Peer-reviewed article
I betraktarens ögon: Betydelsen av kön och ålder för studenters läraromdömen
2012Karlsson, M., & Lundberg, E.Högre utbildning
What is this study about?
The study examines the significance of teachers' gender and age for students' assessments of teaching and teachers. The point of departure is the extensive use of course evaluations in higher education and the question of whether students' judgements can be influenced by factors other than the quality of the teaching itself. The study thus analyses whether the assessment of a teacher lies partly – as the title suggests – in the eye of the beholder.
What did we find?
Do students assess teachers the same way regardless of the teacher's gender and age? The study shows that such characteristics can matter for how teachers are valued by students. Students' judgements should therefore not simply be regarded as neutral measures of the quality of the teaching or the teacher. The results point to the need to understand course evaluations as assessments that can also be influenced by who is teaching.
Why does it matter?
Student evaluations are used to develop teaching but can also matter for assessments of teachers' performance and merits. If the judgements are influenced by characteristics of the teacher that are not directly related to the quality of the teaching, there is a risk that comparisons between teachers become misleading. The study therefore shows why students' judgements should be interpreted with caution and combined with other ways of assessing the quality of teaching.
Citation
Karlsson, M., & Lundberg, E. (2012) I betraktarens ögon: Betydelsen av kön och ålder för studenters läraromdömen. Högre utbildning 2(1) 19–32