Teacher's attitude about their evaluation by students in Birjand University of Medical Sciences

Evaluation of university teachers or academic members is a kind of educational evaluating, which includes determining their rate of success in gaining their own educational goals. The most iniportant reason for student's evaluation of university teachers and insisting on it is to provide academic members with a feedback leading to improving their teaching manner. The present study was accomplished to determine BUMS teacher's points of view regarding their evaluation by the students. In a periodic descriptive study the academic members (60 individuals) of Birjand University of Medical Sciences were studied. Their views were studied through discrete questionnaire whose content validity, after some specialist's polls and introductory study, was approved. Besides, the reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using internal homogeneity and calculating kronbach a coefficient. Kronbach a coefficient was found to be 80%. The data were analyzed through SPSS software presenting frequency and then chi-square (x2) test (P<0.05) was used to compare the frequencies. Of a total 60 academic members (30 majoring in basic sciences and 30 in clinical sciences) 95% were aware of being evaluated by students and 81.7% thought that the university Educational Development Center (EDC) was responsible for evaluation. Also 91.7% of the teachers had received the feedback of their own evaluation. 45% of them absolutely approved of the effectiveness of announcing evaluation grade in improving teaching. 40% believed that filling out the forms by students lacks a sense of responsibility and patience, and 30% thought the job was not done honestly. Regarding that evaluating teacher's teaching method is a process aiming at improving their teaching and promoting it and giving evaluation feedback to teachers can reveal their strengths and weaknesses in teaching. Besides, with respect to the fact that students, more that all educational staff are in touch with teaching process and they are able to offer their views on the nature of teaching, evaluation will often be useful if it is part of a comprehensive teacher evaluating program and if the feedback data have the necessary validity and reliability.