Student Evaluations of Teaching: Latent Topics and its Differences by Race/Ethnicity and Gender

• In Event: The Scholarship of Teaching Evaluation

Abstract

Student evaluations of teaching (SETs) are used in higher education to assess teacher performance and quality. However, critics of SETs would argue that they are a poor tool of evaluation. Literature on SETs often used survey methods that relied on quantitative measurements (e.g., instructor ratings, course ratings) to argue for or against its value to higher education. However, a key component is often missing or unavailable: student comments. This study utilizes institutional data from a private Northeastern university for the 2011-2017 school years and includes student comments. Using topic modeling, differences exist by gender and race in some latent topics.

Author

• Tai Junior Taliaoa, New York University