Inside Higher Ed highlights research on teaching evaluations by WFU professor, student

Research by a Wake Forest professor and student on student evaluations of teaching is highlighted in an Inside Higher Ed news story written by Colleen Flaherty and published online Feb. 27.

The research was done by Justin Esarey, associate professor of politics and international affairs, and senior Natalie Valdes.  Entitled “Unbiased, Reliable and Valid Student Evaluations Can Still be Unfair,” the research paper was published in Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education.

The Inside Higher Ed story reports that the researchers found “that these evaluations are deeply flawed measures of teaching quality.”

In the research paper, Esarey and Valdes note that “using invalid, unreliable or biased student evaluations to make decisions about hiring and tenure is obviously harmful to students and faculty alike.”

For further information, see the news story and the research paper.