Research On Behavioral Deviations And Its Influencing Factors In Student Evaluation Of Teaching In Colleges And Universities

The system of Student Evaluation of Teaching(SET)is an important part of teaching quality assurance systems in colleges and universities.It undertakes such responsibilities as promoting teaching and development,ensuring and realizing students' learning interests and improving the quality of talents training.The research uses such methods are as following three:literature research,questionnaire survey and interviewing method,to study students' behavioral deviations and its influencing factors in SET in colleges and universities.Through literature review and evaluation of so many past researches about SET,using the behavioral relationship theory between institution and human and based on the research perspective of SET system design to explore student evaluation behavior,the research determines conceptual framework,research question and content and designs a SET survey questionnaire of students' behavioral deviations and its influencing factors.The dependent variables of the research are behavioral deviations in Student Evaluation of Teaching.The independent variables,namely influencing factors of behavioral deviations in SET,include system arrangement of SET,departments' improper intervention in SET and teachers' improper intervention in SET.The control variables of the research are such concerned students' background characteristics as gender,native place,discipline and major,grade,type of colleges and universities,identity,and learning achievement self-evaluation.The research issues 1,865 questionnaires to 8 colleges and universities,three different-level and different-type,including 2 research universities,4 common undergraduate universities and 2 higher vocational and professional colleges.At the same time,the research uses early interviewing and late interviewing method,choosing 27 undergraduates,10 teachers and 10 teaching administrators from all the survey colleges and universities.Through the factor analyses,data statistics of questionnaires and interview analyses,the research finds 4 main discoveries.The first is that SET behavioral deviations' fundermental types and factor structures include students' unclear awareness of SET,passive and random evaluation,lower evaluation,self-interest higher evaluation and other-reason higher evaluation.The influences of students' background characteristics on factors of behavioral deviations in SET have differences.For example,the gender of students has obvious influences on all factors of behavioral deviations in SET,but the native place and discipline type of students have obvious influences just on part factors of behavioral deviations.The second is that influencing factors of behavioral deviations in SET include three aspects:the first is system arrangement of SET and its factor structures are forced students' evaluation,teachers' and departments' vital interests connected with SET,index design defects of SET,and the SET outcome's being irrelevant to students' learning interests;the second is departments' improper intervention in SET;the third is teachers' improper intervention in SET.In the system arrangement of SET,students think that the most serious problem is that the use of SET outcome has nothing to do with students' learning interests presently,and another serious problem is index design defects of SET.The type of colleges and universities has obvious influences on the system arrangement of SET,much more influences on the two factors:the SET outcome's being irrelevant to students' learning interests and forced students' evaluation.Meanwhile,it has obvious influences on departments'improper intervention and teachers' improper intervention in SET,but much more on departments' improper intervention.The third is that there are significant linear correlations among all the factors of behavioral deviations in SET.But all the correlation coefficients are not too big.The definite correlation exists in all the influencing factors of behavioral deviations in SET.The factor,teachers' and departments' vital interests connected with SET is leading factor and the correlation coefficients between it and any other influencing factors of behavioral deviations in SET are bigger.There is weakest correlation between the factor,namely the SET outcome's being irrelevant to students' learning interests and any other influencing factor of behavioral deviations in SET.The research uses regression analyses between behavioral deviations and its influencing factors in SET,which shows that each influencing factor has greatly different influence on each factor of behavioral deviations,and the three factors,namely forced students' evaluation,teachers' and departments' vital interests connected with SET and index design defects of SET are much more important factors.The fourth is that the basic reason of students' behavioral deviations in SET is the unscientific nature of SET system design.Currently,the system of Student Evaluation of Teaching in colleges and universities and its operation has some key problems as follows:(1)The lack of scientific positioning of SET makes the administrators take it as a simple tool of promoting teaching and personnel management,not a management platform and mechanism of teaching information communication between teachers and students,even more not a fundamental system of maintaining and ensuring students' learning interests;(2)The participants in the index system design and management of SET are single,and the index system of SET is just the same in all colleges and universities which lacks assessments of students' learning gains and promotion;(3)The process management and control method of SET are solidified and single,which have some forced measures,limitations and unreasonable time arrangement;(4)The SET outcome nearly has nothing to do with students' learning and can not ensure students'interests.Accordingly,the research puts up some improvement measures for SET system arrangement.Student Evaluation of Teaching should be positioned as a management platform and long-term mechanism of teaching information communication among teachers,students and administrators,and a management tool of enhancing teaching quality and promoting teachers' teaching development.The index system design and management of SET firstly need to absorb multiple subjects' democratic participation,such as students,teachers,alumni and graduates.The index system design of SET should be classified according to different type and different discipline and major structure of school,embodying students' learning perspective.Optimizing operation process and control method of SET firstly needs to cancel various limitations in SET system arrangement.At the same time,the administrators should make teachers return to SET process and constantly improve teaching in terms of students' advice of teaching,which is conducive to the implement of process and formative evaluation in SET.In addition,students' anonymous participation way in SET needs to be changed and some measures should be taken to eliminate students' scruple and worry brought by the possible negative effects and disadvantages only because of their participation in SET.The SET outcomes'disposes and uses firstly need to provide each teacher with his or her SET analysis report,gradually construct free-selection teachers system for students based on each teacher's SET information and outcome,and perfect the direct relations between vital interests of teachers,departments and SET system,which can possibly help to form positive stimulation and realize teaching service purpose for teachers step by step.