Skip to content

This site uses cookies to store information on your computer. Some are essential to make our site work; others help us improve the user experience. By using the site, you consent to the placement of these cookies. Read our privacy policy to learn more.

Close
AICPA-CIMA
  • AICPA & CIMA:
  • Home
  • CPE & Learning
  • My Account
Journal of Accountancy
  • TECH & AI
    • All articles
    • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
    • Microsoft Excel
    • Information Security & Privacy

    Latest Stories

    • Incorporating prompt engineering into the accounting curriculum
    • Create a dynamic to-do list with Excel’s checkboxes
    • Another way to manage authentication texts
  • TAX
    • All articles
    • Corporations
    • Employee benefits
    • Individuals
    • IRS procedure

    Latest Stories

    • Treasury posts preliminary list of jobs eligible for no tax on tips
    • Taxpayer’s circumstances do not warrant equitable tolling
    • When does debt become worthless?
  • PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
    • All articles
    • Diversity, equity & inclusion
    • Human capital
    • Firm operations
    • Practice growth & client service

    Latest Stories

    • Treasury posts preliminary list of jobs eligible for no tax on tips
    • California issues draft guidance for climate risk disclosure
    • Business outlook brightens somewhat despite trade, inflation concerns
  • FINANCIAL REPORTING
    • All articles
    • FASB reporting
    • IFRS
    • Private company reporting
    • SEC compliance and reporting

    Latest Stories

    • SEC accepting Professional Accounting Fellow applications
    • SEC names new chief accountant
    • SEC ends legal defense of its climate rules
  • AUDIT
    • All articles
    • Attestation
    • Audit
    • Compilation and review
    • Peer review
    • Quality Management

    Latest Stories

    • AICPA unveils new QM resources to help firms meet Dec. 15 deadline
    • 8 steps to build your firm’s quality management system on time
    • Auditing Standards Board proposes a new fraud standard
  • MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING
    • All articles
    • Business planning
    • Human resources
    • Risk management
    • Strategy

    Latest Stories

    • Business outlook brightens somewhat despite trade, inflation concerns
    • AICPA & CIMA Business Resilience Toolkit — levers for action
    • Economic pessimism grows, but CFOs have strategic responses
  • Home
  • News
  • Magazine
  • Podcast
  • Topics
Advertisement
  1. newsletter
  2. Extra Credit
Extra Credit Cover

Improve your teaching evaluations

Get better scores without lowering your standards.

By Dawn Wotapka
January 14, 2020

Please note: This item is from our archives and was published in 2020. It is provided for historical reference. The content may be out of date and links may no longer function.

Related

November 12, 2019

Secrets of master accounting teachers

September 10, 2019

Best practices for working with your TAs

June 11, 2019

Write better letters of recommendation

TOPICS

  • Accounting Education

Students are accustomed to being evaluated at the end of each semester. But professors, too, receive critiques and criticisms for their performance in the form of teaching evaluations. Evaluations can be a source of valuable feedback that lets you know what worked during the semester and what could use tweaking, but they can also be a cause for anxiety, given that they affect promotion and hiring decisions.

Studies have shown that evaluations reflect students’ biases, and faculty voice concerns that they reward easy graders and penalize professors who teach rigorous material. Also, some argue, evaluations may not accurately reflect reality: Students who didn’t work hard may ding a professor for a low grade.

Despite the controversy, “student evaluations of teaching remain important in the faculty evaluation process,” said Stephen R. Moehrle, Ph.D., department chair and professor of accounting at the University of Missouri–St. Louis’s College of Business Administration. While imperfect, they are a key “measure of students’ perceptions of quality.”

The evaluations don’t solely determine a faculty member’s fate, but they do play an important role in how departments evaluate their overall performance. “Any trends or patterns in student comments provide insight on areas of teaching performance, where the faculty member is excelling and on areas that may require adjustments or improvement,” said Kristen Broady, Ph.D., dean of the College of Business at Dillard University in New Orleans.

For that reason, faculty will likely be subjected to this nail-biting process for years to come. But there are ways you can improve your teaching evaluations — without easing up on grading or lowering your standards. Accounting and finance faculty recommend the following:

Know the system. Make sure you know the evaluation process and what’s being evaluated and focus on those areas, said Alexander Lowry, a professor of finance and executive director of the Master of Science in Financial Analysis program at Gordon College in Wenham, Mass. “Knowledge at the beginning is key,” he said. Not understanding the subtleties and nuances of the process “doesn’t set you up for success.”

These days, most reviews have gone beyond simple feedback and have become richer in content, Moehrle said. They usually ask students to supply a summary evaluation of a faculty member’s teaching, but now ask for other inputs to provide evidence of specific strengths and weaknesses. “In particular, they ask about skills and attitudes that are highly correlated with instructional acumen,” he said.

Advertisement

You can look at the evaluations before the semester begins and make sure your teaching speaks to specific questions. If the evaluation asks students whether the key information needed for the class was on the syllabus, for example, invest time in making sure your syllabus is as clear as possible, Moehrle said.

Vary your teaching tactics. Rather than relying on one form of instruction, such as lecturing, vary your methods to make your classes more interesting and pleasant. Engaged students will be happier, which will be reflected on evaluations, said David Crawford, CPA, CGMA, Ph.D., professor of accounting at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, S.D.

“I like to have a few classroom activities where the students are involved,” he said. “They appreciate including the activities as graded items and it also serves as an incentive to attend class while affording students the opportunity to interact with their peers.”

For instance, he will hand out an exercise or problem involving content that has been discussed in class and give students time to work on it with neighbors while being able to ask him questions. Later, the class will discuss the solution in order to reinforce the concept.

