In February 1999, an Ad Hoc Teaching Evaluation Committee presented its report on a revised student evaluation instrument. It was felt that while the old course evaluation form facilitated summary judgments about instructor performance, it provided little or no diagnostic information by which instructors might improve teaching effectiveness (see below for old teaching instrument). The proposed evaluation form asked students to provide feedback on aspects of the course ranging from how effectively visual aids were used to the relationship of course content to other courses in the business curriculum. The primary goal of the revised instrument was to supply useful diagnostic feedback to instructors to truly improve teaching effectiveness and enhance student satisfaction with the classroom experience. In May 1999, the faculty approved the new questionnaire, and also approved implementing the collection of evaluations using the web, in the form of on-line course evaluations. Electronic student evaluations have been in place since Fall, 1999. Click here to view the on-line instrument. The on-line course evaluation is divided into four parts:
- Part A: 22 questions about the learning process in the course;
- Part B: 4 questions on the instructor’s patience, interest, fairness and enthusiasm;
- Part C: 2 general questions about the course; and
- Part D: open spaces for comments about the course.
For each class surveyed, instructors receive the following:
- the distribution of responses across the 5-point rating scale except for Part B which has a 7-point rating scale
- the mean score on each question
- the percentage of 4’s and 5’s on each question
- the open-ended responses
In order to have comparison data for promotion and tenure cases, the mean response to each one of a subset of questions from the on-line form is computed, and the mean score of each instructor for each course is compared to the overall mean, to obtain an “index of comparison.” Questions 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12, and 13 (listed below) constitute the subset of questions used for comparison purposes.
3. Provides useful feedback on written work.
4. Provides timely feedback on written work.
5. Clearly specifies the responsibilities of the students.
6. Makes clear the relations between reading and lecture material.
8. Assigns homework that requires thinking beyond rote memory or finding the answer in a textbook.
12. Respects students, does not denigrate or use "put-downs" if an answer is incorrect or not forthcoming.
13. Presents material in a clear, organized, and logical manner.
To illustrate, consider Question #3, “Provides useful feedback on written work.” If, hypothetically, the mean score on this question across all faculty and all courses is 3.2, and the mean for Instructor “Smith’s” BSAD XXX course is 3.9, then the index of comparison is 3.9/3.2 = 1.219, or approximately 121.9%. Thus, any index score above 1.0 (i.e., 100%) represents a higher-than-average value on that question for the instructor, compared to the global (School) average.
Previously used course evaluation form (pre-Fall, 1999)
Prior to Fall 1999, students taught by Business Administration faculty members were asked to complete, at the end of each semester, course evaluation forms for every BSAD course in which they were enrolled. The 21-question course evaluation form was divided into three parts: Part A (12 questions), “Evaluation of the Instructor”; Part B (8 questions) “Course Structure”; Part C (1 question) “Overall Opinion”. The 21 questions were measured on a 5-point scale, ranging from “Excellent” (5) to “Poor” (1).
For each class surveyed, a variety of statistics were computed. These included:
- mean values and percentages indicating ratings of 4’s and 5’s (for the individual and all equivalent courses) for each of the items 2 through 12 and item 21
- the average of the means and the average of the percentage of 4’s and 5’s across items 2 through 12 and 21 – generated on a semester-by-semester basis and cumulatively
- course evaluations divided into undergraduate core and electives and graduate core and electives
- averages for all classes and all instructors presented in terms of highest and lowest values, as well as the 1st quartile, median, and 3rd quartile values