Exploring assorted beliefs, doubts and legends regarding quantitative teaching evaluations

Abstract

In spite of fairly universal condemnation, quantitative teaching evaluations are commonly used to assess teaching effectiveness and, by extension, as a basis for administrative decisions regarding promotion, tenure, and annual raises. Nevertheless, considerable anecdotal evidence suggests that structural factors-often beyond the control of the instructor-influence student ratings of professors and classes. In an attempt to determine the relative influence of structural factors on teaching evaluations in the field of communications, this paper reports the analysis of more than 6,000 student ratings across three mass communication-related departments at a "large Midwestern university." Using confirmatory factor analysis, this study finds that structural factors account for approximately 10% of the variance, and that three factors in particular are consistent predictors of student ratings across five subscales assessing the overall quality of the classroom experience for students.