Pizza, donuts, and SEI's: Influencing Student Evaluations of Instruction through Relationship Building
Abstract
Use of Student Evaluation of Instruction (SEI) in higher education is seldom popular with faculty. Rather than serve as a feedback mechanism, SEIs are typically a key component of faculty performance evaluations. It is assumed students will recognize and reward good teaching, yet those students are untrained in the process of evaluation and are likely unaware of what knowledge and information they need for their long-term success. It is suggested here that relationship building techniques commonly used in marketing and sales can be applied in a classroom setting in a way that is positive both for the faculty member and for the students. Relationship and rapport building adds to the perceived level of expertise and trust of the faculty member. This, in turn, can result in student confidence regarding the relevance and importance of course content as well as higher scoring SEIs for the instructor.
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