A survey to determine the use of student ratings of instruction in medical education is reported. Results indicate that student ratings are widely used, that both standardized and nonstandardized forms are used, that ratings are often administered exclusively by one agent, and that administrators often have access to results. (JMD)

Advances a conceptual model for viewing the influence of the administrative behaviors of chairpersons of academic departments, positing four propositions that depict the influence of administrative behaviors on college student learning: student evaluations of teaching, student advisement, cooperative instructional activities, and faculty…

Provides rationale in terms of faculty motivations/needs for merit recognition programs at two-year colleges. Describes 1991 study of two-year college faculty recognition programs, examining reasons colleges implemented programs, date of implementation, and nature of pressures to institutionalize programs. Reports dramatic increase in programs…

Examined a group of Turkish university English language teachers' perceptions of a teacher appraisal scheme with a developmental purpose, investigating whether there was a discrepancy between what the institution intended to achieve and how teachers perceived the scheme before and after participating in it. Teacher interviews indicated that…

Purpose: To provide a best practice framework for peer review via teaching observation as a method of appraising teaching performance within UK higher education (HE) institutions. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses secondary data analysis via the current literature on peer review and peer appraisal, as well as use of primary data obtained…

A comprehensive faculty performance appraisal program is necessary for any college to maintain a high standard of excellence, effectiveness, and accountability. Faculty performance should be reviewed using established, fair, and consistent procedures that consider obligations, agreed-upon objectives, and performance standards. The purposes of the…

This study examined the faculty reward system in public universities to ascertain how the current system affects faculty use of time especially by faculty at Ohio's 13 public universities. The study reviewed how university norms and incentives regarding promotion and tenure influence a faculty member's decision to focus on research over teaching…

This report reviews the development of the peer review process at The University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK) and presents perceptions of the process after 1 year of implementation. The perceptions presented are from a survey of department heads and some faculty who had completed the peer review process. Responses included comments about the…

Current working conditions of postsecondary faculty in the People's Republic of China are described, with a focus on what has changed since 1976 and the end of the Cultural Revolution. Based on field work in China and on personal correspondence with Chinese faculty members between 1984 and 1989, a broad overview is presented of college and…

An examination of the policies and processes used to evaluate teaching in colleges and universities over the past several decades begins by identifying six key features of the research literature: (1) no formal definition of effective teaching has been generated to guide instrument development, data collection, and interpretation; (2) the purpose…

Information is presented on a study to explore similarities and differences among adults in their perceptions of attributes associated with exemplary instruction. Three purposes were to: determine how returning adults describe the instructors they find exemplary and compare these findings with the findings of previous research about younger…

Conclusions of major reviews of the literature on student ratings of college teachers are summarized for the period 1971 to September 1988. Several factor analytic studies have concluded that student ratings are multidimensional and that no single item will be useful for all purposes. Consistency, stability, and generalizability are aspects of…

The appropriate questions in teacher evaluation in higher education are: who should evaluate, for what purposes, and using what means. Frequently, evaluation systems provide information for administrative decisions on promotion/tenure and merit. Increased reliance on student ratings of teachers has the disadvantage of distorting factors that may…

The purpose of this research was to develop stable categories of college teacher performance. The data for developing these categories were collected by means of the critical incident technique. In three separate conditions, college students were asked to give critical incidents that they had observed of professors. In the first condition,…

Recent legislation has required affirmative action in the hiring practices of educational institutions. In order to ascertain the effects of equal employment laws on community college administration in California, a questionnaire was prepared and sent to 98 California community college districts; it requested administrators to provide information…