Evaluating students’ evaluations of professors

The results of experimental studies cast doubt on any clear positive causal relationship between satisfaction with the course and achievement.

“The results of these studies also cast doubt on any clear (positive) causal relationship between satisfaction with the course and achievement.”

Experimental educational studies have demonstrated that student satisfaction with a course is biased based on objective measures.

“When it comes to experimental research, a number of educational studies conducted in different parts of the world -including Italy (Braga, Paccagnella, & Pellizzari, 2014), France (Boring, 2015), and the United States (Arbuckle & Williams, 2003;Carrell & West, 2010;MacNell, Driscoll, & Hunt, 2015) -have demonstrated that student satisfaction with the course is biased (based on objective measures).”

The modest association between the L2 learning experience and achievement is not totally inconsistent with experimental studies on non-L2 learning that do not support a causal relationship between student evaluation of the course and educational outcomes.

“Neither is this modest association totally inconsistent with experimental studies (on non-L2 learning) that do not support a causal relationship between student evaluation of the course and educational outcomes (Arbuckle & Williams, 2003;Boring, 2015;Braga et al., 2014;Carrell & West, 2010;MacNell et al., 2015).”