Student evaluations of teaching: a comparative analysis of positive and negative perspectives in the academic discourse

Student Evaluations of Teaching (SET) are ubiquitous in higher education. They were initially designed as a tool to enhance teaching quality, but their use has, over time, shifted towards administrative use, sparking a debate on their effectiveness and fairness. This study examines the evolution of academic discourse on SET by conducting a bibliometric and sentiment analysis of 726 peer-reviewed articles published between 1950 and 2024. Articles were classified into three sentiment groups, positive, negative, and neutral/mixed, with the aim of mapping trends and thematic focuses within the literature. The findings indicate a trend towards negative publications and a divide between the positive and negative discourse, with limited overlap in references between the two. Positive articles focus primarily on measurement validity and SET’s role in improving teaching, while negative articles highlight biases, particularly gender bias, and concerns about the summative administrative use of SET rather than teaching quality. The shift towards negative publications has also occurred at the same time as the administrative use of SET has become institutionalised. Future research should explore ways to integrate formative SET practices to improve teaching quality while also addressing concerns about bias and fairness in faculty assessments.