Assessing the Effectiveness of Students Evaluation of Teachers: A Qualitative Analysis of Pakistan’s Higher Education

Abstract

This study assesses the effectiveness of Students Evaluations of Teachers (SET) in the context of Pakistan’s higher education. It explores various factors and drawbacks that exist in SETs’ administration. The study aimed to investigate the relationship between grade inflation and SET ratings. Teachers and faculty's perceptions of SETs and lower response rate from students towards SET was also investigated. It was also attempted to unearth the effectiveness of SETs in the online mode of administration. A qualitative research methodology has been adopted to carry out the study. Data for the study was attained from 24 respondents which include university teachers, administrators, and students of two public sector universities. Purposive sampling technique was used to choose respondents for data collection. An interview guide was used to collect data from the respondents. Collected data was coded and clubbed together to develop meaningful themes. This study's findings affirmed that SET's validity is partly influenced by the physical attractiveness of the teachers. The findings further suggest that administrators are more confident than the faculty concerning SETs' validity and its usage in administrative decisions about teacher appraisals. The relationship between grade inflation and SETs was found genuine, however, the interplay of two other determinants was also found significant. First, the teachers do not buy good ratings from students intentionally. Second, visiting faculty is more vulnerable to inflating grades than regular faculty. Contrary to the findings of early studies on online or electronic evaluations, it was found that online evaluations have not decreased the response rate of students. However, the effectiveness of SETs in online mode can be realized if the anonymity of the respondents is preserved. We propose that students should be offered open access to the evaluations portal.