How Do You Rate Those Instructors? The Validity of Student Evaluations of Higher Education Instructors

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of students’ evaluation of higher education instructors. Many questions and issues arise concerning students’ evaluation of higher education instructors. It is questionable whether a student can provide an unbiased evaluation of a higher education instructor. Because there are varying opinions on what constitutes a good or even an effective instructor, it makes it hard to determine just what student evaluations measure. If factors such as the personal feelings toward the instructor are used to determine the score on an evaluation, then this can’t possibly measure the instructors’ ability to teach. Instructors who participated felt that students are not likely to provide unbiased evaluations of higher education instructors. More than half of the students in this study said that they use their personal feelings toward an instructor and the perceived grade in the course to base their opinions when evaluating an instructor. Furthermore, students also reported using the personal characteristics of an instructor to determine responses on evaluations.