Abstract

This paper presents an exploration of student perceptions regarding student teaching evaluations in higher education. End of the semester evaluations completed by students, often referred to as the Student Assessment of Instruction (SAI) or Student Teaching Evaluations (STE), are used to evaluate courses and instruction by most institutions of higher education in the United States. Standardized student evaluations are designed to quantify data and attain responses from all participants. The design of STEs are often weak in providing meaningful feedback to the instructor or insight into why the student responded the way they did. The purpose of this study was to explore students’ perceptions of the purpose, value, and use of the STE results from one mid-sized public university located in the United States. Qualitative data were collected via focus groups utilizing Onwuegbuzie and associates’ (2009) framework for collecting and analyzing focus group data. Recommendations are made for areas in need of improvement and future research.