A survey of teachers of Further Education colleges in Wales concerning introduction of a formal evaluation system in their institutions gathered information through a workshop (n=72) and questionnaire (n=60). Results indicate teachers generally did not welcome a formal appraisal system but felt any system should offer encouragement in improving…

A study investigated the extent to which University of Missouri (St. Louis) optometry students' grades correlated with their evaluations of faculty over a period of five years. A small but statistically significant correlation was found. Other relationships and factors are also discussed. (MSE)

A study at one school of business administration investigated the use, in a survey of graduating seniors, of open-ended questions to elicit information to help evaluate and improve teaching. Student concerns and faculty responses, methodology for textual analysis of student responses, and a comparison of this approach with more conventional…

This study analyzed aspects of assistant professor promotion and tenure packets that contained varying emphases on outreach associated with a positive promotion recommendation. Fictionalized versions of actual promotion packets for 18 men and women were obtained from seven midwest universities. Packets varied by type of department and by extent…

Methods were examined by which the results of student evaluations of instruction may be presented as one indicator of teaching effectiveness for faculty personnel committees in order to best answer the question of teaching competence. Specifically, the study examined two measures of central tendency, the median and the mean, to determine which…

In 1984-85, a nationwide survey was conducted of merit pay practices in community colleges to discover the impact of public pressure for merit pay on the community college system. Questionnaires were sent to more than 1,300 community, technical, and junior colleges, requesting information on the nature of faculty evaluation at each college. Study…

Summarized in the first part of the report are the deliberations of the Southern Regional Education Board's Task Force on Faculty Evaluation and Institutional Reward Structures during 1976-77. The group assisted the SREB staff to analyze procedures currently used by institutions to judge faculty effectiveness, drew conclusions, and arrived at a…

The effects of feedback letters sent to students thanking them for their course ratings were examined in two experiments. In the first study, students who initially rated the course highly were not affected by the feedback letters. However, after being exposed to poor instructional materials (an inadequately prepared study guide), students who…

The assessments of faculty performance for the determination of salary increases are analyzed to estimate interrater reliability. Using the independent ratings by six elected members of the faculty, correlations between the ratings were calculated and estimates of the reliability of the composite ratings were generated. (Author/MLW)

The influences of class size and the number of students completing surveys on faculty and course ratings were studied. For classes of 30 or more, a 50 percent response rate gives an acceptable indication of rating, while for a class of less than 30, about 80 percent return is needed. (Author/SW)

Howard Community College uses the Quality Evaluation of Service Trends (QUEST) Survey to ask its employees to evaluate themselves and each other in terms of the quality of service they render to their various constituencies each year. Results of the 1999 survey include: (1) of the 51 service areas listed, 34 improved their ratings over the last…

An examination of student evaluation of course quality showed student evaluation to be the most powerful input variable. Lecturer and textbook evaluation had significant effects on whether the student would recommend the course to others. The quality of instruction in introductory courses has impact on future enrollment plans. (Author/MLW)

The faculty of the human behavior course at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, when evaluated by their students, received high ratings. It is hypothesized that the success of these teachers comes from their ability to create an atmosphere that encourages student participation in discussion groups regardless of topic. (MLW)

The correlation between teaching excellence and research efforts is investigated in a study done at the University of Maryland. Data suggest that productive faculty--as evidenced by their writings, addresses, and external funding--are among those identified by both their students and their professional colleagues as proficient instructors. (MLW)

The results of two studies of medical school teaching evaluation methods, conducted eight years apart, are compared. The studies focused on policy, practice, and interpretation of student ratings. (MSE)