Students' evaluations and perceptions of learning within business schools in Egypt

Abstract

This paper seeks to understand the criteria which students use to evaluate teaching effectiveness. Using structural equation modeling with a sample of business students from Egypt, the findings indicate that the above criteria comprise six factors: organization of the course, fairness of grading, workload difficulty, student-instructor interaction, instructor involvement, and perceived learning. In view of this, a students' evaluation instrument containing 25 items which has good psychometric characteristics has been proposed. Furthermore, since some criteria of students' evaluation of teaching are usually developed before others, and thus may influence them, the paper attempts to identify which among them exert such influence. Specifically, it examines the factors which affect students' perception of learning. The findings show that organization of the course, fairness of grading, workload difficultly and instructor involvement positively influence the students' perception of learning, but the factor of student-instructor interaction does not. The paper provides academics with useful insights into the development and management of students' evaluation of teaching.1

Keywords:

• students evaluation
• perceived learning
• Higher Education
• Egypt

Notes

This research is a part of a multi-phase research project entitled ‘Students’ expectations and evaluations: implications for the learning process and market orientation of business schools in Egypt' funded by Cairo University, Egypt, from 2009–2011. The first author (Dr. Abeer A. Mahrous) acted in the capacity of principal researcher and the second author (Dr. Wael Kortam) had the role of deputy principal researcher.