Teaching faculty experiences with student evaluation of instruction: A mixed-methods study

Abstract

Background

Universities assesses the effectiveness of teaching faculty and curricula via student evaluations, despite literature questioning the reliability and validity of this process. What is seldom examined is the emotions these evaluations evoke on teachers.

Aim

The study aimed to explore the experiential phenomena that nursing and midwifery teachers encounter in response to student evaluations.

Design and Methods

A three-phase exploratory sequential mixed-methods study was employed with teachers from a single, large multicampus tertiary Australian Nursing and Midwifery school.

Results

Nursing and Midwifery teachers completed both a qualitative (n=43) and quantitative online survey (n=48). The survey identified most staff were anxious and felt judged by comments on their evaluations. Though the majority felt extrinsic factors and grades influenced evaluations, they were used to adjust content.

Conclusion

Universities, like other workplaces, are required under legislation to provide a safe workplace yet perpetuate an evaluation system that actively places teaching faculty under stress with no active mitigation process in place. There is an opportunity for higher education to protect their staff and engage in alternative evaluative methodologies.