A Comparison of the Criterion Validity of Two Types of Student Response Inventories for Appraising Instruction.

Two types of student response inventories for appraising instruction, the Student Instruction Report (SIR) and the Inventory of Student Perceptions of Instruction (ISPI) were administered to 554 students in 30 classes at two Georgia colleges. Mean responses to items were used in principal components analyses with varimax rotation. The two instruments were then administered to 525 students in 31 English classes having a common final examination. Results of multiple regression analyses produced a significant multiple correlation with one instrument and self-reported cumulative grade point averages, with end-of-course grades in English as the criterion variable. Results of this study suggest that student appraisal of college instruction using SIR in conjunction with self-reported grade point averages are of some help in predicting end-of-course final examination scores. If the effectiveness of an instructor is measured in terms of end-of-course achievement of his class, then college administrators should proceed with caution in using student ratings to gauge instructor effectiveness. Moreover, results of this study lend some support to the use of instruments developed empirically over those developed rationally. (Author/BW)