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A Multilevel Perspective on Student Ratings of Instruction: Lessons from the Chinese Experience

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Abstract

With the rise of democratic institutions and the propagation of consumerism in Asia, the teacher-student relationship has undergone fundamental changes. As a response to the demand for public accountability, course evaluation has been recently adopted as routine in universities in Hong Kong, placing Hong Kong in the forefront of this trend in Asia. Few studies in the educational literature examine whether such a practice applies to cultural settings outside the West, particularly in Asia where the teacher-student relationship is often paternalistic. Using a large dataset collected in Hong Kong, this study examines how Chinese students behave in the course evaluation process. Results suggest that Chinese students, like their Western counterparts, are able to distinguish separate dimensions of teaching quality. Due to their cultural background, however, they pay more attention in their evaluations to the personal qualities of their teachers.

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  1. Department of Sociology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong

    Kwok-fai Ting

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Ting, Kf. A Multilevel Perspective on Student Ratings of Instruction: Lessons from the Chinese Experience. Research in Higher Education 41, 637–661 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007075516271

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