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correlation between student evaluations/grades/course rigor

  • 1.  correlation between student evaluations/grades/course rigor

    Posted 06-14-2002 05:10
    From CRTNET. [Note: though some references are interesting, others
    refer to secondary educational situations.]
    ------------------------

    From: Michele Ramsey drmicheleramsey@yahoo.com

    A number of people asked me to post the information that was shared with
    me about research dealing with a correlation between student
    evaluations/grades/course rigor. Thanks so much to those who shared what
    they had with me, I've got a lot to read!

    Gillmore, G. M., & Greenwald, A. G. (1999). Using statistical
    adjustment to reduce biases in student ratings. American Psychologist,
    54(7),
    518-519.

    Greenwald, A. G., & Gillmore, G. M. (1997). No pain, no gain? The
    importance of measuring course workload in student ratings of
    instruction. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(4), 743-751.

    Hightower, P. (1998). Teacher evaluations. Contemporary Education,
    69, 111-112.

    Marsh, H. W., & Roche, L. A. (2000). Effects of grading leniency and
    low workload on students' evaluations of teaching: Popular myth, bias,
    validity, or innocent bystanders? Journal of Educational Psychology,
    92, 202-228. (If memory serves me correctly, this is a re-analysis of
    the Greenwald & Gilmore, 1997, data)

    Dr. Roy Schwartzman has published some work on these issues in the
    Chronicle of Higher Education.

    One respondent offered this explanation: The confounding variable is the
    instructor's "helpful attitude" -- that is, being unhelpful is
    positively related to weak grades AND weak evaluations, leading your
    colleagues (i.e., the unhelpful ones) to associate grades with
    evaluations, ignoring the influence of their own lack of helpfulness.

    One respondent suggested the book, "Generation X Goes To College," as
    well as these other citations:
    Amos, Denise Smith. "What's the Choice of the New Generation?" "What is
    Generation X?" and "A Twenty-Something Glossary." St. Petersburg Times,
    Centerpiece of "Monday Business" insert entitled "Defining Generation
    X," April 19, 1993, pp. 1, 12-13, 15.

    Bash, Alan. "Generation X, Redefining the American Dream." USA Today,
    September 23, 1993, p. 6D.

    Byrne, Diane. Gen X Researcher and Professor at St. Petersburg Junior
    College, Clearwater, Florida. Personal Interview, April 5, 1999. E-mail
    address: ByrneD@spjc.edu

    Cannon, David. "Generation X: The Way They Do the Things They Do,"
    Journal of Career Planning and Employment, January 1991, pp. 34-38.

    Carrasquillo, Jimmy. "'Needing and Wanting are Different.'" Newsweek,
    Nov. 16, 1992, p. 82.

    Clark, Bonnie. Gen X and Gen Y Researcher, Mass Communication program
    coordinator (Clearwater Campus) and Speech Communication Professor at
    St. Petersburg Junior College, Clearwater, Florida.

    E-mail address: ClarkB@spjc.edu

    Coupland, Douglas. Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. New
    York: St. Martin's Press, 1992.

    Edmundson, Mark. "On the Uses of a Liberal Education: As Lite
    Entertainment for Bored College Students." Harper's Magazine, September
    1997, pp. 1, 39-49.

    Harrington, Jeff. "Gen Xers Build Big Credit Card Balances," St.
    Petersburg Times, August 15, 1998, p.1E.

    Henry, Tamara. "Organized Lessons Stick With Students." USA Today, July
    11, 1995, p. 1D.

    Hogarty, Donna Brown. "The Young and the Restless." Working Woman,
    July/August 1996, pp. 27-28.

    Hornblower, Margot:

    "My Generation Believes We Can Do Almost Anything" (Profile of Gen X
    filmmaker Kevin

    Smith),

    "My Goal is to Expand Into a Cutting-Edge, Full Cosmetics Company. I
    Want to Dominate"

    (Profile of Gen X entrepreneur Dineh Mohajer),

    "Great Xpectations: Slackers? Hardly. The So-Called Generation X Turns
    Out to be Full of Go-

    Getters Who are Just Doing It--But Their Way" (Cover Story), and

    "We Can Sit Here Bemoaning Beavis and Butt-Head or We Can Learn From
    Their Appeal"

    (Profile of Gen Xer and new Sierra Club President Adam Werbach), Time,
    June 9, 1997.

