Faculty Perceptions of the Natonal Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Evaluation at Regular Higher Education Institutions From 2003 TO 2008 in China

This study explored how faculty members at regular higher education institutions in China perceived the National Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Evaluation (NUTLE). Specifically, this study examined how the NUTLE influenced faculty teaching and research and how the NUTLE influenced student learning outcomes. Primarily descriptive and exploratory, the quantitative study utilized a web-based bilingual survey that was sent to 595 faculty members affiliated with 15 institutions in Northwest China. The survey achieved a response rate of 46.9%. Descriptive statistics and cross tabulation analyses were used to better understand the relation between demographic characteristics and faculty perceptions. Findings indicated that the majority of the faculty members were informed of the NUTLE at formal meetings and were involved in preparing for the NUTLE. After the NUTLE, most faculty members reported that their universities required them to do more research than before the NUTLE. Most of them believed the main purpose of the NUTLE was to insure higher education quality, with only 7.4% believing the main purpose was to enhance student learning. While disagreeing that their institutions made every effort to improve undergraduate student learning outcomes, regardless of institution types, year of evaluation, and the NUTLE grade received, most of the faculty members\u27 overall perception of the NUTLE was positive. The findings were analyzed and interpreted through Hofstede\u27s framework of cultural dimensions. Implications for policy and practice were addressed, including reducing government administration and intervention in the implementation process of higher education evaluation, empowering colleges and universities by providing them more training opportunities to understand higher education evaluation both locally and globally, and setting up offices of Institutional Research to collect data for proactive self-evaluation. Recommendations were also provided for future research