(11) Lessons Learned from a Qualitative Analysis of Student Evaluations of Teaching

Objective : The objective of this study is to describe both positive and critical themes elicited from open-response items in student evaluations of teaching (SETs).

Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed SETs for instructors in required didactic courses from the 2018-2019 academic year. Authors analyzed student responses to the following questions: “Describe the strongest aspect of the instructor's teaching.” and “What could the instructor do to improve his/her teaching effectiveness?” An initial codebook was designed and refined using an inductive approach. Each document was analyzed by two independent coders and a constant comparison approach was used to resolve discrepancies.

Results: Five themes were identified within SETs: 1) clarity of instruction and learning materials, 2) assessment alignment, 3) establishment of relevance, 4) creation of engaging learning environment, and 5) a sense of concern regarding a student’s learning and success. Positive and negative aspects of each theme are identified, and representative quotes are provided for each. The percent of documents mentioning themes and associated codes are reported as well as the frequency of coded segments within each theme.

Conclusions: Despite their limitations, SETs are widely used to assess faculty performance in teaching within pharmacy education. This study identifies aspects of teaching that students value according to open response comments. The results of this study may provide guidance for faculty development in teaching. Limitations of this study include the analysis of SETs from a single institution within a single academic year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.