The Relative Influence of Published Teaching Evaluations and Other Instructor Attributes on Course Choice

Abstract

One hundred and twenty-seven undergraduate business majors at a regional northwestern university completed a series of hypothetical choice tasks in which they were asked to choose between two courses that varied with respect to the instructor’s course evaluations, grading leniency, the course’s worth/usefulness, and the assigned workload. Data analysis revealed that while evaluations exert a significant influence on choice, course worth and grading leniency are the most important determinants of course choice. Share of preference simulations indicated that students are twice as likely to choose a course with an instructor who receives excellent, as opposed to average, course evaluations, all else being equal. However, students are willing to put up with poor course evaluations or a heavy workload if they believe that they will gain a great deal of useful knowledge. The article concludes with a call for more research on the decision process relating to course choice.