SOFI SESSION #2: STUDENT RATING SYSTEMS

LOCAL FORMS: PROS

•Offers control over

1) design (in relation to mission statement);
2) format;
3) administration


•Faculty receive discursive comments along with numerical scores on same sheet

•Relatively inexpensive base cost (approx. $5,000)

•Relatively brief

•Offers information on local student demographics and self-evaluation of student effort

LOCAL FORMS: CONS

• Hidden costs (labor intensive, work study, etc.)

• Designed by political process/committee with no expertise in measurement & with multiple biases (e.g., disciplinary, pedagogical)

• Lack of research basis

• Qestionable validity and reliability

• At this moment, local form does not allow for disciplinary and pedagogical differences

NATIONAL FORMS: PROS

• Expertise (e.g., in teaching and learning styles)
• Research base (there are 2,000+ scholarly articles on the subject)
• Offer validity and reliability
• Designed by people with testing expertise
• Campus neutral
• Some labor would be transferred to the national organization

NATIONAL FORMS: CONS

• Lack of institutional control

• Comments may be separated out from the numerical data

• Base cost higher while some hidden costs will still remain

• Could be more time consuming for students to complete

SUMMARY

• Local Form emphasizes local control

• National Form emphasizes expertise