Effect of teacher sex, student sex, and teacher warmth on the evaluation of college instructors.

Examined the influence of teacher sex, student sex, and teacher warmth as perceived by students and teachers on teacher evaluation. Male and female instructors in the same department were matched on the level of course taught. 22 pairs of courses evaluated by 838 college students were obtained. Twenty Instructional Improvement Questionnaire items that directly evaluate instructor performance were analyzed using a 3-factor analysis of variance and the .0025 level of significance. No interactions between faculty sex, student sex, and teacher warmth were found. When Ss rated their instructor's interest and warmth, teachers who were warmer and primarily interested in students received higher ratings in teaching effectiveness. When teachers rated themselves on warmth and interest, self-ratings interacted with faculty sex. Generally, female teachers received higher effectiveness ratings than did male teachers when they considered themselves low in warmth or interested in course content. Male teachers who rated themselves high in warmth or primarily interested in students received higher ratings than did male teachers who rated themselves low in warmth or primarily interested in course content, respectively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attribution, affect, and college exam performance.

Results of a questionnaire study with 207 college students show that Ss attributed their own performance and the performance of the average student to ability, test difficulty, preparation, and luck. Consistent with the self-serving bias hypothesis, successful Ss perceived internal factors as more important causes and unsuccessful Ss perceived external factors as more important causes of their own performance than the performance of the average student. Furthermore, successful Ss saw internal and stable factors as more important causes of others' outcomes (as well as their own) than did unsuccessful Ss. Ss' anxiety about their performance and their ratings of the course and instructor were systematically, albeit weakly, linked with specific causal attributions. The implications of these causal inferences and affective responses in the educational context are discussed. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between student personality characteristics, teacher ratings, and student achievement.

In Study 1, 388 undergraduates (a) rated themselves on the Adjective Check List (ACL), (b) viewed a videotape that varied in instructor expressiveness and lecture content, (c) evaluated the videotaped instructor and a test on the lecture, and (d) completed the ACL for the instructor. In Study 2, 87 Ss were also exposed to 2 videotaped lectures given 1 wk apart. In Study 3, 108 Ss completed the ACL for themselves and their instructors, evaluated their instructor's teaching, and completed a test on common course material. No meaningful or consistent relationship between ratings and student personality characteristics appeared to exist. Personality characteristics of instructors were related to teacher effectiveness ratings. Ratings predicted teacher-produced achievement equally well for classes that differed in the personality characteristics of the students enrolled. Teacher effects on ratings appeared significantly greater than teacher effects on achievement. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of teacher, student, and class characteristics on the evaluation of college instructors.

Investigated whether student evaluations of faculty would be affected by the characteristics of the teacher, the student, and the class. Each instructor at a single university was asked to answer questions indicating personal warmth, professorial rank, years of teaching experience, sex, and class size. Students in 174 classes were asked to complete the Instructional Improvement Questionnaire (IIQ). The 20 questions on the IIQ that directly evaluate instructor performance were analyzed. Only the results for the 1st set of canonical functions are presented. An instructor who received high scores on this canonical function would be rated as encouraging student participation in the course, showing an interest in students, knowing when students understood her or him, being available to students, increasing appreciation for the course, and accepting criticism and suggestions. The classes that received high values on this function were small in size, were taught by instructors who rated themselves as warm, and had students that expected high grades. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity of students' evaluations of college teaching: A multitrait–multimethod analysis.

College instructors in 329 classes evaluated their own teaching effectiveness with the same 35-item rating form used by their students. There was student–instructor agreement in courses taught by teaching assistants (r?=?.46), undergraduate courses taught by faculty (r?=?.41), and graduate level courses (r?=?.39). Separate factor analyses of the student and instructor ratings demonstrated that the same 9 evaluation factors (e.g., work load, organization, interaction) underlay both sets of ratings. A multitrait–multimethod analysis supported convergent and divergent validity of these rating factors. Not only were correlations between student and instructor ratings on the same factors statistically significant for each of 9 factors, but correlations between their ratings on different factors were low. Findings demonstrate student–instructor agreement on evaluation of teaching effectiveness, support the validity of student ratings for both graduate and undergraduate courses, and emphasize the importance of using multifactor rating scales derived through the application of factor analysis. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pluralistic ignorance and alcohol use on campus: Some consequences of misperceiving the social norm.

