Student Evaluations of Teaching
Our consultants meet with individual faculty members and associate instructors to interpret mid–semester evaluations and end–of–semester evaluations, to conduct focus groups, or to devise shorter classroom assessment techniques. These evaluations are important tools in improving one’s teaching craft, but they are often difficult to interpret both because of the overwhelming nature of the data, and because of the personal nature of the comments. We all think of ourselves as good teachers, and negative comments can be very painful. Cohen (1981) pointed out that:
“When teachers are left to their own resources, ratings provided little help. Augmented feedback, or, more specifically, expert consultation seems to be the key element for making student rating data usable for improvement purposes.” Cohen, P.A., “Student rating of instruction and student achievement: A meta–analysis of multisection validity studies,” Review of Educational Research, 51 (1981), p. 33.
Make an appointment with one of our consultants and learn how to use student feedback to improve student learning. All consultations are completely confidential.
- End of semester student evaluations of teaching
- Mid–semester student evaluations of teaching
- Focus groups to evaluate teaching
- Other resources about evaluating teaching
End–of–semester student evaluations of teaching
MultiOp, from the Bureau of Evaluative Studies and Testing (BEST), is the most commonly used evaluation at IU Bloomington. BEST maintains a bank of 198 questions from which instructors and departments may select up to 35 to design their own evaluations. Many departments have developed their own questionnaire and ask their instructors to use this form in order to facilitate comparisons. Check with your department to see if they use such a form. If instructors do not have the time or desire to design their own, they can use the standard “Form C.” BEST reports include item by item comparison to other faculty in their designated reference group and throughout the university. On request, our staff will meet with you to help interpret the feedback. Call BEST at 855–1595 for information on designing these evaluations, or visit their website at http://www.indiana.edu/~best/.
Mid–semester evaluations of teaching
These evaluations are slightly different from the MultiOp system used by BEST and are intended to be primarily formative in nature. SETs are student evaluation forms available through the CIC. They are a teaching diagnostic, designed to provide instructors with ideas for changes they might make in their teaching within the same semester. The questionnaire takes about 20 minutes of class time to administer. After the quantitative data are tabulated and the written comments typed, a CIC staff member meets with the instructor to present and interpret the feedback. To have a mid–semester evaluation performed by our office, you should:
- Schedule the evaluation at least two weeks in advance through teaching@indiana.edu and arrange a pre–evaluation consultation to discuss the class and what questions you would like to answer.
- Set aside twenty minutes at the start or end of class for the evaluation to be administered.
- Meet the same consultant in a post–evaluation meeting to discuss the results. At that meeting you will receive a statistical summary of the Lyckert scale questions and a typed summary of the written comments.
Make an appointment with one of our consultants for a mid–semester student evaluation of teaching. Results of these mid–semester evaluations are completely confidential and are not used for tenure or promotion decisions.
Focus Groups
In classes of less than 10 students, the mid–semester evaluation is generally replaced with a focus group of the same length, to avoid unreliable results. Focus groups are particularly effective when it is hard to figure out the reason for student dissatisfaction. A consultant from CIC facilitates a discussion with students in the class about an instructor’s teaching and then writes a summary. The instructor then meets with the same consultant in a post–evaluation meeting to discuss the results.
Make an appointment with one of our consultants for a mid–semester focus group evaluation of teaching. Results of these mid–semester focus groups are completely confidential and are not used for tenure or promotion decisions.
Other resources about evaluating teaching
The first section of the IU Teaching Handbook includes some notes on Interpreting Teaching Evaluations.
What Do They Know Anyway?—Student Evaluations of Teaching
Classroom Assessment Techniques are simple, non–graded, anonymous, in–class activities that provide instructors and students feedback on the teaching–learning process. The more instructors know about what and how students are learning, the better learning activities can be structured.