M.Ed. (Didactics) / In this study attention is paid to the use of technical college student evaluators of teaching..Specia! attention is focused on certain factors which influence students in their evaluation of the teaching skills of lecturers. The problem addressed, is the vital role played by vocational training in South Africa as a developing country. In the light of the acute shortage of skilled manpOwer, it is essential that vocational training, as practised at technical colleges, should function optiIllally. Lecturers at technical colleges can play an important role in this resPect and what is needed is a willingness on the part of both lecturers and organisations responsible for vocational training, to optimalise effective teaching and the concomitant successful learning by students. The aim of this study centres round an overview of literature regarding methods of teaching evaluation as applied locally and internationally, the identification of the possible influence of certain factors on the evaluation by students and the e,d:ent 1;0 which these factors apply ~o male and female students of different seniority levels at six technical colleges. In the study of relevant Literature , attention is paid to the aim and function of technical colleges. Certain indicators of effective teaching, as well as teaching evaluation are dealt with and special attention is paid to self evaluation, peer evaluation and evaluation by means of objectives. Evaluation of teaching by students is investigated in depth, together with factors which influence students in" their evaluation of teaching, such as humour, sex of student and lecturer, seniority of students, class siZe, enthusiasm and course content. The research group consists of full-time N4, NS and N6 technical and commercial students at six technical colleges on the witwatersrand and in the Pretoria area. The lecturers teaching these students are evaluated by means of a questionnaire.

The purposes of this research were to: (a) assess community college students' perceptions of the student evaluation practice; (b) assess community college faculty members' responses to student evaluations of teachers and the extent to which instructional modifications resulted from student ratings; and (c) assess community college administrators' responses to student evaluations of teachers, the extent student ratings influenced administrators' evaluations of faculty, and how the results from student ratings were used to promote instructional effectiveness. A total of 358 students, faculty, and administrators from 5 Florida community colleges contributed their opinions on the value of the practice of student evaluation of teaching. Data were collected using mixed methodology. The survey and interview sessions were conducted on location at the respective community colleges. Descriptive statistics, correlation and regression procedures, one-way analysis of variance, t-test, and phenomenological analysis were used to analyze the data. Quantitative results indicated that these 320 community college students believed that student ratings had value, and, thus their role as instructor evaluator was important. Furthermore, the students believed student evaluations were important to faculty and administrators. However, most students were either unaware or did not believe that student evaluations had any effect. Phenomenological analysis of the extensive descriptions provided by 21 faculty participants suggested that the numeric data provided by student evaluations was generally an ineffective method to impact instruction. Faculty described their frustration with inadequately designed instruments, ineffective methods of receiving ratings results, and limited or non-existent feedback from supervisors. Phenomenological analysis of the 17 administrators' transcriptions suggested that although the student ratings practice was vital to institutional integrity the results from student evaluations were marginally valuable in their impact on enhancing instruction and of limited value in faculty evaluation. Implications for student evaluation practices drawn from this study included the need for institutions to: (a) assess the value of their student evaluation practice and its impact on teaching effectiveness; (b) define and clearly articulate a statement of purpose for conducting student evaluations; (c) refine procedures for administering the student evaluation practice; (d) examine their student evaluation practices and instrument on a regular review cycle; (e) adopt alternative methods for collecting and disseminating student feedback; (f) implement student evaluation measures that reflect the varied teaching approaches and diverse learning environments.

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1998. / Submitted to the Faculty of Education, The University of Western Sydney, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy April 1998. Bibliography : p. 331-384.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1996. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Robert Pace. Dissertation Committee: Harold Abeles. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-110).

