld (12 classes). Results indicate significantly greater increments in performance between midterm evaluations and evaluations collected at the end of the term in the feedback condition. Implications of these results for utilization of student evaluations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of work experience on the validity of student evaluations of teaching effectiveness.

Examined whether student evaluations of teaching effectiveness changed significantly once the students had left the university and had gained work experience. Students in their final year at a university were asked to grade lecturers on 9 items relating to teaching effectiveness and course effectiveness; 723 students responded. After the students had graduated and had been working for 1 yr, they were asked again to give a rating of teaching effectiveness for their former lecturers and to nominate the "best" and "worst" teachers; 506 replied. Comparisons of the results show that there was little difference in the 2 ratings of lecturers by their teaching scores. Increasing maturity and job experience did not significantly alter student evaluations of relative teaching effectiveness. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of perceived fairness of performance evaluations.

217 middle managers from 3 industrial groups responded to an open-ended questionnaire in which they described the determinants of particularly fair or unfair performance appraisals. By Q-sort procedure, the responses were categorized and combined to yield 7 distinct determinants of fairness in performance evaluations. Ratings of the perceived importance of these determinants were factor analyzed, revealing 2 distinct factors—Procedural and Distributive determinants. The implications of the determinants are discussed with respect to existing research and theory on justice in organizations. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of professor ethnicity and gender on student evaluations: Judged before met.

Ethnic minority academicians face a number of challenges in the “ivory tower.” One set of challenges arises from the racial stereotypes that others hold, and the current research investigates the stereotypes held by students before they even meet such professors. After providing college preparatory students with a CV of a professor (differing in their race—White, Black, or Asian; their gender—male or female; and their academic discipline—Science or Humanities), students evaluated the professor on measures of competence, legitimacy, and interpersonal skills. We found that students evaluated Black professors to be significantly less competent and legitimate than their White and Asian counterparts. Both Black and Asian professors were judged to have significantly less interpersonal skills than White professors. No gender main effects emerged. Professors in science were judged to be more competent and legitimate than professors in humanities. Very few interactions surfaced. We discuss our results in terms of previous stereotype research and the implications our results have for further compounding the challenges that Black professors face in academia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Liberal grading improves evaluations but not performance.

The effects of examination grades on 250 college students' study behaviors, attendance, and evaluations of instruction were examined in an undergraduate psychology course. A paradigm involving a team-teaching procedure was employed, which enabled the questions to be investigated in the natural setting using an experimental rather than a correlational methodology. Liberal grading was found to result in higher evaluations of course and instructor but had no demonstrable effect on studying or attendance. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)