Abstract
In two experiments the effects of rapport, intellectual excitement, and learning on students' evaluations of teaching were investigated. College students (135 women, 56 men) were first given a written scenario of an instructor who was described as having either high or low rapport with his students and high or low in intellectual excitement and as someone from whom students learned a great deal or very little. Students were then asked to evaluate the teaching effectiveness of the instructor. While positive descriptions of each of the three dimensions produced significant increases in ratings, the largest effects on global ratings were produced by the manipulation of the dimensions of rapport and intellectual excitement. Relative to the rapport and excitement dimensions, the learning dimension produced a very small effect. Data in Study 2 of 120 students confirmed these results when order of dimensions was controlled.