How anonymous student evaluations help you become a better teacher

byBruce Ravelli

Mount Royal CollegeCalgary, Canada

e: bravelli@mtroyal.ca w: ravelli.ca

https://www.toofast.ca

Teaching evaluations and you Session overview• Why evaluate your teaching?

Costs/Benefits• What does the most recent research

tells us about student evaluation of teaching (SET)?

• How mid-semester evaluations (MSEs) make you a better teacher.

• Demonstrate TooFAST software.

Why evaluate your teaching?

Costs

• Student venting.

• Lack of student accountability.

• Students may not appreciate, nor understand, the reasons why you teach the way you do.

• Time and energy required to conduct assessments.

Why evaluate your teaching?

Benefits• Demonstrates your desire to become a better

teacher. • Helps you determine where you are and where

you are going.• Reinforces your commitment to address student

concerns while they are still your students. • Validates your belief that your course can be

improved with honest and sincere student input.• Invigorates your teaching by making you more

reflective and reflexive.• Improves your formal end-of-term evaluations.

Recent Research Findings

1. Student assessments have been shown to be valid and reliable (but, still some controversy).

2. Students are motivated to complete evaluations when they are intended to improve teaching but are not convinced they are taken seriously or lead to much change.

3. Course grades do not appear to influence a student’s evaluation of instruction.

Recent Research Findings

4. No significant rating differences exist between full and part-time faculty.

5. Students in junior level classes are most interested in relevancy of class materials, appropriateness of workload and grading fairness.

6. Students in senior classes focus on ability to speak up in class and to safely voice their opinions.

Recent Research Findings

7. Some recent research investigating the influence of Ratemyprofessor (RMP) found:

• Around 85% of students had visited the site, 36% had evaluated an instructor and 71% had avoided an instructor based on her/his ratings (these numbers should continue to rise).

Recent Research Findings

• Over 90% of students believe that RMP ratings are equal to or more honest than formal SET scores.

• RMP ratings appear to be significant predictors of instructor’s performance as measured by formal SET results.

Recent Research Findings

8. Faculty who conduct MSEs are viewed more positively by their students and are rewarded with higher scores at the end of the course.

Our potential as teachers

Teachers who evaluate

Teachers who do not evaluate

Time(From Peter Seldin’s Improving College Teaching (1995))

Quality of

TeachingTeachers who lose interest

How MSEs improve teaching

By using mid-semester evaluations you begin to “own” them and use the results to improve your teaching.

Using your own evaluations allows you to ask the questions you want, when you want to ask them, and by doing so improve your teaching and your courses.

Research confirms those who use MSEs have higher year end SEI scores.

Types of MSEs

1. 3X5 recipe cards completed in class.2. E-mail/discussion boards.3. Present questions in class – request

typed responses by next class.4. Student advocate.5. Peer review/course colleague.6. Videotape a lecture.7. Review previous evaluations with

class.8. Online survey software.

Advantages of online evaluations

1. Completely anonymous.

2. Ability to ask the questions you want, when you want to ask them.

3. Evaluations/Results available 24/7.

4. Results are instantaneous, compiled automatically and only available to you.

5. Confirms to students that you want to hear from them, while they are still your students.

Advantages of TooFAST TooFAST1. Is a free, secure, open-source tool co-

sponsored by Mount Royal, Carleton and eCampus Alberta.

2. Is hosted on our own server (located in Calgary, Alberta) and is not subject to the Patriot Act.

3. Places no limits on the number of questions you ask or how many evaluations you send out.

4. Requires no administrative support or infrastructure.

Demonstration of TooFASTHome Page:• Instant sign-up• Take a Tour feature• Survey Search• Twitter/Developer Repositories• Terms of Use/Privacy Policy

Users Window:• Create a survey• View all passwords /Change

passwords

Demonstration of TooFASTManagement Window:• Add/modify/cloning surveys (question

database)• Selecting question formats (be sure to

“submit” to save changes)• Linking to your survey• Adding a preamble to the survey• Notification once a survey is completed• One survey per respondent• Viewing results (online, pdf, etc.)

Final ReflectionsFor me, the benefits of MSE far outweigh any of the costs.

As the research suggests, teaching evaluations are valid, reliable and send a clear message to our students that we practice what we preach.

My experience suggests that by asking your students to comment on your teaching, you open a wonderfully rewarding conversation about the entire teaching and learning process.

Our work with colleagues using the TooFAST software has been the most rewarding activity of my career.

Selected ReferencesBarlow Hills, Stacey., Naegle, Natali., Bartkus, Kenneth R. (2009). How

Important Are Items on a Student Evaluation? A Study on Item Salience. Journal of Education for Business, 84(5), 297-303.

Brown, Michael J. (2008). Student Perceptions of Teaching Evaluations. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 35(2), 177-181.

Brown, Michael J., Baillie, Michelle., Fraser, Shawndel. (2009). Rating RATEMYPROFESSORS.COM: A comparison of online and official student evaluations of teaching. College Teaching, 57(2), 89-92.

Chen, Yining., Hoshower, Leon B. (2003). Student Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness: an assessment of student perception and motivation. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 28(1),71-88.

Coladarci, Theodore., Kornfield, Irv. (2007). RateMyProfessors.com versus formal in-class student evaluations of teaching. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 12(6), 1-15.

El Hassan, Karma. (2009). Investigating substantive and consequential validity of student ratings of instruction. Higher Education Research & Development, 28(3), 319-333.

Landrum, Eric R. (2008). Are There Instructional Differences Between Full-time and Part-time Faculty? College Teaching, 57(1), 23-26.

Seldin, Peter. (1995). Improving College Teaching. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Co.

Spencer, Karin J., Pedhazur Schmelkin, Liora. (2002). Student Perspectives on Teaching and its Evaluation. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 27(5),397-409.