Factors which influence the outcome of student evaluation of teaching

For the past Two years evaluation of teaching at the University of Alberta Medical School has been conducted using a standardized ten-item questionnaire for nearly all courses. Accept ability of this process increases dramatically as Faculty and students become accustomed to the questionnaire. The first year of such a questionnaire is difficult but the situation was much more satisfactory in year 2. The average scores over the ten questions all lie between 3.5 and 4. The question "I gained a good understanding of principles/concepts received the lowest rating", and "The learning experience was relevant to physician training" received the highest rating and these were significantly different from each other. Neither the year of the program being evaluated, nor the particular class exert a significant influence on the ratings. Finally, in one course which had received a very poor rating by the students in year I, the teaching staff requested a 2-hour workshop to help them improve their teaching. After the workshop, although the course was still rated poorly, there was a significant improvement, most noticeable in the areas covered by the workshop. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that a brief Faculty Development exercise enhances student ratings.