Student Course Evaluations (SCEs) provide important feedback to faculty, department chairs and school administration about teaching effectiveness in our school. SCEs are not flawless measures of teaching nor are they the best representation of student learning (Lang & Walker, 2019); however, feedback patterns over time can indicate strenghts and challenges of a course and may provide actionable information for faculty and instructors to improve learning enviroments.
Evaluation Kit in Canvas
At Rollins, SCEs are automatically administered to learners through EvaluationKit (EKit) in Canvas at mid- and end-of-semester. Learners receive an individual link for each course in which they are registered, and they are asked to complete an evaluation for each course. Reminders are sent out by EKit automanically until the end of the evaluation period. All course evaluations are stored as anonymous. The schedule for evaluations and more information can be found here.
Mid-semester evaluations are extremely important because they provide an opportunity for learners to express what is working well for them, what areas are challenging, and what changes the instructor could make to improve their learning. When the instructor is responsive to mid-term feedback, mid-semester course evaluations have the potential to be beneficial to the learners rights away. End-of-semester evaluations, on the other hand, are beneficial to the instructor and helpful for future learners, but not impactful for learners taking the course currently.
Building Trust
As an instructor, relying on SCEs is only as good as the data they provide. First, it is important to have an adequate response rate. Second, it is important to receive quality, actionable feedback. Both of these criteria rely on establishing trust with your learners. It is important for your learners to trust that you (and the school adminstration) care about their feedback and take their feedback seriously. In other words, their effort is honored and their voice is hear. This mean that you will need to share back with them some form of summary of their mid-semester evaluation and address any changes you decided to make (if any) and/or why you decided to not make any of the suggested changes.
Encouraging Learners' Participation in Course Evaluations
Help learners understand what type of feedback is helpful to you vs. what is inappropriate or not in your control to change. Below are some examples.
What Feedback Are Instructors Looking For? |
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Specific |
What worked/didn’t work well in the course and why. Provide examples. |
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Modifiable | Address issues with the course content and teaching effectiveness that can be changed. |
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Appropriate | Consider other channels to communicate about areas outside the instructor’s control (e.g. space, time of class, room temperature) |
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Respectful | Don’t make personal remarks about the instructor’s personality, looks, speech, etc. |
Adapted from PowerPoint slides created by Lang, D. and Walker, ER. (2021, March 11). How to maximize the effectiveness of course evaluations. Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health.
References
Lang, D.L. & Walker, E.R. (2019). Innovations in evaluating and valuing public health teaching: The challenge of course evaluations. In L. Sullivan & S. Galea (Eds.), Teaching in Public Health. Johns Hopkins University Press.