Electronic versus traditional student ratings of instruction

At a large university, ratings of faculty in five academic areas were collected from two groups of students using paper-and-pencil and electronic survey administration modes. Factor analyses performed on both sets of data showed that the two modes yielded similar factor patterns. A 2 x 5 MANOVA indicated that ratings were significantly influenced by academic area (p < .001) but not by survey method. A high percentage of students in both groups felt confident that their ratings were anonymous, though anonymity ratings were significantly higher (p < .001) in the paper-and-pencil group. Students' satisfaction with the mode of administration was significantly higher (p < .01) for the electronic group than for the paper-and-pencil group. Overall, results suggest that the electronic survey mode is a viable alternative to the paper-and-pencil mode of administration.