Empirical investigation of the factors affecting SET results

Abstract

Investigates the factors affecting student evaluation of teaching (SET). A total of 170 teaching evaluations conducted at the Nanyang Business School (Singapore) were analysed by regressing the overall teaching index on the following variables: subject characteristics (stream, year and type), class characteristics (format, size, time and day), evaluation characteristics (response, time and day), and teacher characteristics (age, gender and rank). Indicates that better teaching evaluation is associated with a smaller class size and a larger number of evaluation responses. Also, teachers of middle‐level subjects receive relatively poorer SET results. Further, SET administered in the later part of the week attract better student evaluation. Finds that teacher characteristics have no significant impact on SET results. Confirms the existence of potential biasing factors, hence, SET should be used with caution and not be the only method of evaluating teachers.