Student Ratings of Instruction: Examining the Role of Academic Field, Course Level, and Class Size

• In Event: 33.059 - Improving Student Evaluations of Teaching

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between course characteristics and student ratings of instruction. Two different approaches to categorizing classes into academic fields were compared – one based on the institution’s own academic college system and one based on Holland’s (1997) theory of academic environments. Because the data violated assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variance, traditional ANOVA procedures were followed by post-hoc analyses using bootstrapping to more accurately estimate standard errors and confidence intervals. Findings confirm the value of institution-specific approaches to defining academic fields and also indicate that Holland’s theory of academic environments may be a useful conceptual framework for making sense of academic field differences in student ratings.

Authors

• Anne M. Laughlin, Cornell University

• Steve Janosik, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

• Yasuo Miyazaki, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University