Four studies examined the relation between college students' own attitudes toward alcohol use and their estimates of the attitudes of their peers. All studies found widespread evidence of pluralistic ignorance: Students believed that they were more uncomfortable with campus alcohol practices than was the average student. Study 2 demonstrated this perceived self–other difference also with respect to one's friends. Study 3 tracked attitudes toward drinking over the course of a semester and found gender differences in response to perceived deviance: Male students shifted their attitudes over time in the direction of what they mistakenly believed to be the norm, whereas female students showed no such attitude changes. Study 4 found that students' perceived deviance correlated with various measures of campus alienation, even though that deviance was illusory. The implications of these results for general issues of norm estimation and responses to perceived deviance are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Student evaluations of college instructors: Effects of type of course taught, instructor gender and gender role, and student gender.

The college curriculum is often separated into divisions or course types (e.g., natural science, the arts) that may be perceived to differ in the extent to which they use expressive feminine attributes (e.g., affectionate, sensitive) and instrumental masculine attributes (e.g., assertive, forceful). In Experiment 1, the effects of course type, student gender, and instructor gender and gender role on student evaluations of instructor effectiveness were examined. In Exp 2, students' perceptions of the importance of various gender role characteristics in instructors of different course types were explored. Results suggest that instructor gender role is more important than instructor gender in affecting student evaluations. Both female and male students preferred instructors (science instructors, in particular) who possessed both feminine and masculine characteristics, regardless of the gender of the instructor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Another look at Dr. Fox: Effect of stated purpose for evaluation, lecturer expressiveness, and density of lecture content on student ratings.

Investigated the extent to which the student's perception of the purpose for evaluating an instructor, the instructor's expressiveness, and the density of content presented in a lecture influenced student ratings and student achievement. 161 college students were randomly assigned to view lectures that systematically differed in lecturer expressiveness and density of content. The perceived purpose for evaluating the instructor had no effect on the Ss' ratings. All 5 student-rating subscale scores were significantly higher for the expressive lectures than for the nonexpressive lectures. On the dimension of instructor explanations, medium-content lectures received higher ratings than high-content lectures. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived learning in relation to student evaluation of university instruction.

A continuing problem with student evaluation of college instruction is the replicated correlation between course ratings and student grades. The finding has been variously interpreted as an indication of validity, as a grading leniency effect, or as an indirect result of student selection variables. In this article, I show that a considerably larger portion of rating variance can be explained by students' subjective assessment of learning than by actual course grades. Summative data from 50 sections showed that perceived learning correlated .88 with course evaluations and .86 with instructor evaluations. These results are viewed as support for the validity hypothesis. The statistics were not reduced by partialling out the effects of anticipated letter grade, which preserved the idea that leniency or student characteristics could account for at least a small portion of the rating-grade effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contract teaching of academic skills.

Studied 92 college students enrolled in a study-skills course. An individualized contract requiring students to identify nonproductive study behaviors and agree with their instructors on appropriate strategies for desired change was examined for effects on attitudes to study and subsequent academic achievement. Two instructors each taught a contract and a noncontract group. A group of 18 Ss taught by a 3rd instructor acted as a control to check for experimenter effect. Contract Ss improved significantly more on self-reported attitudes toward study (Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes) than either noncontract or control students. A follow-up study showed that contract students gained better GPAs and maintained this improvement for 2 yrs. Results are discussed in terms of the demands made on both student and instructor by this method of instruction. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between course entry attitudes and end-of-course ratings.

Course entry attitudes and end-of-course ratings were collected from 1,088 college students using as pretest the Affective Entry Questionnaire and as posttest the Course Evaluation Form. Two groups of Ss were studied: those reporting precourse attitudes toward the course but not the instructor, and those reporting precourse attitudes toward both the course and the instructor. Multiple regression analysis indicated a significant relationship between course entry attitudes and end-of-course ratings for Ss reporting precourse expectations prior to entry into the course. Different sets of items from the Course Entry Scale were found to predict end-of-course ratings for the different groups of Ss studied. Course entry bias is a relatively rare occurrence, but when it exists, it exerts a predictable influence on the evaluation of instructor performance. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-organization of alcohol-related attitudes and beliefs in a campus housing complex: An initial investigation.

The self-organization of college students' alcohol-related attitudes and their beliefs about other students' attitudes were assessed within a campus housing complex. Pluralistic ignorance was widespread, in that compared with their own self-ratings, students rated their friends and the "typical" student as being more in favor of alcohol and more lax in the number of drinks per hour that were acceptable and the number of drinks that were acceptable before driving. They also perceived typical students as more risky than their friends. Dynamic social impact theory was also supported, as students' dormitory building and floor of residence reliably predicted both their personal drinking attitudes and their beliefs about the drinking attitudes of other students. (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)     

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)     

Relationship of student and instructor educational orientations with course ratings.

