教育论文代写 Importance Of Study With Respect To The World
1.2 Background of the topic
1.2.1 Origin of SETs: The idea of student evaluation of teaching (SET) was first introduced by a psychologist E.T. Guthrie at the University of Washington in the 1920s (Murray, 2005).
1.2.2 Evolution of SETs: Its earliest uses are traced back to North American universities. It became a widely used instrument in the end of 1960s and beginning of 1970s. Initially many instructors were against it and questioned its validity. But on the whole students wanted a say as they raised concerns about more accountability; administrators who were being questioned for poor quality wanted to try another technique and to some extent some faculty members who wanted their promotion, salary decisions to be based on something else too supported it (Rita, 1980; Miller). In Pakistan, the use of SETs and some other instruments started at the beginning of year 2002 (Dr. Hayat, 2008).
In addition to SETs certain other techniques used for teacher evaluation are evaluation by colleagues, evaluation by administrators and so on. In accordance with Deans 'teaching' is the best way to evaluate the professor but deans are hardly present in classrooms to observe that. Therefore, it is generally accepted that students are in the best position to judge their teachers as they spend most of the time with them (Rita, 1980).
1.2.3 Formats of Faculty Evaluation: Rita (1980) has outlined certain formats of evaluation in her book. One is the "Instructor Evaluation Form" that rates instructors on preparation, presentation, evaluation, personality and intellect; another instrument called F.A.C.E (Faculty and Course Evaluation) examines the professor on this traits, text & readings, examinations, papers, laboratories etc. On the other hand, there is a 'Classroom Visitation Appraisal' that is used by coordinators to observe the teachers skills inside the classroom. Moreover, SEEQ (Student Evaluation of Educational Quality) is a five point scale questionnaire developed by Dr. Herbert Marsh which is also widely used in many institutions. Normally the use of SETs based on a 5-point Likert scale is prevalent.
1.2.4 Validity of SETs: The reliability and validity of SETs has been questioned at great lengths due to the presence of certain biases that are non-instructional factors and influence the ratings that students give to their teachers. Researchers' debate that SETs should not be used as a sole measure as the accuracy of results is distorted due to the presence of these biases (Bedggood & Pollard, 1999). On the other hand, some consider SET to be very important and suggest that it should be done regularly (Ahmadi, Helms & Ralszadeh, 2001). In total SETs has gained popularity since the 1970s despite criticism but majority of the universities use it as one factor of the evaluation process. Other techniques are also used (Rita, 1980).
According to Murray the use of SETs has been good and has improved teaching but still there is a belief that teachers do not take the feedback seriously as they do not trust the results of SETs.
1.3 Importance of the study with respect to the world
The world is changing and one has to constantly adapt to new methods in order to prosper. Universities have been facing a constant dilemma regarding their inefficiency and ineffectiveness. Thus, in educational institutes the greatest asset is the faculty who teach and objective evaluation of faculty is needed to combat the problem (Rita, 1980).
1.3.1 Role of Students: As mentioned earlier, students have become more involved in these decision making processes at universities for example teacher evaluation, organizing special events or programs on behalf of the university etc. Moreover, students and their parents do not want to spend money on expensive education unless and until they see the benefit and that is getting quality education from teachers (Rita, 1980). Thus, more accountability is needed and just for this purpose and also to learn about students opinions, student evaluation of their teachers have become a widely practiced phenomenon in today's world.
1.3.2 Biases in SETs: As discussed earlier, the SET instrument is a victim of certain biases that try to hinder the true picture i.e. when students rate their faculty they base their decisions on certain characteristics that are not related to learning or the teacher and hence do not give the true picture. So the problem is that all these universities and even Pakistani universities use SETs but have neither tried to look at these biases nor tried to make the rating process more objective. Many universities like PCBA have an online rating form that students definitely have to fill towards the end of the term otherwise they are fined. But what's the outcome? Universities are wasting a lot of money and time in printing, distributing and then trying to sort out these forms but what's the benefit if they do not give accurate results.
1.3.3 Potential Remedy: Every university has a proper format of the form that is filled in by students regarding the teaching capabilities of their instructors and the satisfaction that students get. As indicated by Tamara Baldwin and Nancy Blattner the use of SEI (Student evaluation of instruction) has to be examined properly in order to understand the characteristics that affect results. The whole process is done to satisfy students; develop the system and improve teaching effectiveness. The biases hinder the progress of the whole evaluation procedure.
Concisely, it is essential to study these biases and develop methods to combat them. "Step up the stairs or stare at the steps" - a quote by Ralph Nichols is a good indication of the problem. Universities should attempt to identify the biases; remove them by training students or pursuing non-normative evaluation; clearly state the purpose of the whole exercise by assuring students that their opinions matter; maintain anonymity and confidentiality of evaluations and also state the benefits that students will have from it.
