Teaching evaluation at a public institution of higher education: Factors related to the overall teaching effectiveness

About 3,200 undergraduate and 300 graduate students in the College of Business of a regional state university with more than 17,000 students located in the southeastern United States evaluated 126 business faculty. The results of a multiple regression based on 6,395 student evaluations show that 12 factors are predictors of overall teaching;effectiveness, e.g., instructor presents material clearly, instructor answers students' questions, instructor treats students in a courteous and/or professional manner, and instructor appears to be well prepared for each class. These data suggest that students are fairly reasonable in considering important aspects of the learning process when they evaluate professors' overall teaching effectiveness. The results are discussed in light of the reward system at U.S. universities, the balance between teaching and research, and the changes in management education.