28th International Congress of Psychology August 8 ... - U-netSURF

South NSW, Australia
Monitoring the quality of university teaching effectiveness is important. Research shows that
students' evaluations of teaching effectiveness (SETs) are: multidimensional; reliable and stable;
primarily a function of the instructor who teaches a course rather than the course that is taught;
relatively valid against a variety of indicators of effective teaching; relatively unaffected by a
variety of variables hypothesized as potential biases; and useful for faculty as feedback about their
teaching, for students for course selection, and for administrators for use in personnel decisions.
The use of a multidimensional SET instrument and an effective feedback intervention can improve
university teaching.
1048.2 Evaluation of curricula: Medical education as an example, C. Spiel, B. Schober, R.
Reimann, M. Atria, University of Vienna, Vienna, Australia
Systematic evaluation studies which analyze pedagogical goals and their realization are needed to
provide valid information on how to design or to revise a feasible curriculum. They have to go
beyond students` ratings of courses and must take multiple perspectives into account. The paper
describes (1) the ideal evaluation process of curricula and (2) a baseline evaluation of medical
education in Austria. The study investigated the ideal situation target competencies that should be
acquired and indicators of the real situation the extent to which these competencies are imparted
and to what degree students and graduates actually possess them.
1048.3 Evaluating research at universities, W.W. Wittmann, University of Mannheim,
Mannheim, Germany
Evaluating impact and research profiles of universities is more than simply counting publication
rates or grant-money acquired. The classical ideals of Humboldt, which shaped universities in
Germany and worldwide synthesizes research and teaching. Today many different stakeholders put
different demands on universities. A fair evaluation has to account for these interests and the
related criteria. They have to be organized into a profile, where its overall level, scatter and shape
is used against benchmarks. A proposal what to include as criteria by Leo Montada is discussed
and incorporated into a comprehensive evaluation system coined the five data box
conceptualization.
1048.4 Evaluation of scientific performance, H. Holling, University of Münster, Münster,
Germany
This presentation will describe a comprehensive program for measuring and improving
performance in academic settings. It is based on a well-known approach called Productivity
Measurement and Enhancement System (ProMES). This program builds upon a clear theory and
has been used by research groups in many countries. The results indicate it is a sound
multi-attribute measurement system and generally improves productivity. We have extended this
system by incorporating conjoint analysis as a computerized method to measure effectiveness of
single dimensions as well as overall effectiveness. We demonstrate this method by using an
application in a university setting.
1049 INVITED SYMPOSIUM
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