More evidence that student evaluations of teaching are at best worthless, and at worst harmful, to the system and process of education.
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/01/25/463846130/why-women-professors-get-lower-ratings?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=plus.google.com&utm_medium=social
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LEGO Americana Roadshow: Building Across America I just checked out this traveling exhibition from LEGO and was quite impressed. The scale ... -
Merry Christmas, everyone!
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When we let politics trump science, people are needlessly put in harm's way. http://arstechnica.com/science/2017/01/self-censoring-fears...
Jeff Chapman It's supposed to be a reference to "Lord of the Flies," so they're castaways (not underwear).
ReplyDeleteIt takes a special kind of misconception to think that 'consumer satisfaction' is the right model for evaluating teachers. Teachers are not providing a service that students have already purchased. What students have purchased is an opportunity to learn from a teacher. Yes, some teachers are better than others but nothing a teacher can do can compensate for student biases or immaturity.
ReplyDeleteWhen I teach services management and I discuss what "customers" are, it's always interesting to talk about about how the students see themselves. My conclusion is that a student is a special kind of customer (much like a patient), having a fundamentally different kind of relationship with the service provider than would a hotel guest or a restaurant patron.
ReplyDeleteDeborah A. Eastwood needs to see this!
ReplyDeleteCraig Froehle Information weirds markets.
ReplyDeleteSee my recent R&D article for a bit on that.
The customers of education aren't students, it's society, employers, and posterity. Or at least, in substantial part.
Mind that I think there's a lot wrong with markets as well.
Edward Morbius See my recent (well, 2006*) article that agrees with your position: "we define customers as the individuals or entities who determine whether or not the service provider shall be compensated for production." In the case of a public college education, customers include tax-payers, students, and employers, at a minimum. But that's not the entirety of the story, since students are asking to be assessed in addition to being trained and they are required to consistently provide intellectual inputs into the service process. And they're often not happy about that.
ReplyDelete*https://www.dropbox.com/s/ze76d1qusd0l494/Sampson%20and%20Froehle%20-%20Foundations%20and%20Implications%20of%20a%20Unified%20Services%20Theory%20-%20POM%202006.pdf?dl=0
Craig Froehle Thanks, but NB I get "access to that link has been disabled". Check permissions?
ReplyDeleteEdward Morbius Try it now. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWorks, downloading.
ReplyDeleteCraig Froehle is at BYU???
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about this Craig, but as I am a Wyoming alumni, we must now be mortal enemies. ;-)
Dan Eastwood Sampson is. Craig's at University of Cincinnati.
ReplyDeleteDan Eastwood, I am quite confident I would not satisfy BYU's religious requirements for employment.
ReplyDeleteIt's not religion, but the principle of the thing. I cheer for Wyoming and any team that plays beats BYU. :-)
ReplyDeleteCraig Froehle On your article, it seems that there are some distinct types of service. You mention a few, but consider:
ReplyDeleteA standardised process service. Painting automobiles. Preparing fast-food meals. Operating an automated car wash. Things are operated on, the output is a changed thing, but in a highly standardised way.
What used to be called "personal service" -- a household maid, cook, gardener, etc. Tasks are performed, though they vary. Scale of influence is small. Perhaps specific knowledge of the situation but not necessarily expertise.
Skilled repair / maintenance: A plumber, electrician, "odd-jobs" man, metal repair, etc. Skill required is high, but again scope of influence is fairly low.
Writing / author / designer / programmer. Work product is a single item, skill required very high, but that single item is (or can be) readily replicated many times.
There are probably others. Is soldiering a service profession? (They are called "the armed services".)
The question of how you consider a process of, say, manufacturing a car (including painting), vs. painting as a subcontracted step, might be interesting.
Customer service: short-term engagements (a few seconds, a few minutes, rarely longer) with a large number of individuals. Essentially a complex state machine. Engagement by recipient.
Teacher / instructor. Often long-term relationship, scales modestly (1 to several hundred students), highly idiosyncratic. Deep involvement / engagement by recipient.
Edward Morbius To be clear, we are discussing production processes in that article, not professions or people. I could address each of your examples, but I'm lazy and busy. ;-)
ReplyDeleteCraig Froehle Gotchya. Food for thought then.
ReplyDelete