On Reading Entrails and Student Evaluations

2019 ◽  
pp. 82-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Brennan ◽  
Phillip Magness
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Teacher Effectiveness ◽  
The United States ◽  
Student Evaluations ◽  
Course Evaluations ◽  
Tea Leaves ◽  
Universities And Colleges ◽  
Faculty Hiring

In the United States, most universities and colleges ask students to complete course evaluations at the end of each semester. They ask students how much they’ve learned, how much they studied, whether the instructor seemed well-prepared, and how valuable the class was overall. This chapter examines how colleges routinely make faculty hiring, retention, and promotion decisions on the basis of what they ought to know are invalid tests. It argues that student course evaluations do not track teacher effectiveness. Using these as the bases of determining hires, promotions, tenure, or raises for faculty is roughly on par with reading entrails or tea leaves to make such decisions. The chapter also explains why universities continue to use student course evaluations.

scholarly journals One University’s Measured Approach to Student Evaluations

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-34
Author(s):  
C. Dale Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Student Perception ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
The United States ◽  
Student Evaluations ◽  
Student Evaluations Of Teaching ◽  
Universities And Colleges ◽  
Study Format

Student evaluations of teaching occur at most universities and colleges in the United States and are used for a variety of purposes including course improvement and as data to evaluate instructors.  Increasingly, universities manage the collection of student perception data about courses and teaching with commercially available software.  This is a report of the work of one university to review the process of collecting and using student assessment of instruction data and to determine how the data would be used.  The work of a task force to examine a process in place for ten years by seeking input from stakeholders, reviewing ten years of collected data, and reviewing the literature is presented in a case study format with task force recommendations and a report on subsequent implementation.

Introduction: Catholic Higher Education in 1900

1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Gleason
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Women's Colleges ◽  
The United States ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Catholic Higher Education ◽  
Catholic Colleges ◽  
Universities And Colleges ◽  
Age Range

A great many Catholic colleges existed in the United States at the opening of the twentieth century. Exactly how many it is impossible to say with certainty because any answer presupposes agreement on the answer to a prior question: “What should be counted as a college?” The Catholic Directory for 1900 listed 10 universities, 178 “colleges for boys,” 109 seminaries, and 662 “academies for girls.” According to this count, there were no Catholic women’s colleges at that time, although the College of Notre Dame of Maryland graduated its first baccalaureate class in 1899 and is included among the 128 colleges for women listed in U.S. Commissioner of Education’s Report for 1899-1900. The same Report, however, listed only 62 Catholic institutions among the 480 included under the heading: “Universities and colleges for men and for both sexes.” No doubt some Catholic colleges simply failed to provide the information necessary to appear in the Commissioner’s Report. But their failure to do so is in itself significant; and even assuming that is what happened, it still leaves an enormous gap between the Commissioner’s figures and the 188 colleges and universities reported in the Catholic Directory. Moreover, many of the “colleges for boys” could, with equal justice, have been called academies, since elementary- and secondary-level students made up the majority of their student bodies. As the case of Notre Dame of Maryland indicates, Catholic “academies for girls” were beginning to upgrade themselves to collegiate status. Had the word college been more freely applied to non-Catholic institutions for women at an earlier date, a good many of these academies would probably have called themselves colleges long before, for they did not differ all that much from the “colleges for boys” in terms of curricular offerings and age-range of students. While the situation of Catholic institutions was particularly murky, the question “What makes a college a college?” engaged the attention of practically everyone involved in secondary and collegiate education at the turn of the century.

scholarly journals Teacher Effectiveness In A University Classroom

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Clarine Sandstrom
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Effectiveness ◽  
Human Performance ◽  
School Success ◽  
The United States ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Strong Sense ◽  
Delicate Balance ◽  
The World

A teaching professor in the Department of Teacher Education and Human Performance is charged with the responsibility of preparing candidates for the teaching profession. This responsibility is not to be taken lightly as it affects the education and school success of future children across the United States and around the world. Along with this strong sense of responsibility, comes a real and deep-seeded passion for learning. Through my informal observations of teaching professors, I see commitment and sensitivity to meeting the needs and concerns of candidates. In the process of meeting ongoing responsibilities, and the needs and concerns of candidates and others, time allocated to preparation for courses and maintaining the delicate balance between the art and science of teaching can become diminished. This awareness coupled with experience as an educator of 38 years led me to examine the critical attributes that contribute to teacher effectiveness in a university classroom. I chose to emphasize teacher effectiveness in a university classroom because of place and time in my career as an educator.

scholarly journals Engineering Education For Generation Z

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Moore ◽  
Carol Jones ◽  
Robert Scott Frazier
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Technological Change ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Universities And Colleges ◽  
The Past ◽  
Generation Z ◽  
New Generation

Generation Z is gaining popularity as the name used to refer to those born beginning in the mid to late 1990s. This is the generation that follows the Millennials, and they are just starting to arrive on college campuses. Much attention has been paid to Millennials and their impact on society, and because of this Generation Z members are often lumped together with this older cohort. But Generation Z students are unique, and universities and colleges must prepare to meet the challenges of instructing this new generation. Engineering educators in particular are being challenged to adapt to the speed of technological change. Faculty must consider how to adjust to this new environment, including the changing needs and expectations of Generation Z students. This paper explores these topics. The first section will explore the concept of a generation and describe some of the attributes associated with Generation Z. The second section will review the development of engineering education in the United States and some of the major reforms that have occurred in the past 100 years. The last section will discuss potential changes in the classroom to try and address some of the characteristics of Generation Z students.

Tweeting for Donors

2016 ◽  
pp. 59-81
Author(s):  
Leigh Nanney Hersey
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
Universities And Colleges ◽  
New Students

Universities and colleges are embracing social media as a tool to spread the message about their institutions. Common uses include recruiting new students, connecting with current students, and staying connected with alumni. Nonprofit organizations in the United States also consider social media an important part of their fundraising toolbox, but use it more for recruiting volunteers, advocacy, and fundraising. Colleges and universities are also seeing the need to use social media for development purposes, whether they are private or state-supported institutions. This chapter explores how universities are using Twitter to promote year-end giving. Findings from this research suggest that while some universities seem to effectively use social media, others are inconsistent and even dormant in their messaging.

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