The Influence of Response Styles on the Validity of Student Evaluation of Teaching Scores

• In Event: 47.042 - Emergent Methodological Considerations for Higher Education Outcomes

Abstract

The study examines the extent to which acquiescence response style, the tendency to agree with items regardless of the content, affects Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) scores from a large Teacher Education institution. Results from fitting item-response models show support for acquiescence responding in SET scores and suggest that acquiescence accounts for the observed difference in SET scores found between female and male instructors. The study proposes response styles as a potential explanation for the often weak validity support of SET scores as discussed in the literature and highlights the importance of evaluating survey data and controlling different sources of construct-irrelevant variance in the context of teaching evaluation in postsecondary education institutions.

Author

• Edgar Valencia, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile