I haven’t read mine, because we’ve had so many strikes in the UK and students are really grumpy. A few very strong students have said positive things about the course and I asked them for a paragraph with feedback that I can include in probation packets.
I reviewed a male colleague’s probation packet and his scores were a full point above mine, but he only teaches MA students, versus me, with a mandatory, first year, first term course…with incredibly low response rates.
Apr 24, 2023·edited Apr 24, 2023Liked by Loleen Berdahl
On evaluations... Like Joshua did, I would sometimes ask them specific questions. For example--if they felt inclined--to tell me which book/reading I really should keep and which one they would dump. Ditto graded assignments. Also, I'd ask if they expected something to be covered that wasn't. As he said, it is possible that it is incorrect, but I was out of the room when they did it in class. l retired about the time all written contact with students was pushed online.
I'm glad you mentioned the bias built in to student evaluations. Some argue that their unreliability is grounds for dispensing with them altogether, but I agree that students deserve a chance to give feedback and that there is some usefulness to evaluations if read with an eye toward those less reliable aspects in mind.
There were two strategies that helped me get the most out of evaluations. The first is allowing class time for them, as was once the practice during the hard copy days. It's pretty simple to set some expectations for professionalism and leave the room for 10-15 minutes until everyone is done. And of course to acknowledge that abstaining from an evaluation is a valid choice.
The second might be problematic if not used with care, but evaluation questions are often generic, so I would typically leave some more specific open-ended questions on the board pertaining to course outcomes, assigned texts, and perhaps unique experiences, such as field trips or experiments. For instance, I experimented with book circles in a few classes (students self-selecting into small groups for a few sessions to discuss different texts) and wanted to know what worked well and what needed adjustment. I'd typically want to know what students thought of the quality of my written feedback, the value of personal conferences for essay drafts, and other high-impact practices. I suppose some might see that as fishing or as leading the "witness," but I do think if questions are framed in open-ended ways, introduced as voluntary rather than required, and explained as questions that will help an instructor improve their pedagogy, it can be possible to get more valuable information in evaluations.
I haven’t read mine, because we’ve had so many strikes in the UK and students are really grumpy. A few very strong students have said positive things about the course and I asked them for a paragraph with feedback that I can include in probation packets.
I reviewed a male colleague’s probation packet and his scores were a full point above mine, but he only teaches MA students, versus me, with a mandatory, first year, first term course…with incredibly low response rates.
On evaluations... Like Joshua did, I would sometimes ask them specific questions. For example--if they felt inclined--to tell me which book/reading I really should keep and which one they would dump. Ditto graded assignments. Also, I'd ask if they expected something to be covered that wasn't. As he said, it is possible that it is incorrect, but I was out of the room when they did it in class. l retired about the time all written contact with students was pushed online.
I'm glad you mentioned the bias built in to student evaluations. Some argue that their unreliability is grounds for dispensing with them altogether, but I agree that students deserve a chance to give feedback and that there is some usefulness to evaluations if read with an eye toward those less reliable aspects in mind.
There were two strategies that helped me get the most out of evaluations. The first is allowing class time for them, as was once the practice during the hard copy days. It's pretty simple to set some expectations for professionalism and leave the room for 10-15 minutes until everyone is done. And of course to acknowledge that abstaining from an evaluation is a valid choice.
The second might be problematic if not used with care, but evaluation questions are often generic, so I would typically leave some more specific open-ended questions on the board pertaining to course outcomes, assigned texts, and perhaps unique experiences, such as field trips or experiments. For instance, I experimented with book circles in a few classes (students self-selecting into small groups for a few sessions to discuss different texts) and wanted to know what worked well and what needed adjustment. I'd typically want to know what students thought of the quality of my written feedback, the value of personal conferences for essay drafts, and other high-impact practices. I suppose some might see that as fishing or as leading the "witness," but I do think if questions are framed in open-ended ways, introduced as voluntary rather than required, and explained as questions that will help an instructor improve their pedagogy, it can be possible to get more valuable information in evaluations.