7: The Evaluation of Teachers in Higher Education

In teaching and learning, variation among individuals is the rule. Professors approach their jobs in different ways, as scholars, researchers, disciplinarians, healers, managers, and molders. Likewise, each student learns differently; students master different amounts of material in their courses and rate their teachers with varying degrees of tolerance. Variety is the substance, not the spice, of college life. But how much do differences among teachers influence student learning? How much do teacher differences contribute to differences in the ratings they receive from students and observers? Which are the teacher variables that make the difference? These are the basic questions in research on the evalua-tion of teachers, and they are the concern of this review. We will consider two kinds of procedures for evaluating teachers. The first relies heavily on inferences made by observers about the quality of a teachers performance. These observers may be a teachers students, colleagues, superi-ors, or the teacher himself. We will first examine student ratings, which have been studied most often, and then consider other evaluations that require observer inferences. The second kind of procedure for evaluating teachers involves direct measurement of the performance of students, the subject of the last section of this chapter. STUDENT RATINGS Each observer brings different strengths and liabilities to the task of rating teachers. A teachers students are in a good position to judge his effectiveness.