Consider opportunities for extra credit. Allow students to earn a few bonus points via extra assignments or by attending industry-related events such as career fairs or guest lectures, suggested Crawford, who has taught for nearly 25 years.

Students appreciate having the opportunity to do something extra to boost their grades. “The small amount I give probably won’t alter a grade much, but it makes students feel better about the class,” he said.

Be respectful and personable. Professors should also get to know students as people and take an interest in their lives, serve as role models and mentors, and avoid using fear as a weapon, Moehrle said. “Cultivate a professional environment of mutual respect in the classroom,” he said.

Advertisement

Crawford said that students have commented positively on his accessibility on evaluations. “Demonstrating a willingness to speak with students will improve their perception of you,” he said. “Students view professors as authority figures and it helps them if we are approachable.”

Dewey Martin, CPA, CGMA, who recently retired after nearly four decades of teaching accounting at Husson University in Bangor, Maine, said he worked to learn the names of all of his students within the first two weeks of class. He would then address them by name if he saw them on campus or around town. “It says you care about them,” he said. He also urges a quick response to all phone and email messages. “A common complaint from students is that they cannot get in touch with their professor,” he pointed out.

Learn from the feedback. Don’t be afraid to discuss the evaluation process with students, Lowry said. Tell them that you’re looking for honest and constructive feedback and describe where you think you’ve been successful and unsuccessful, he said.

Take the time to review your feedback and think about how you can improve in the future. While you shouldn’t let any negativity ding your confidence, you should look for common themes in your evaluations. You may discover that a case study no longer feels fresh or that a once-popular guest has fallen out of favor. Be aware that students who didn’t do well in the class may be more negative and that some students and professors simply don’t click. “Do not become discouraged by a few negative teaching evaluations,” Broady suggested. “Instead, focus on trends and patterns to determine desired areas for improvement.”

View the process as a chance to fine-tune the next semester. “I want their feedback,” Lowry said. “I want to do better every time.”

— Dawn Wotapka is a freelance writer based in Atlanta. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact senior editor Courtney Vien at Courtney.Vien@aicpa-cima.com.

Advertisement

latest news

September 4, 2025

Treasury posts preliminary list of jobs eligible for no tax on tips

September 4, 2025

California issues draft guidance for climate risk disclosure

September 4, 2025

Business outlook brightens somewhat despite trade, inflation concerns

September 3, 2025

New: Digital assets practice aid addresses auditing of lending, borrowing

August 29, 2025

Guidance on research or experimental expenditures under H.R. 1 issued

Advertisement

Most Read

The No. 1 risk to retirement – and one way to guard against it
Tax provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Billy Long out as IRS commissioner after less than two months
Calculating AI’s impact on CPAs: New study quantifies time savings
AICPA unveils new QM resources to help firms meet Dec. 15 deadline
Advertisement

Podcast

September 4, 2025

Summing up economic sentiment and concerns about inflation and tariffs

August 29, 2025

Take a bold leap instead of a tentative step

August 28, 2025

Mark Koziel Q&A: Talent, sense of community, profession opportunities

Features

Calming nervous clients nearing retirement
Calming nervous clients nearing retirement

Calming nervous clients nearing retirement

7 retirement tips for small firm CPAs
7 retirement tips for small firm CPAs

7 retirement tips for small firm CPAs

Building a better CPA firm: Stepping up service offerings
Multi-colored plus signs

Building a better CPA firm: Stepping up service offerings

2025 tax software survey
Smiley, frowney, and neutral faces for Tax Software Survey.

2025 tax software survey

SPONSORED REPORT

Smart Strategies in Data Security and Risk Management

In an increasingly digital profession, data security has become one of the most critical challenges facing finance and accounting professionals today. Stay up to date with practical guidance to help you mitigate these risks and strengthen your security posture.

From The Tax Adviser

August 30, 2025

2025 tax software survey

August 30, 2025

Are you doing all you can to keep the cash method for your clients?

July 31, 2025

Current developments in S corporations

July 31, 2025

Paid student-athletes: Tax implications for universities and donors

MAGAZINE

September 2025

September 2025

September 2025
August 2025

August 2025

August 2025
July 2025

July 2025

July 2025
June 2025

June 2025

June 2025
May 2025

May 2025

May 2025
April 2025

April 2025

April 2025
March 2025

March 2025

March 2025
February 2025

February 2025

February 2025
January 2025

January 2025

January 2025
December 2024

December 2024

December 2024
November 2024

November 2024

November 2024
October 2024

October 2024

October 2024
view all

View All

http://JofA_Default_Mag_cover_small_official_blue

PUSH NOTIFICATIONS

Coming soon: Learn about important news

CPA LETTER DAILY EMAIL

CPA Letter Logo

Subscribe to the daily CPA Letter

Stay on top of the biggest news affecting the profession every business day. Follow this link to your marketing preferences on aicpa-cima.com to subscribe. If you don't already have an aicpa-cima.com account, create one for free and then navigate to your marketing preferences.

Connect

  • X Logo JofA on X
  • facebook JofA on Facebook

HOME

  • News
  • Monthly issues
  • Podcast
  • A&A Focus
  • PFP Digest
  • Academic Update
  • Topics
  • RSS feed rss feed
  • Site map

ABOUT

  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Submit an article
  • Editorial calendar
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & conditions

SUBSCRIBE

  • Academic Update
  • CPE Express

AICPA & CIMA SITES

  • AICPA-CIMA.com
  • Global Engagement Center
  • Financial Management (FM)
  • The Tax Adviser
  • AICPA Insights
  • Global Career Hub
AICPA & CIMA

© 2025 Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. All rights reserved.

Reliable. Resourceful. Respected.