Over the years, evaluation researchers have concluded that instruction needs to be viewed as a multidimensional activity and that a relatively finite set of constructs2,3,4 underlie effective teaching and can be identified1 as follows:
- Effective Communication
- Good organization of subject matter and course
- Enthusiasm for the subject matter and teaching
- Positive attitude toward students
- Fairness in examinations and grading
- Flexibility in approaches to teaching
- Appropriate student learning outcomes
To build your own course evaluation based on these constructs,
According to Seldin (1998), the systematic use of student ratings by deans at liberal arts colleges nationwide continue to increase. For example, while 80.3% of deans at 604 liberal arts colleges used student ratings in 1988, that figure had risen to 88.1% by 1998. In addition, student ratings of instruction were far and away the most heavily cited source of information for these deans regarding the performance of faculty. Given that critical decisions regarding faculty such as retention, promotion, tenure, and salary level are directly influenced by how well faculty teach, it is of vital importance to measure instructional effectiveness as accurately and fairly as possible and then convey the results of such measurement efforts to faculty, department chairs, and deans in a clear and accurate manner. Regarding this latter point, a Course Report form has been developed for use in conjunction with the CE-Gen™ tool. The report contains not only information specific to a given course section (e.g., response frequency, average rating per CE-Gen™ statement, etc.) but also vital department and campus-wide comparative information which can be used to put into proper context the evaluation results for a particular course section taught by a given faculty member.
In conclusion, by utilizing these seven constructs in the development of CE-Gen™, it can be honestly claimed that the CE-Gen™ is a valid instrument for use in determining teaching effectiveness of college faculty.
References
- Centra, J. A. (1998). The development of the Student Instructional Report II. Princeton, NJ. Educational Testing Service.
- Feldman, K. A. (1976). The superior college teacher from the student’s view. Research in Higher Education, 5, 243-288.
- Feldman, K. A. (1989). The association between student ratings of specific instructional dimensions and student achievement: Refining and extending the synthesis of data from multi-section validity studies. Research in Higher Education, 30, 583-645.
- Marsh, H. W., & Roche; L. A. (1993). The use of students' evaluations and an individually structured intervention to enhance university teaching effectiveness. American Educational Research Journal, 30, 217-251.
- Seldin, P. (1998). How colleges evaluate teaching: 1988 vs. 1998. AAHE Bulletin, March. 3-7.