Student evaluation of instruction in higher education: exploring issues of validity and reliability
- 1 March 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education
- Vol. 37 (2), 227-235
- https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2010.523819
Abstract
Many personnel committees at colleges and universities in the USA use student evaluation of faculty instruction to make decisions regarding tenure, promotion, merit pay or faculty professional development. This study examines the construct validity and internal consistency reliability of the student evaluation of instruction (SEI) used at a large mid‐western university in the USA for both administrative and instructional purposes. The sample consisted of 73,500 completed SEIs for undergraduate students who self‐reported as freshman, sophomore, junior or senior. Confirmatory factor analysis via structural equation modelling was used to explore the construct validity of the SEI instrument. The internal consistency of students' ratings was reported to provide reliability evidence. The results of this study showed that the model fits the data for the sample. The significance of this study as well as areas for further research are discussed.Keywords
This publication has 28 references indexed in Scilit:
- Student Evaluation Of College Teaching: A Practice In Search Of PrinciplesCollege Teaching, 2004
- Student Rating Myths Versus Research Facts from 1924 to 1998Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education, 1999
- Navigating student ratings of instruction.American Psychologist, 1997
- Academic discipline and generalizability of student evaluations of instructionResearch in Higher Education, 1993
- Validity of student ratings of instruction: What we know and what we do not.Journal of Educational Psychology, 1990
- Student rating myths versus research factsJournal of Personnel Evaluation in Education, 1987
- Improvement of instruction and teacher effectiveness: are student ratings reliable and valid?Higher Education, 1987
- Measuring Student's Perceptions of Teaching: Dimensions of EvaluationEducational and Psychological Measurement, 1986
- Does the Attitude Similarity of College Professors and Their Students Produce “Bias” in Course Evaluations?American Educational Research Journal, 1983
- An Assessment of Faculty Performance: Some Correlates Between Administrator, Colleague, Student and Self-RatingsSociology of Education, 1975