Evaluating course evaluations

Posted by admin on Mar 21, 2007 in News | 0 comments

Trinity Western University students may soon have a new way to offer their opinion on campus. A task force dealing with the issue of course evaluations is considering new methods of gathering feedback on the courses students take, and the professors who teach them.

The committee was formed by the Undergraduate Academic Council to review the current system of course evaluations and to examine other options. Headed by Associate Academic Vice President Robert Wood, it represents a range of departments on campus, including the School of Graduate Studies. The student body is also represented on the task force by second year student Bethany Gross.

Within the current process, students are given the opportunity to express their opinions at the end of each semester through written comments and a scantron questionnaire. Each course receives the same broad questions, an issue the task force is reviewing.

“We want to find a way that efficiently asks better questions rather than the current umbrella approach,” Gross said.

The task force is also exploring different ways of gathering input from students.

“There is a desire to look at the feasibility of implementing an online tool,” Wood stated, adding that both paper and online methods have their own set of challenges.

The possibility of online evaluations will receive further thought following a meeting with a representative from Calvin College that took place on March 14. Calvin, a Christian liberal arts college in Grand Rapids, MI, has implemented an online method of course evaluation.

The impact of evaluations is another issue at the forefront of the initiative for change.

“Evaluations are supposed to be your voice to the professors, to the dean. Sometimes students forget this,” said Gross.

Wood explained that the deans consider feedback from student evaluations each year and that every full-time faculty member meets with their dean annually. At these meetings any recurring themes in student evaluations, both positive and negative, are addressed. Student input is also taken into account when a faculty member is up for promotion or has applied for tenure.

He admitted, however, that the committee is aware of the deficiencies present in this process. For instance, tenured faculty are required only to submit evaluations from one class of their choice. As a result, some courses may not be reviewed for several consecutive semesters.

Wood also pointed out that because tenured professors receive fewer student evaluations, the mean becomes skewed and does not offer a fair representation of student opinion.

Each of these issues needs to be examined before an ideal system can be implemented. Wood noted that it is a big project, but that the committee is in the process of dealing with the concerns of all those affected by course evaluations.

Gross said that it is time for change: “We know there’s something wrong with [the current system]; let’s see if we can make it better.”

Wood doubted the committee’s recommendations would be complete by the end of this semester. Students will likely have to wait until next year to see changes put into practice.