Do Students Report that Easy Professors Are Excellent Teachers?

Abstract

The present study was conducted to determine if students report that professors are excellent teachers when little studying is required to receive high grades. Altogether 1,939 student evaluations were obtained from 75 first-year university classes representing 15 disciplines. Mean expected grade in a class correlated negatively with how long students reported studying for that class. Across all classes the relationship between student evaluations and different expected grades was underestimated because most grades were concentrated around the mean of the distribution. When grades varied markedly across sections of the same course, the professor assigning highest grades with least studying received highest evaluation, including paradoxically teaching the most intellectually challenging course. Previous correlational studies have underestimated the biasing effect of grading leniency.