Evaluating Effective Teaching in Colleges and Universities: How Far Have We Come?

An examination of the policies and processes used to evaluate teaching in colleges and universities over the past several decades begins by identifying six key features of the research literature: (1) no formal definition of effective teaching has been generated to guide instrument development, data collection, and interpretation; (2) the purpose of the evaluation affects the form and substance of the evaluation process; (3) the criteria for the determination of validity have not been adequately defined; (4) direct observation of instruction is almost never done in higher education; (5) a large number of studies have been conducted to identify frame factors that must be considered when interpreting students' ratings of instructors; and (6) problems in interpreting student ratings are documented. The most common criterion for demonstrating validity of students' ratings is a measure of student achievement; however, its validity for predicting teacher effectiveness has not been tested. Different evaluation audiences--administrators, teachers, and students--have different information needs which affect data collection. Researchers are developing solutions for these problems. Their approaches include developing rating scales for multiple audiences, examining cognitive processes in the classroom and time on task, and studying students' attitudes and perceptions. A 40-item reference list is included. (GDC)