Inferential fuzzy system for rating instruction

The evaluation of teaching staff by students attending the first year of the Faculty of Economics in Modena is carried out with two possible strategies: the easier standard procedure based on the five-point Likert scale and the fuzzy inferential system. The analysis showed that values on the scale of measurement ranging from zero to ten depended on the following: how the question was asked and which terms defined the five categories; the question itself; the kind of course; the intensity level of the Likert scale. To obtain the global evaluation of teaching activity, a fuzzy inferential system was set up with the support of “fuzzyTECH” by INFORM. The resulting crisp values were compared from those obtained by assigning two, four, six, eight, and ten to the five-point Likert-like scale, respectively. The fuzzy inferential system yielded scores greater than the others, on average, by one half.