Research in Higher Education Journal Surprises learned from course evaluations, Page 1 Surprises learned from course evaluations

Course evaluations are widely integrated into faculty and course assessments in higher education. Evaluations provide student-evaluated quality information and are used for tenure, promotion and salary adjustment decisions. In this study, a simple instrument for student instructor rating was used to collect evaluation data from January through December 2009. The evaluations were voluntarily submitted by 758 students. A statistical control chart was used to monitor the longitudinal performance of instructors and provide feedback to the administration regarding whether or not short-term or long-term attention and guidance are needed. Instructor’s performance, as affected by both class size and the level of difficulty of the courses, was evaluated through various regression techniques. The results of this study indicated that multiple factors, principally increased course-load levels and motivational variations resulting from delivering the same course several times in a year, can lower the performance of instructors over time. Also, different types of pedagogies may also influence the outcome of the evaluations. On the other hand, larger class size does not necessary reduce the instructor’s performance