Atualmente os temas tecnologia, sustentabilidade, produtividade e inovação têm recebido destaque na estratégia das organizações, particularmente nos ambientes produtivos mais dinâmicos da sociedade. Percebe-se que, com frequência, estes ambientes têm negligenciado a variável mais importante de um empreendimento, as pessoas. Esquece-se de que as transformações são resultantes das competências individuais, da qualificação, motivação e engajamento das mesmas para com os projetos institucionais. Na busca da melhoria contínua, diversos mecanismos são utilizados como fonte de levantamento e subsídios para a reorientação de processos, mudanças de atitudes e do planejamento da gestão. Nesta dissertação levantou-se os instrumentos de avaliação de uma instituição pública e verificou-se se os mesmos servem como subsídio para a melhoria da gestão. A metodologia utilizada foi pesquisa documental e o estudo de caso. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio de questionário eletrônico e os instrumentos de avaliação pesquisados foram: Pesquisa de Clima Organizacional; Avaliação do Servidor; Avaliação das Chefias; Avaliação do Docente pelo Discente e Avaliação Externa. / Currently the technology topics, sustainability, productivity and innovation have gained attention in the strategy of organizations, particularly in more dynamic productive environments of society. It is noticed that, often, these environments have neglected the most important variable of an enterprise, people. It is forgotten that transformations are the result of individual competencies, skills, motivation and engagement of the same towards institutional projects. In pursuit of continuous improvement, several mechanisms are used as a source of research and subsidies for process reorientation, changes of behavior and management planning. This dissertation raised up the evaluation tools of a public institution and verified if the same served as a resource for management improvement. The methodology was based on desk research and case study. The data collection occurred through electronic poll and the evaluation tools surveyed were: Organizational Climate Survey, Employee Assessment, Management Assessment, Teacher Evaluation by Student and External Assessment.

No description available.

The problem of this investigation is to determine the relationships between certain cognitive, conative, and demographic variables and student ratings of instructors and introductory economics courses at North Texas State University. In addition, the study seeks to determine whether significant, interactive effects exist among the seventeen main variables: pretest, posttest, sex, age, college major, required course, actual grade, residence, SAT, socioeconomic class, Opinionation, Dogmatism, instructor, course rating, instructor rating, expected grade, and attitude. The principal sources of data are students' test scores on the Test of Understanding in College Economics, Rokeach Scales of Opinionation and Dogmatism, Modified Purdue Rating Scale, Personal Data Sheet with Hollingshead Index, and Questionnaire on Student Attitude Toward Economics-Revised. The organization of the study includes a statement of the problems, a review of the literature related to student ratings of courses and instructors, the ethodology used in the statistical analysis of the data, an analysis of the data, and the findings, conclusions, implications, and recommendations for additional research. Chapter I introduces the background and significance of the problems. Hypotheses are stated in the research form, terms in the study are defined, and limitations are delineated. Chapter II is a topically-arranged review of the related literature, including both experimental and descriptive studies. Literature is included on student ratings of courses and instructors, attitude, achievement, grades (actual and expected), and student characteristics. Chapter III includes information on the population of the study, the Test of Understanding in College Economics, Modified Purdue Rating Scale for College Instructors, the Rokeach Dogmatism and Opinionation Scales, the Questionnaire on Student Attitude Toward Economics-Revised, Hollingshead Two-Factor Index of Social Position, the variables used in each study, methods of data collection, and stepwise multiple linear regression, the basic statistical design employed in the study, with a nonlinearity factor added. In Chapter IV, data were analyzed and reported in tables of regression coefficients on Studies One through Six: actual grade, course rating, instructor rating, expected grade, student attitude, and posttest. A summary table is included for the significant, absolute beta coefficients for these six studies. Chapter V concludes that grade expectations, Opinionation and Dogmatism, ability levels, and attitude influence student ratings. For example, very bright students tended to be more discriminating in their ratings of their courses. Students who liked the instructor and were less open-minded tended to rate the course high. Grade expectations tended to exert a negative influence on course ratings; students with high grade expectations rated the course low, and students with low grade expectations rated the course high. The combination of a student with high grade expectations and a student with high SAT score resulted in a low rating for the instructor. A student's background (Dogmatism, Opinionation, and place of residence) influenced his attitude toward economics. Higher grade expectations were correlated significantly with a favorable attitude toward economics. Significant demographic variables related to conative and cognitive variables were SAT, expected grade, actual grade, Hollingshead socioeconomic class, residence, Dogmatism, and Opinionation. The implication from these findings is to use student ratings cautiously as a consideration for university merit raises and/or faculty promotions. Reasons for caution stem from the significant findings of the influence on student ratings of several cognitive, conative, and demographic variables. Too much appears to be happening in the teaching-learning process which cannot be measured accurately.

