How faculty recognized for teaching excellence interpret and respond to student ratings of teaching

Objective. To determine how experienced pharmacy educators who have been recognized for teaching excellence interpret and respond to end-of-course student ratings of their teaching. Methods. An expert sampling technique was used to identify pharmacy faculty members who had been recognized by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) for teaching excellence as potential participants in the study. Sixteen of these faculty members were independently identified by two or more of the researchers as trusted candidates for the study, and 10 of these were randomly selected and invited to be interviewed via a web-conferencing platform. The interviews were transcribed and thematic analysis was used to identify overall themes. Results. Nine pharmacy faculty members representing both practice-based (n=5) and non-practice (n=4) backgrounds participated in the interviews. The three primary themes that emerged from the interviews regarding approach to interpreting student evaluations of instruction were “Use to improve,” “Trends,” and “Value input.” The four primary themes that emerged regarding advice for new instructors were “Use to improve,” “Reflect,” “Do not take personally,” and “Themes.” Conclusion. The faculty participants recognized for teaching excellence were consistent in their attitudes of valuing student feedback and using it as a tool for continuous quality improvement. While recognizing the limitations of student ratings of teaching, the participants used them as part of a reflective and holistic approach to teaching. These teaching experts provided valuable insight for new instructors, such as do not compromise instruction and do not take student ratings personally.