College Student Ratings of Instructors

In a great many of our institutions of higher learning, student and faculty groups are organizing systems for students to rate instructors. Often, the summarized results of these ratings are printed and disseminated throughout the campus. On several campuses, the instructor’s ratings are incorporated into his personal file and may be used as a criterion in granting tenure or in awarding faculty promotions. Before student ratings of instructors are used in making decisions about a particular faculty member, several questions must be explored. Are student ratings related to such student characteristics as his grade point average (GPA) or his class level And, what instructor characteristics are associated with high ratings? In a study to examine the nature of student ratings over five thousand college students rated their instructors on each of three criteria. These ratings were then correlated with selected student characteristics and instructor characteristics. The technique used was multiple linear regression. Generally, mean student ratings of instructors were more related to instructor characteristics than to such student characteristics as age, grade level, GPA, or course grades.