published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Text in Afrikaans / Die studie handel oor die belewing van die onderwyser-leerlingrelasies deur die senior sekondere skoolleerling. Bepaalde faktore uit die literatuur blyk 'n invloed uit te oefen op onderwyserleerlingrelasies, naamlik opvoedingsklimaat, opvoedingstyl en intermenslikheid van die onderwysers. Onderwyser-leerlingrelasies word deur 'n outokratiese opvoedingstyl en onwarme opvoedingsklimaat benadeel. 'n Betroubare meetinstrument is ontwikkel en in 'n empiriese ondersoek op standerd 6- tot 10-leerlinge afgeneem. Die resultate van die faktorontleding het getoon dat daar veral twee faktore is wat 'n invloed kan uitoefen op die onderwyser-leerlingrelasies, naamlik opvoedingsklimaat en opvoedingstyl van die onderwyser. Daar is ook bevind dat standerdgroepe en taalgroepe in hulle belewinge van die opvoedingsklimaat en opvoedingstyl verskil. Dit wil uit die resultate voorkom asof geslag 'n rol speel in leerlinge se belewing van opvoedingsklimaat en opvoedingstyl van die onderwyser. Norms is vir die vraelys bepaal deur routellings in staneges om te skakel. / This study concerns the experience of the teacher-student relationship by the senior secondary pupil. A literature study revealed that specific factors seem to influence teacher-student relationships, namely educational climate, educational style and the human nature of the teacher. An autocratic educational style and climate could harm teacher-student relationships. A reliable measuring instrument was developed and administered to standerd 6 to 10 pupils in an empirical study. The results of the factor analasys indicated that two major factors could influence the nature of the teacher-student relationship, namely educational climate and educational style of the teacher. The results also indicated a significant difference in standard groups' and language groups' experience of teacher-student relationships. It also appears from the results as if gender could play a significant role in pupils' experience of educational climate and educational style of the teacher. Norms were established for the questionnaire. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

In the light of growing concerns regarding the quality of higher education after a period of rapid expansion, in 2003, the Chinese government launched the Undergraduate Teaching Evaluation (UTE), the first nation-wide evaluation of universities. In 2008, the UTE was replaced by the Quality Project, which signalled a change in its quality assurance approach, with a move from evaluations to the issuing of awards. In order to investigate the impact of the two national quality assurance policies, along with the impact of two long-standing internal quality assurance mechanisms employed by universities - class observation and student evaluation of teachers - on teaching, the researcher adopted policy analysis and a case study approach. Three different universities in the same region were selected as cases. Semi-structured interviews with 56 heads of department and teachers across three departments at each university were conducted. National and university policy documents, as well as interview data, were analysed thematically in the light of concepts derived from the political sciences, namely Knoepfel et al.'s (2007; 2011) framework for policy analysis and Schneider and Ingram's (1990) classification of policy tools. University policies and interview data revealed the patterns of impact of these two quality assurance policies. Faced with the UTE inspection, universities shifted their focus from assuring the quality of teaching to achieving good results in the exercise and therefore engaging in 'game-playing'. In order to ensure good UTE results, universities even resorted to the manipulation of data. University policies resulting from the UTE required teachers to produce standardised documents and to follow particular procedures. The majority of interviewed teachers regarded the impact of the UTE with cynicism, seeing it as a waste of time and effort, an interference with academic freedom, and believing it had the effect of undermining ethics. However, some teachers reported as positive impact of the fact that the UTE helped to keep teachers disciplined, and that it provided an impetus for ensuring teaching quality. Interview data showed that the Quality Project awards only had an impact on the award winners, who perceived the incentives on offer to be substantial. These award winners considered the acknowledgement given by the awards and the information obtained through reflection and good examples as valuable impacts. However, the Quality Project awards did not have impact on non-award winners, i.e. the majority of teachers. This study revealed that in order to have impact the institutional practices of class observation and the student evaluation of teachers relied on a number of conditions being in place. These practices had impact when the stakes were high or when university teachers received valid and reliable feedback. Whilst high stakes were found to lead to mixed impact, valid and reliable feedback contributed to the improvement of teaching. This study contributes to the understanding of the impact of quality assurance policies and mechanisms on teaching in Chinese higher education, an area that has not yet been the subject of significant empirical research. Covering the two major quality assurance policies in recent years, and also the institutional mechanisms teachers face, this research was able to capture the interdependence between these policies. No such research has previously been conducted in the context of Chinese higher education. In regard to the theoretical aspect of the research, the empirical evidence that was collected and a comprehensive review of other empirical research enabled the development of an Impact Framework. The Impact Framework identified patterns in the impact of various quality assurance policy tools and revealed their inherent strengths and weaknesses. Hence, the Impact Framework can serve in the future as an important reference for policy-makers who are seeking to design and implement effective quality assurance policy tools.