Effectiveness of Consultation on Student Ratings Feedback: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Consultation on student ratings is recognized as an important strategy to support university teachers in learning from student ratings feedback. However, there is little evidence to suggest which practices and strategies are most important for successful consultation. As the use of student ratings increases, such evidence becomes increasingly important. The authors of this article performed an exploratory meta-analysis to determine the effects of various consultation strategies and to identify the conditions under which consultative feedback is most effective in improving teaching effectiveness. The results indicated that the various approaches to consultation are not equally effective. The authors suggest that only with use of certain consultation strategies might the benefits of support with student ratings feedback be maximized.

Factors Impacting University Instructors’ and Students’ Perceptions of Course Effectiveness and Technology Integration in the Age of Web 2.0

“…Results highlight the myriad factors that impact perceptions of course effectiveness, including instructor's expressiveness in the classroom, lecture content, and consultation / feedback strategies from students. According to findings from an exploratory meta-analysis by Penny and Coe (2004), SETs were helpful in providing effective consultation feedback that consequently enhances the quality of instructors' teaching. Effect sizes as high as .69 characterized the relationship between teaching effectiveness and use of certain consultation strategies emanating from SETs (Penny & Coe, 2004).…”

Applying Kaizen to University Teaching Through Weekly Course Evaluation

“…For a successful long-term implementation, the handling of evaluation results should be centrally supported. Counseling and didactical support in combination to student evaluation proved to be significantly more successful (Cohen, 1980;Dresel and Rindermann, 2011;Penny and Coe, 2004). An institution-wide implementation of continuous evaluation could result in higher teaching quality in wide breadth.…”

Toward a New Creative Scholarship of Educational Development: The Teaching and Learning Project and an Opening to Discourse

“…(Berger 1972) This idea, that the photographer is present in every photograph, has led to key questions in photo-based faculty consultations about participants' perceptions of the person making the photographs and how these perceptions affect the way they see and interpret the images made (Bergquist and Phillips 1977) and studied effects of instructional consultation on teaching practice (Erickson and Erickson 1979) and personal growth (Sorcinelli 1982). Later studies investigated a variety of applications and effects, such as the longer-term impact of consultation on teaching practice (Piccinin 1999); and effects of specific forms of consultation, such as those involving student ratings of instruction as a source of feedback (Hampton and Reiser 2004;Penny and Coe 2004). More recent work examines comprehensive evaluation methods for determining the effectiveness of instructional consultations (Brinkley-Etzkorn et al 2016).…”

“…Through consultation, a key goal is to develop strategies for instructors to apply when they return to practice. Materials, information, and data used in consultation have included student feedback in the form of midterm or end-of-term surveys or student ratings of instruction (Theall and Franklin 1997;Penny and Coe 2004); qualitative notes and/or quantitative data recorded by a consultant during a classroom observation (Lewis 1997;Smith et al 2013); summaries of small group instructional discussions or diagnoses (SGIDs)-a structured focus-group like discussion that a consultant can conduct with students when the instructor is absent (Tiberius 1997;Coffman 1998); and video recordings of classroom instruction (Pinsky & Wipf 2000, Lonoff 1997, Krupnick 1994, Brinko 1993. Consultants draw on these materials to help identify and investigate aspects of teaching that may be productive foci for reflection, use open-ended prompts to engage the instructor in reflection, and ultimately conceptualize, reframe, and generate principles and strategies for future application (TaylorWay and Brinko 1989).…”