International Journal of Education and Social Science (IJESS)

This study analyzes if the outcomes of the student evaluation survey conducted by the Faculty of Economics were influenced by factors which are not directly related to teaching effectiveness. This paper shows that expected grades, course difficulty and course workload have inappropriately influenced students’ judgements on evaluations of course instructor. Our research model differ from others by using faculty evaluation forms twice during the semester – first before the midterm and then before the final exam – to analyze the bias in ratings. Our findings indicate that students who evaluate their professors’ teaching quality are significantly affected by how easy the course is and how much workload is required in the course. It should be totally inappropriate to consider using data derived from student evaluations to supplement decisions with regard to faculty tenure, promotion, and merit procedures.