Faculty Enrichment and the Assessment of Teaching

The Faculty Enrichment and Assessment of Teaching (FEAT) system is a well-researched, process-oriented method of student evaluation of instruction developed specifically for use in health education programs. Six scales measure global characteristics of instructional quality: students’ sense of career progress, effectiveness of presentation, psychological environment (positively and negatively valued qualities), evaluation of learning, and ancillary materials. Three additional scales measure characteristics of specific instructional environments: lecture, laboratory, and clinical settings. Demographic data, global reactions, and commentaries are also collected. This report details the rationale and development of the FEAT system and presents normative data from a sample of 5 colleges, 410 classrooms, and 5,994 student reports. The discussion illustrates useful techniques for developing teaching evaluation systems in professional and higher education contexts and emphasizes practical considerations for implementating such systems.