NCJ Number
186684
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Education Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Dated: Fall 2000 Pages: 251-265
Date Published
2000
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This study analyzed the relationship between part-time and full-time faculty status in a university's Department of Criminal Justice and student evaluations of teaching (SETs).
Abstract
Data were obtained from the archival records of the Department of Criminal Justice of a midwestern urban university. The department had more than 500 majors during the time of the study, with the vast majority of students being criminal justice majors. Data covered the winter term of 1996 through the fall term of 1998. A total of 189 classes were taught in the department during this period. SETs were available for 175 of these classes. The SETs did not constitute an objective measure of student learning but rather reflected student subjective perceptions of teaching quality. Controls were introduced for variables drawn from the literature and included ascribed characteristics of the professor, grade distribution, and structural features of the course (e.g., level, size). The results of a multivariate regression analysis show that even after controlling for the other predictors of SETs, part-time faculty received significantly higher student evaluation scores than full-time faculty. Further, faculty status was the most important predictor of SETs. These results, although preliminary and in need of replication, could be used to justify the increased use of part-time faculty from various criminal justice agencies. 3 tables and 37 references