Journal of allied health
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Journal of allied health · Feb 1985
The redundancy of student comments and numerical ratings in evaluations of teaching.
Student evaluation of teaching effectiveness is widely used in undergraduate institutions as one element of determining overall faculty effectiveness. The evaluation format typically consists of (1) a number of questions the student answers by indicating a numerical rating and (2) an open-ended section for written comments. Some faculty members believe that the numerical ratings are not taken seriously by the students, and that the written comments impose greater accountability on the part of students. ⋯ The highest correlations were between student comments and two items related to overall teaching effectiveness. Students who evaluated instructors at either extreme on the spectrum of effectiveness were most likely to include written comments. Based on the consistency of numerical ratings and written comments we recommend that only the numerical ratings be used as part of the promotion and tenure decision-making process.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)