Using Student Evaluations of Teaching to Support Faculty:
Use Proportions Instead of Means to Analyze SETs

McCullough,B. D.; Teodorescu,Raluca

JOURNAL OF HIGHER EDUCATION THEORY AND PRACTICE

Using Student Evaluations of Teaching to Support Faculty: Use Proportions Instead of Means to Analyze SETs

Author(s): B. D. McCullough, Raluca Teodorescu

Citation: B. D. McCullough, Raluca Teodorescu, (2018) "Using Student Evaluations of Teaching to Support Faculty: Use Proportions Instead of Means to Analyze SETs," Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, Vol.18, Iss. 2, pp. 138-144

Article Type: Research paper

Publisher: North American Business Press

Abstract:

We analyze student evaluations of teaching (SETs) for 17 courses covering 760 students taught by 11

faculty. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of analyzing SETs using means and

proportions. We find that both methods provide similar results for some questions and different results for others. When the results are different, we find that proportions lead to a more accurate and complete

analysis that is essential when using SETs for faculty training and support. Eight out of 11 faculty

members asked that the department evaluation reports should be based on proportions rather than

means, and none preferred means.