    Horovitz, Bruce. "Gen X in a Class by Itself." USA Today, September 23,
    1996, p. 10B.

    Howe, Neil and William Strauss. 13th Gen: Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail?
    New York: Vintage Books, 1993.

    Howe, Neil and William Strauss. "The New Generation Gap." The Atlantic
    Monthly, December 1992, pp. 67-69, 72-81, 84-86, 89.

    Jensen, Robin. Gen X and Gen Y Researcher, Instructor-in-Charge of
    College Success Skills program and Speech Communication Professor at St.
    Petersburg Junior College, Clearwater, Florida. E-mail address:
    JensenR@spjc.edu

    Marklein, Mary Beth. "Money, not Learning, is Freshmen's Top Goal." USA
    Today, January 12, 1998, 1D.

    Parker, Patricia S. "Generation X Goes to Work: A Postmodern
    Organization's Dream or a Nightmare on Wall Street?" Unpublished paper
    presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication
    Association, New York City, November 1998.

    Peterson, Karen S. "Generation X Forging Their Future in an Imperfect
    World: Baby Busters Rise Above Elders' Scorn." USA Today, September 23,
    1993, pp. 1-2D.

    Peterson, Karen S. "Seeking Their Own Reflection in TV." USA Today,
    Sept. 23, 1993, p. 6D.

    Sacks, Peter. Generation X Goes to College. Chicago: Open Court, 1996.

    Schwartzman, Roy. "Are Students Customers? The Metaphoric Mismatch
    Between Management and Education." Education, Winter 1995, pp. 215-222.

    Schwartzman, Roy. "Gaming Serves as a Model for Improving Learning."
    Education, Fall 1997, pp. 9-17.

    Schwartzman, Roy. "The Next Move in the Metaphoric Game." Education,
    Fall 1997, pp. 22-24.

    Snider, Mike. "In Music, Sounds of Anger and Cultural Assimilation." USA
    Today, Sept. 23, 1993, 6D.

    Spiegler, Marc. "Have Money, Will Matriculate." American Demographics,
    September 1998, pp. 51-56.

    "Students Value Money Over Mind, Survey Finds." St. Petersburg Times,
    Jan. 12, 1998, p. 4A.

    Waldman, Steven and Karen Springen."Too Old Too Fast." Newsweek, Nov.
    16, 1992, pp.80-88.

    Wiley, Ben. Gen X Researcher and Professor at St. Petersburg Junior
    College, Clearwater, Florida. Personal Interview, April 5, 1999. E-mail
    address: WileyBen@spjc.edu

    Williams-Butrico, Alanna. "The Next Generation: Baby Busters in
    College." The Quill of Alpha Xi Delta, Fall 1993, pp. 1, 4-8.

    "GENERATION Y" REFERENCES

    Aschoff, Susan. "Gen Y Votes for 'none of the above.'" St. Petersburg
    Times, Nov. 7, 2000, pp. D1-D3.

    Adato, Allison. "The Secret Lives of Teens." Cover Story. Life, March
    1999, pp. 38-42, 45, 48.

    Donahue, Deirdra. "Authors Warn Parents of a Toxic Culture." Interviews
    with these authors:

    Jane M. Healy (Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's
    Minds for Better and

    Worse and Endangered Minds: Why Children Don't Think--and What We Can Do
    About It),

    Barbara Dafoe Whitehead (The Divorce Culture: Rethinking Our Commitments
    to

    Marriage and Family),

    William J. Doherty (The Intentional Family: How to Build Family Ties in
    Our Modern World),

    Dana Mack (The Assault on Parenthood: How Our Culture Undermines the
    Family),

    Mary Pipher (The Shelter of Each Other and Reviving Ophelia: Saving the
    Selves of Adolescent

    Girls),

    Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Cornel West (The War Against Parents: What We Can
    Do for America's

    Beleaguered Moms and Dads),

    Patricia Hersch (A Tribe Apart: A Journey into the Heart of American
    Adolescence),

    Stephanie Coontz (The Way We Really Are: Coming to Terms with America's
    Changing

    Families), and

    Michael and Diane Medved (Saving Childhood: Protecting Our Children from
    the National

    Assault on Innocence). USA Today, October 1, 1998, p. 8D.

