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Student background characteristics and their relationship to students' evaluations of instructional effectiveness: A multidimensional approach
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between student background variables and student ratings through an examination of the relationships between a set of student background variables (demographic, aptitude, and attitude) and a set of several dimensions of student attitudes and evaluations related to their experiences in large university lecture classes. The study used data that was collected on 4299 students in 33 large lecture classes as a part of a project conducted through the Teaching and Learning Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Students' responses on a questionnaire designed to measure several relevant dimensions of student ratings were used to calculate two sets of factor scores. The first consisted of dimensions related to students' overall class experience. The second set included instructor-specific attitudes and evaluations. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were used to determine the extent to which the obtained factor structures fit those that were hypothesized. For both sets of factor scores there was a relatively good fit between the hypothesized and actual factor structures. Next, the relationships between the set of student background variables and students' attitudes and evaluations, as measured by the two sets of factor scores, were examined through the use of canonical correlation analyses. Several significant canonical variables were identified in each of two analyses. Finally, the amount of variance that could be accounted for in each dimension of student attitudes and evaluations was assessed through the use of a series of step-wise multiple regression analyses. The percent of variance that was accounted for ranged from 5.5 to 20.6 percent. The variables that had the largest and most frequent entries were: whether the course was taken as a requirement or as an elective, students' expected grade, and students' opinions of the course and instructor at the time they registered for the course.
Subject Area
Higher education|Educational psychology
Recommended Citation
Bond, Steven C, "Student background characteristics and their relationship to students' evaluations of instructional effectiveness: A multidimensional approach" (1989). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9019557.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9019557