Student Points of View in Ratings of College Instruction

Abstract

This study investigated student points of view in their ratings of specific courses and instructors by analyzing student responses within each of three classes separately, and then sought to generalize the results further by additional analyses with 300 students randomly selected from 402 classes in five colleges. Different points of view were found for student ratings of course examinations, textbooks and supplementary readings, and class discussions. These various points of view were moderately related to such student characteristics as grades and sex, although not in all three of the classes studied. This last point underscores the importance of the context (i.e., the particular course) in understanding or interpreting the meaning of student ratings.