Student ratings of the effectiveness of graduate student teaching versus faculty teaching were examined on seven occasions over an 8-year period. When all courses taught were considered, graduate student and faculty ratings were equivalent for six of the semesters in which student evaluations were conducted; on one occasion, the graduate students received significantly higher ratings than did the faculty. When only the ratings for introductory psychology courses were examined, results for graduate student teachers were significantly higher in four semesters; in three semesters, the ratings of the two groups were equivalent. There was a significant positive correlation of student evaluation ratings for individual faculty over time, but no such correlation for graduate students.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Association of American Colleges. (1985). Integrity in the college curriculum: A report to the academic community. The findings and recommendations of the project on redefining the meaning and purposes of baccalaureate degrees (Report No. ISBN-0–911696–18–0). Washington, DC: Author. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 251 059).
2.
BlountH. P.StallingsW. M.GuptaV. G. (1978). The effects of different instructions in student ratings of university courses and teachers. Journal of Educational Research, 71, 149–152.
3.
BrandenburgD. C.SlindeJ. A.BatistaE. E. (1977). Student ratings of instruction: Validity and normative interpretations. Research in Higher Education, 7, 67–78.
4.
BraskampL. A. (1980). The role of evaluation in faculty development. Studies in Higher Education, 5, 45–54.
5.
CentraJ. A.CreechF. R. (1976). The relationship between student, teacher, and course characteristics and student ratings of teacher effectiveness (Report No. PR-76–1). Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
6.
DownieN. W. (1952). Student evaluation of faculty. Journal of Higher Education, 23, 495–503.
7.
DroyerF. M. (1973). Selected criteria for evaluating teaching effectiveness. Improving College and University Teaching, 21, 51–52.
8.
FeldmanK. A. (1976). The superior college teacher from the students' view. Research in Higher Education, 5, 243–288.
9.
FeldmanK. A. (1983). Seniority and experience of college teachers as related to evaluations they receive from students. Research in Higher Education, 18, 3–124.
10.
GoodhartzA. S. (1948). Student attitudes and opinions relating to teaching at Brooklyn College. School and Society, 68, 345–349.
11.
LumsdenE. A.GrosslightJ. H.LovelandE. H.WilliamsJ. E. (1988). Preparation of graduate students as classroom teachers and supervisors in applied and research settings. Teaching of Psychology, 15, 5–9.
12.
MarshH. W. (1982). Validity of students' evaluation of college teaching: A multitrait-multimethod analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 74, 264–279.
13.
MarshH. W. (1987). Students' evaluations of university teaching: Research findings, methodological issues, and directions for future research. International Journal of Educational Research, 11, 253–388.
14.
MarshH. W.HocevarD. J. (1984). The factorial invariance of student evaluations of college teaching. American Educational Research Journal, 21, 341–366.
15.
McKeachieW. J. (1951). A program for training teachers of psychology. American Psychologist, 6, 119–121.
16.
McMillenL. (1986, October 29). Teaching assistants get increased training. The Chronicle of Higher Education, pp. 9–10.
17.
MillerR. I. (1974). Developing programs for faculty evaluation.San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
18.
MiltonO.ShobenE. J. (1968). Learning and the professors. Athens: Ohio University Press.
19.
NevillD. T.WareW. B.SmithA. B. (1978). A comparison of student ratings of teaching assistants and faculty members. American Educational Research Journal, 15, 25–37.
20.
StuitD. B.EbelR. L. (1952). Instructor rating at a large state university. College and University, 27, 247–254.
21.
WatkinsB. T. (1989, April 26). Colleges urged to avow that teaching is central to their mission and to take steps to upgrade it. The Chronicle of Higher Education, pp. A13–A16.
22.
WilliamsJ. E.RichmanC. L. (1971). The graduate preparation of the college professor of psychology: A survey. American Psychologist, 26, 1000–1009.
