Another study highly critical of Student Evaluations of Teaching

Brad WalchukUncategorized

We’ve been saying this for a while, an arbitrator made this very clear last year, yet another study supports the claim- we hope that university employers will finally get the message: student evaluations of teaching are highly problematic for the purpose of (re)-hiring and tenure/promotion.

“…as this report clearly demonstrates, using student questionnaires to evaluate faculty performance is counterproductive and harmful, and it raises serious equity questions.”

Why?

“The report is one of the most exhaustive of its kind in Canada and examines the methodological, research ethics, and human rights implications of student questionnaires. It finds that:

  • Women, racialized, and LGBTQ2S+ faculty, as well as faculty with disabilities, receive lower scores than their white male colleagues. Using SQCTs to determine pay and promotion risks marginalizing these equity seeking groups even further, impacting their career prospects and limiting academic diversity.
  • It is impossible to adjust SQCT scores to account for their bias.
  • Anonymous SQCT comments are regularly used to target faculty members with abusive, harassing, and harmful comments.
  • Students are not adequately informed about how SQCTs are used, or how their information can be shared.
  • Using SQCT scores to evaluate teaching discourages innovation and undermines student learning.”

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/4145909#ixzz5erOafXZd