title: The validity of lecturer ratings by students and trained observers.
abstract: This study sought to determine to what degree student ratings of specific lecturer characteristics relate to trained observer ratings of such characteristics and to identify the distinguishing delivery characteristics of highly rated lecturers. The 15 lowest-rated lecturers and the 15 highest-rated lecturers, based on the mean ratings of students from two consecutive years (1982 and 1983) in a large multi-instructor course, served as the target group. Blinded non-student raters observed the lectures in 1984 (two per lecture) and completed quantitative and qualitative forms. For all six subscores from the quantitative form, statistically significant differences between the lecturers given the highest and lowest ratings were obtained. It is concluded that the students' ratings were stable across the three years; the independent observers discriminated between the lecturers the students rated the highest and the lowest; voice presentation characteristics discriminated the most effectively; and nonmedical non-student observers are potentially a useful source of information regarding faculty teaching skills.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City 52242.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Albanese
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Schuldt
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Case
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005246:Feedback; D007484:Iowa; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013337:Students, Medical; D013663:Teaching / Q000592:standards*