The role of student evaluations in a PBL centred law curriculum: towards a more holistic assessment of teaching quality

ABSTRACT

Students’ evaluations are used to measure teaching effectiveness of staff. As such they are used to assess and appraise staff. The article – taking a doctrinal rather than an educational science approach – shows that there are considerable problems with the hypothesis that students’ evaluations measure teaching effectiveness. This is even more so in systems where an overarching teaching philosophy like problem-based learning (PBL) is applied. The article identifies a working hypothesis that students do not use the teaching philosophy as primary motivator to evaluate staff, leading to a perverted incentive. Changes made to the system of evaluation in the law faculty of Maastricht University are described.