Student evaluations of teaching: The role of empathy and instructions to students

Abstract

The current study examined the effects of instructions given to college students before evaluating their professors. The results of a previous study by Addison and Tabb (2004) indicated that an effect could be produced when student participants were given explicit instructions for evaluating videotaped student lectures. The present study was designed to examine these effects in a situation more generalizeable to actual student evaluations of teaching. Specifically, this study investigated student evaluations of a guest lecturer in a classroom environment. Results indicated significant differences among the instructional groups on specific rating scale items. The current study also yielded a significant correlation between participants' internal empathy traits, and their evaluations of the guest lecturer. Limitations of the methodology used in the study are discussed.

Date of Award	2006
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	Eastern Illinois University
Supervisor	William Addison (Supervisor)