An Analytical Study of Authenticity and Acceptability of Students’ Evaluation of University Teachers

Abstract

Development and prosperity in any society is based on time to time evaluation and accountability of the various service providing institutions. Recognizing the situation Higher Education Commission of Pakistan has established a mechanism to evaluate the university teachers. The question of authenticity and acceptability of students’ evaluations as a valid criterion for teachers’ performance has become a debate in Pakistan. The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan has set students’ evaluation of their teachers’ teaching as a valid criterion for the performance evaluation of the university teachers. The present study intends to explore the authenticity and acceptability of students’ evaluation of teaching at university level in Pakistan. Population of this study was all the students and the faculty members at University of Sargodha. The sample of this study was 191 students and 15 teachers selected from two departments – the Department of Education and the Department of Psychology. A questionnaire consisting of twenty eight questions was developed and used after validation for data collected from the students. The teachers were interviewed to get in-depth understanding of the matter. The results show that the students perceive students evaluation of teaching as authentic and * Department acceptable for improvements in teaching. Apart from the teaching ability of a teacher, it is generally based on personal likeness and dis likeness. The teachers consider students’ evaluations of teaching as authentic and acceptable in social aspects and unauthentic and unacceptable in technical aspects. There are no inter-group differences in the perception of students in this regards.