The Most Fluent Instructors Might Choreograph for Beyoncé or Secretly be Batman: Commentary on Carpenter, Witherby, and Tauber

Comments on an article by S. K. Carpenter et al. (see record 2020-10954-001). Carpenter et al. makes two major points. First, the authors explain how students’ metacognitive evaluations of their learning can be influenced by a variety of factors not related to their actual learning, which can lead to biased self-evaluations (typically overconfidence). Second, the authors argue that because students make flawed evaluations of their own learning and of the efficacy of their instructors, using students’ course and teaching evaluations for hiring and promotion decisions might be ill-advised. These ideas are both well supported by their literature review and we do not at all disagree. We found their recommendations for improving the validity of teaching evaluations to be especially useful for instructors and administrators to consider implementing. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)