Re-Evaluating Student Evaluation of Teaching

Abstract

This study reports on the aggregate analysis of scores generated by a standardized instrument, the Teaching Evaluation Form (TEF; Hudson, 1982), at the College of Social Work, University of South Carolina. The data included more than 11,000 completions of the instrument in 508 class sections offered during a 4-year period. The analysis revealed a severely negatively skewed and truncated distribution of scores, with no low outlying instructors. It raises questions about the TEF’s usefulness for either administrative or teaching improvement purposes. In light of these questions, the paper discusses and recommends alternate approaches to evaluation of teaching in social work education.