Student evaluation of instruction: Traditional 14-week semester versus 7-week accelerated end-of-course faculty ratings

This purpose of this study was to determine whether there were significant differences in student evaluations of instruction and faculty in courses taught in the discontinued traditional 14-week semester and courses taught in the current 7-week accelerated format at a private college in the United States. Data were obtained from (1) end-of-course faculty rating forms that recorded student evaluations of instruction and faculty in 62 sections of 29 courses with an enrollment of 1,134 students in academic year 2000-2001 and 47 sections of 29 courses with an enrollment of 732 students in academic year 2001-2002; and (2) a questionnaire completed by 13 full-time faculty members and 169 June 2002 graduating students who voluntarily completed a perceptions survey comparing the perceptions of students and faculty of the 7-week accelerated courses and the 14-week semester-long courses. Results revealed no significant difference in student evaluations of instruction and faculty for the overall faculty, by faculty rank, or by faculty gender between the previous 14-week semester-length format and the current 7-week accelerated format.