Knowledge Bias: Is There a Link Between Students’ Feedback and the Grades They Expect to Get from the Lecturers They Have Evaluated? A Case Study of Israeli Colleges

The article addresses two aspects of the same research question: (A) To what extent do feedback questionnaire scores reflect an objective basis for decision making? (B) Do the same mechanisms used in two different institutions produce the same results? The first section examines the question of whether the feedback is fair, while the second one examines whether it is a valid method. The principal findings show that a gender difference exists in the perception of the link between feedback ratings and expectations of personal grades that the students will receive for the course. The second section compared the way in which the administrations of two neighboring colleges with different policies relate to student feedback, resulting in different outcomes. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014