Research into Student Teaching Evaluations often focus on what such evaluations actually measure and the inherent biases about instructors that can disadvantage or advantage particular faculty. This article in Inside Higher Ed reports on a metastudy that addresses both measurement and equity biases in student evaluations and suggests strategic responses for higher education institutions. One issue of concern is the relative lack of research attention to issues of racial and intersectional identity bias–most equity bias research is on gender. The metastudy found a “gender affinity” bias that may extend to race as well. One recommendation is that administrators should temper reliance on student evaluations with alternative and complementary assessments for evaluating teaching such as teaching portfolios and reviews of pedagogical materials.
Today’s feature was shared with us by Dr. Cinzia Cervato, Professor at Iowa State University and PI of the ADVANCE Partnership Grant which includes Michigan Tech. If you have an article you think we should feature, please email it to advance-mtu@mtu.edu and we will consider adding it to the ADVANCE Weekly Roundup.
The ADVANCE Weekly Roundup is brought to you by ADVANCE at Michigan Tech, which is an NSF-funded initiative dedicated to improving faculty career success, retention, diversity, equity, and inclusion. To learn more about this week’s topic, our mission, programming efforts, and to check out our growing collection of resources, contact us at (advance-mtu@mtu.edu) or visit our website: www.mtu.edu/advance.