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Quality Research in Literacy and Science Education pp 383–398Cite as

Dr. Fox Rocks: Using Data-mining Techniques to Examine Student Ratings of Instruction

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Few traditions in higher education evoke more controversy, ambivalence, criticism, and, at the same time, support than student evaluation of instruction (SEI). Ostensibly, results from these end-of-course survey instruments serve two main functions: they provide instructors with formative input for improving their teaching, and they serve as the basis for summative profiles of professors' effectiveness through the eyes of their students. In the academy, instructor evaluations also can play out in the high-stakes environments of tenure, promotion, and merit salary increases, making this information particularly important to the professional lives of faculty members. At the research level, the volume of the literature for student ratings impresses even the most casual observer with well over 2,000 studies referenced in the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) alone (Centra, 2003) and an untold number of additional studies published in educational, psychological, psychometric, and discipline-related journals.

There have been numerous attempts at summarizing this work (Algozzine et al., 2004; Gump, 2007; Marsh & Roche, 1997; Pounder, 2007; Wachtel, 1998). Student ratings gained such notoriety that in November 1997 the American Psychologist devoted an entire issue to the topic (Greenwald, 1997). The issue included student ratings articles focusing on stability and reliability, validity, dimensionality, usefulness for improving teaching and learning, and sensitivity to biasing factors, such as the Dr. Fox phenomenon that describes eliciting high student ratings with strategies that reflect little or no relationship to effective teaching practice (Ware & Williams, 1975; Williams & Ware, 1976, 1977).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Management, Yuan Ze University, Chung-Li, Taiwan

    Morgan C. Wang

  2. Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

    Charles D. Dziuban & Patsy D. Moskal

  3. Department of Statistics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    Ida J. Cook

Authors
  1. Morgan C. Wang
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  2. Charles D. Dziuban
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  3. Ida J. Cook
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  4. Patsy D. Moskal
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Morgan C. Wang , Charles D. Dziuban , Ida J. Cook or Patsy D. Moskal .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Iowa State University, USA

    Mack C. Shelley II

  2. University of Victoria, Canada

    Larry D. Yore

  3. University of Iowa, USA

    Brian Hand

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© 2009 Springer Science + Business Media B.V

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Wang, M.C., Dziuban, C.D., Cook, I.J., Moskal, P.D. (2009). Dr. Fox Rocks: Using Data-mining Techniques to Examine Student Ratings of Instruction. In: Shelley, M.C., Yore, L.D., Hand, B. (eds) Quality Research in Literacy and Science Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8427-0_19

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