Further evidence supporting the validity of both a multidimensional profile and an overall evaluation of teaching effectiveness

The purpose of this research is to provide additional empirical evidence supporting the use of both a multidimensional profile and an overall evaluation of teaching effectiveness as valid indicators of student perceptions of effective classroom instruction. A factor analytic teaching evaluation instrument was used that also included open-ended comments on four questions. Numerical scores from 208 classes were matched with the average valence of the open-ended comments. It was found that the average valences were highly positively correlated with the numerical factor scores that make up the multidimensional profile of teaching effectiveness and with the second-order factor that serves as an overall evaluation of teaching effectiveness. The implications of these results for the usefulness of student evaluations are discussed.