Comparison of student evaluation of teaching results when stratified by protocol, course content, and course structure

• Autores: Christopher R. Dennison, Robert Butz, R. Shawn Fuhrer, Jason P. Carey
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 31, no. 6 (Parte A), 2015, págs. 1476-1490
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Focusing on the mechanical engineering undergraduate program at the University of Alberta, this study attempts to quantify biasesin student evaluation of teaching (SET) results that could be attributed to SET protocol, course content, and course delivery mode.SET results were compiled for five academic years of paper based SET evaluation and one semester of online SET evaluation. 20core undergraduate courses were included; class size from 70–130; 35 professors. Statistical analysis included compilation offrequency histograms, determination of means and standard deviations, and rank-sum tests for significant differences based onaggregated data for several stratifications. Results showed significantly reduced response rate for online SET when compared topaper; ratings of professor evaluation were not different. No significant differences were found when results were compared on thebasis of course content or delivery mode. Our aggregated data showed SET protocol lead to lower response rate, but notsignificant differences in instructor evaluation. Course content and delivery mode did not manifest in significant changes in SETresults. Typical variability in instructor rating was 0.4/5.0 considering all data. Administrators and senior faculty should be awareof these results when ascertaining instructor performance. Although focused on one department, the study is a first step in a largerevaluation of SET in engineering. The study identified key variables that must be further evaluated.