Student Ratings of Teaching Effectiveness: Student Engagement and Course Characteristics

Characteristics of university courses and student engagement were examined in relation to student ratings of instruction. The Universal Student Ratings of Instruction instrument was administered to students at the end of every course at a major Canadian university over a threeyear period. Using a two-step analytic procedure, a latent variable path model was created. The model showed a moderate fit to the data (Comparative Fit Index = .88), converged in 0 iterations, with a standardized residual mean error of .03, χ2 ( 49) = 988.59, p < .05. The model indicated that course characteristics such as status and description are not directly related to student ratings. Rather, they are mediated by student engagement, which is measured by student attendance and expected grade. It was concluded that, although the model is statistically adequate, many other factors determine how students rate their instructors.