    Donahue, Deirdre. "Is Innocence Evaporating in an Open-Door Society" and
    "Stop Fretting: This is the 'Best Time' to be a Kid" in the "Special
    Report: Struggling to Raise Good Kids in Toxic Times." USA Today,

    October 1, 1998, pp. 1-2D.

    French, Thomas. South of Heaven: Welcome to High School at the End of
    the Twentieth Century. New York: Pocket Books, 1993.

    Howe, Neil and William Strauss. Millenials Rising: The Next Great
    Generation. Vintage Books: New York, 2000.

    Generation Y Website ( <http://generation-y.com/>), copyright 1999, The
    Amarillo Globe-News.

    Kerberger, Kimberly. "Are Today's Teens That Different?" Life, March
    1999, p. 48.

    Johnson, Marilyn. "Nice Girls Finish First." Life, March 1999, pp.
    50-51.

    Ochshorn, Kathleen. "Kids Tell on Themselves." Book Reviews of A Tribe
    Apart: A Journey into the Heart of American Adolescence by Patricia
    Hersch, Cold New World: Growing Up in a Harder Country by William
    Finnegan, and A Fine Young Man: What Parents, Mentors and Educators Can
    Do to Shape Adolescent Boys into Exceptional Men by Michael Gurian. St.
    Petersburg Times, September 6, 1998, p. 4D.

    Pipher, Mary. Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls.
    New York: Ballentine, 1994.

    Russakoff, Dale. "Millennium Generation Quietly Makes its Mark." St.
    Pete Times, July 5, 1998, 1F, 8F.

    Stevens, Liz. "Putting a Label on Generation Y." St. Petersburg Times,
    January 24, 1997, pp. 1-2D.

    Stone, Andrea. "Not Boomers, Not Xers, They are Tweeners." USA Today,
    March 22, 1996, pp. 1A, 13A.

    "What Makes Generation Y Tick?" Parade Magazine, April 14, 1999, p. 14.

    REFERENCES SPECIFIC TO STUDENT EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTORS

    Bonwell, Charles C. and James A. Eison. Active Learning: Creating
    Excitement in the Classroom. Washington, D.C.: School of Education and
    Human Development, George Washington University, 1991.

    Greenwald, Anthony G. "Validity Concerns and Usefulness of Student
    Ratings of Instruction." American Psychologist, November 1997, pp.
    1182-1186.

    McKeachie, Wilbert J. "Student Ratings: The Validity of Use." American
    Psychologist, November 1997, pp. 1218-1225.

    Leo, John. "Many Students Just Want to be Entertained, Professors
    Complain." Tampa Tribune, September 14, 1996, Nation/World-13.

    Marsh, Herbert W. and Lawrence A. Roche. "Making Students' Evaluations
    of Teaching Effectiveness Effective: The Critical Issues of Validity
    Bias, and Utility." American Psychologist, Nov. 1997, pp. 1187-1197.

    Trout, Paul A. "What the Numbers Mean: Providing a Context for Numerical
    Student Evaluations of Courses." Change, September/October 1997, pp.
    24-30.

    "Use Caution on Evaluations." Editorial in St. Petersburg Times, August
    24, 1996, p. 10A.

    Vandervert, Larry R. "Person-Environment Student Ratings of
    Instruction." Innovation Abstracts, February 6, 1998.

    Williams, Wendy M. and Stephen J. Ceci. "'How'm I Doing?' Problems With
    Student Ratings of Instructors and Courses." Change, September/October
    1997, pp. 13-23.

    Wilson, Robin. "New Research Casts Doubt on Value of Student Evaluations
    of Professors." The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 16, 1998, p.
    A12.

    Wilson, Robin. "Project Seeks to Help Colleges Use Peer Review to
    Evaluate Teaching." The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 16, 1998,
    p. A14.

    E. Michele Ramsey, Ph.D.
    Assistant Professor, Communication Arts and Sciences
    Penn State Berks-Lehigh Valley College

    PO Box 7009, Tulpehocken Road
    Reading, PA 19610
    610-396-6148