In a study with 359 undergraduates and 9 university faculty members, student and instructor educational orientations were examined in relation to course ratings in 9 classes. With 4 rating dimension scales (i.e., Teacher–Student Relationships, Course Objectives and Organization, Quality of Lectures, and Quality of Reading Assignments—Student Instructional Report), multiple regression analyses yielded an overall R–2 of 10 to 28%; instructor orientations were relatively more useful than student orientations in the regression equations. Spearman rhos between a measure of class–instructor orientation disparity and ratings were not significant. However, the negative sign of these coefficients is consistent with the congruence hypothesis of a person–environment interaction model. Discussion centers on the need for further study of student and instructor orientations and their "fit" in relation to outcomes for students. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of ethnic, sex, and attitude similarity on counselor credibility.

Surveyed 63 male and 64 female Mexican-American community college students to determine their attitude toward acculturation. Ss were then randomly assigned to receive written material describing the sex, ethnicity, and attitude toward acculturation of a counselor they subsequently heard in a tape-recorded excerpt of a counseling session. After reading the written introduction and listening to the counseling excerpt, Ss rated the counselor's credibility and attractiveness on the Counselor-Effectiveness Rating Scale (CERS). A repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant interaction between attitude similarity and the repeated factor (CERS subscales). Post hoc analyses indicated that Ss' ratings of their willingness to see the counselor were significantly lower than other credibility ratings for those Ss who were exposed to a counselor with a dissimilar attitude. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex and gender in the college classroom: A quantitative analysis of faculty–student interactions and perceptions.

Students and instructors from 24 classrooms across 8 departments at a major university were observed in this study to (a) assess for sex differences in faculty–student interactions and in students' perceptions of their college classroom environment, (b) compare student perceptions of their college classroom interaction patterns with observed faculty–student interactions, and (c) assess a variety of demographic characteristics together to determine their singular and/or interactive effects on faculty–student interaction patterns and student perceptions. Male and female students did not differ in their classroom participation or perceptions, and instructors did not interact differently with the male and female students. Student perceptions strongly correlated with their own behaviors and with instructor behaviors. Classroom interactions and student perceptions varied on the basis of different demographic characteristics including instructor sex, class size, instructor monitoring of gender–race equity in the classroom, gender relevance of the course, and the sex ratio of the class. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Survey of mycoflora and mycotoxins in Egyptian soybean seeds

The purpose is to elucidate the sequential change in relations between students' friend choice and their school performance in terms of self-evaluation maintenance model. One hundred and thirty-five elementary school children and one hundred and twenty junior high school students were used as subjects of this survey. On the two questionnaires, each student was asked how he rated his own school performance, that of his friend, and that of his distant classmate, on both the high and low relevant subjects. According to the result of the survey, most students changed the combinations of each factor (relevance, closeness, school performance) in order to maintain their desirable self-evaluation. A time sequential analysis showed that students' self-evaluation maintenance processes were not so much based on their own ratings of school performance as on actual grades. It also showed that self-evaluation maintenance and personality traits were related to each other: As for elementary school children, their personality traits were related to the ratings of their own school performance and of their friends' school performance.     

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)     

Validity and reliability of scaffolded peer assessment of writing from instructor and student perspectives.

Although peer reviewing of writing is a way to create more writing opportunities in college and university settings, the validity and reliability of peer-generated grades are a major concern. This study investigated the validity and reliability of peer-generated writing grades of 708 students across 16 different courses from 4 universities in a particular scaffolded reviewing context: Students were given guidance on peer assessment, used carefully constructed rubrics, and were provided clear incentives to take the assessment task seriously. Distinguishing between instructor and student perspectives of reliability and validity, the analyses suggest that the aggregate ratings of at least 4 peers on a piece of writing are both highly reliable and as valid as instructor ratings while (paradoxically) producing very low estimates of reliability and validity from the student perspective. The results suggest that instructor concerns about peer evaluation reliability and validity should not be a barrier to implementing peer evaluations, at least with appropriate scaffolds. Future research needs to investigate how to address student concerns about reliability and validity and to identify scaffolds that may ensure high levels of reliability and validity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)