567 – Various Topics in Statistics Education
Characterizing Professors and Courses Based on Student Perceptions
Leo Upchurch
Tuskegee University
Fan Wu
Tuskegee University
T. L. Upchurch-Poole
College of Education, University of Alabama
This paper characterizes professors and courses based on student perceptions. Whatever student evaluators of professors and courses perceive is most certainly latent (feelings and ideas not easily articulated). How a student feels about a given professor/course experience is not adequately captured in a binary sense ("The professor was my cup of tea" /the professor was the pits" ... similarly for the course). We create and employ a device known as a domain defining set (DDS) which offers a mechanism for addressing the latency problem. Primary objectives include examination of differences in perceptions across disciplines, e.g., natural sciences, social sciences, engineering, and computer science and especially the development of a measure herein labeled 'IKOFF' (interesting, knowledgeable, organized, fair, and friendly). This measure is a composite of the adjectives, attributes, qualities, traits, characteristics [AADQTCs] that student evaluators most often use to capture their feelings about courses and professors / teachers. Additionally, an instrument linked to the five-factor theory of personality assessment (FFTP) is employed to try to gauge tendencies of student evaluators. Use of 'online' methodology has facilitated this work, particularly in ease of gathering data.