Analyzing Student Evaluation Data

Name ______

EPE 619: Survey Research

Final Exam

Analyzing Student Evaluation Data

Directions: Using the Evaluation Data provided (in an Excel Worksheet), answer the following questions. You may use the software package of your choice to conduct analyses. You may work together; however, write-ups should be completed independently. Output should be submitted along with typed responses (at least 12-pt font). The final exam is due Wednesday, May 5th by 3:30 PM in Room 145 Taylor. See me with questions… Best of luck!

Background: The data you are working with is actual evaluation data collected at a 4-year higher educational institution. The responses correspond to the same instructor; however, the term, course and section vary. Questions do remain consistent throughout. Scale and items can be viewed in the Student Evaluation document. Items 10, 19, 26, 28, and 33 are reverse coded. The institution has done this as an ‘honesty check’ to assess if students are reading and responding to the items or just completing the evaluation without regards to the instrument.

Complete the following tasks:

1. Review the evaluation instrument. {5 points each > 10}

1. For analysis, you will need to either remove the reverse coded items or adjust the scale for these items. Do one or the other. Defend your choice.

1. Discuss any weaknesses of the instrument that could limit the discussion of results.

1. Create a correlation matrix for the items. {5 points each > 15}

1. Discuss the relationships among the items in terms of strength and direction.

1. Are any correlations unusually high or low? Explain.

1. Create cross tabulations for the variables term, course, and section. Discuss the cell composition and what this means in terms of the data and further analyses. {10 points}

1. Create a subscale for each individual response by taking the mean of all the items. Name this variable, ‘Overall’. {5 points}

1. Compute reliability estimates for the items and the subscale {5 points each > 15}

1. What do these estimates infer? Explain.

1. Compare the estimates and explain any difference that exists.

1. Compute descriptive statistics for the ‘Overall’ variable by term and course. {5 points}

1. Looking at the term variable, discuss trends over time. (You may wish to present a graphical display). {7 points}

1. Compare across the course variable. Do certain courses tend to produce higher evaluations than other courses? {7 points}

1. Consider the course variable. Is there a significant difference on ‘Overall’ rating by course? Test using ANOVA. Discuss your results. {10 points}

1. Using the student comments,

1. Are there common themes that form? Discuss. {5 points}

1. Do the student comments support previous findings? Explain. {5 points}

9. Beyond what you have investigated, are there additional analyses that you would complete to gain better knowledge of this evaluation? Explain. {6 points}