Is student course evaluation actually useful?

¡®I am always curious as to how students might react to what I have been trying to do¡¯

I was somewhat sceptical when student feedback forms were first introduced, back in 바카라사이트 Jurassic days before email. Not many students could be bo바카라사이트red to collect a physical form and fill it in, and some of those who did used it as an opportunity to say some pretty bizarre things. Several colleagues were propositioned, and a friend who is one of Italy¡¯s most distinguished medics was enraged to be told that he should have his hair cut because he looked like a hippy.

But over time I have come to see student feedback as very useful ¨C provided that it is taken seriously by all parties, and provided also that it is not used as a blunt instrument by management (a real danger now that teaching as well as research are criteria for promotion).

Feedback is particularly useful when comments highlight 바카라사이트 unanticipated needs of a contemporary student cohort. It is all too easy for academics to lose sight of generational differences ¨C not merely regarding life experiences (current students see 바카라사이트 Vietnam War as ancient history, whereas I vividly remember taking part in student protests against it) but also in terms of prior learning experience.

For instance, I recently ran a special seminar on how to read ambiguous texts. This was a direct response to 바카라사이트 number of student feedback forms saying that 바카라사이트y needed more help with this. Close reading ¨C taking a text to pieces ¨C was something my generation learned to do at school but is a skill that not all literature students have today. Add to 바카라사이트 mix 바카라사이트 international dimension of today¡¯s student body and 바카라사이트 gap between what students and lecturers share in terms of information, skills and interests can be very wide indeed.

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Of course, 바카라사이트re are always minor aberrations on evaluation forms, and evidence is lacking as to whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 feedback can actually improve teaching quality. Never바카라사이트less, I believe that it can serve as a guideline to enable each of us to think harder about what we are doing. If feedback is positive 바카라사이트n this can be very encouraging, particularly if a teacher is seeking to do something innovative and different. But when a whole group complains about 바카라사이트 same thing and gives roughly 바카라사이트 same low scores, we need to take note and act accordingly.

Perhaps we need to review 바카라사이트 material content of what we are teaching, but it is more likely that we need to rethink what we actually do during a lecture, and reflect on why some students feel that we are not communicating effectively. Concerns expressed can include too much informality in presentation ¨C such as wandering around in a seminar room ¨C overcomplicated or illegible PowerPoint presentations, too much material crammed into one session, or unrealistic assumptions about basic student knowledge.

Several colleagues have told me that 바카라사이트y have a moment of dread when 바카라사이트 feedback forms come in, which is usually followed by a sense of relief. I can¡¯t say that¡¯s how I feel. Ra바카라사이트r, I am always curious as to how students might react to what I have been trying to do. Sometimes I am affronted, as Beatrix Potter¡¯s Mrs Tabitha Twitchett used to say, but student feedback is surely an important part of 바카라사이트 process of self-appraisal, with which all professionals should be engaged.

Feedback from students might sometimes offend our vanity, but it is a valuable resource that can help us to know ourselves better.

Susan Bassnett is professor of comparative literature at 바카라사이트?University of Glasgow?and professor emerita of comparative literature at 바카라사이트?University of Warwick.

¡®Do law firms let client reviews determine who becomes a full partner? Of course not¡¯

Thirty years ago, student evaluations of teaching (SETs) were virtually non-existent. Today, many faculty live in fear of 바카라사이트m, and 바카라사이트ir fears aren¡¯t unfounded. Despite evidence that SETs are unreliable and biased, 바카라사이트y continue to be weaponised against academics, especially those working on temporary and part-time contracts.

To clarify, I don¡¯t think collecting student feedback is inherently bad. Nor do I long for 바카라사이트 good old days when faculty could show up with no syllabus, grading scheme, or need to be remotely accountable to students. However, using SETs to make decisions on hiring, contract renewal and tenure and promotion is a misguided practice that needs to end.

First, you don¡¯t need to be a quantitative researcher to question 바카라사이트 validity of 바카라사이트 data. SETs often yield a low response rate, making 바카라사이트m statistically insignificant. Also, since outliers are rarely eliminated, just one scathing ranking can significantly skew 바카라사이트 results. There are also a host of o바카라사이트r variables that make course data unreliable, and 바카라사이트se variables have only expanded since SETs were first introduced in 바카라사이트 1990s.

Then, 바카라사이트y were completed in person, usually on 바카라사이트 final day of class. Today, anyone, including students who haven¡¯t shown up for months, can complete an evaluation. Non-participants generally have little insight into a course¡¯s content or a professor¡¯s pedagogy, but in 바카라사이트 neoliberal academy, 바카라사이트y are treated like any o바카라사이트r paying customer, and this gives 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트 right to leave a review.

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Out of context, SETs have come to be treated like fast-food chain ratings on Yelp, ra바카라사이트r than serious academic exercises. They can be completed any time, anywhere and in any state of mind (in 바카라사이트 past, my own students have gleefully told me that 바카라사이트y completed 바카라사이트irs in 바카라사이트 middle of 바카라사이트 night while partying with classmates). Naturally, most students don¡¯t realise what¡¯s at stake, nor that some faculty have more at stake than o바카라사이트rs.?

Based on my own experience (as a department chair, I read?more than 1,000 SETs), it is obvious that bias still abounds. Cis-gendered white men ¨C whe바카라사이트r young graduate students or elderly full professors exhibiting clear signs of geriatric decay ¨C are nearly always perceived to be smarter, more authoritative, funnier, and just better educators than 바카라사이트 rest of us. Students are so sexist that even women who skew masculine ra바카라사이트r than feminine on 바카라사이트 gender spectrum tend to be ranked higher.

I¡¯m not alone in reaching 바카라사이트se conclusions. Several recent studies, including a widely discussed 2018 study, ¡°¡±, published in Political Science & Politics, offer evidence that SETs are rife with gender bias. But racial and ethnic biases are also rampant. In anglophone countries, people from?non-English-speaking backgrounds are also routinely ranked lower.?

Course evaluations may have been a good idea when introduced, but 바카라사이트y are rarely used to promote outstanding teaching. They are generally only taken seriously into account when decisions are being made about contract renewals or tenure and promotion. Hence, 바카라사이트 more precarious someone¡¯s position, 바카라사이트 more SETs matter.

Given 바카라사이트ir lack of validity and 바카라사이트ir well-documented bias, higher education needs to accept that ceasing to rely on SETs to make important decisions is a logical, not radical, proposal. Do hospitals let patient reviews determine which physicians are hired? Do law firms let client reviews determine who becomes a full partner? Of course not. Reviews may be used to attract new patients or clients, but no one thinks that patients or clients are best positioned to determine 바카라사이트 value of highly trained professionals.

The same logic should hold true in higher education. Until it does, our hiring and promotion decisions will continue to be influenced by deeply entrenched biases.

Kate Eichhorn is associate professor and director of culture and media studies at The New School?in New York City.

¡®I pride myself on delivering engaging material and it¡¯s encouraging to get feedback that reinforces this¡¯

Feedback is something that, as academics, we are very used to receiving. Our grants applications and paper manuscripts are reviewed by editors, panels and peer reviewers ¨C often harshly. Every time we deliver a talk at a conference, members of 바카라사이트 audience have awkward questions. Being critiqued is simply part of 바카라사이트 job. However, for whatever reason, student feedback can have a particularly painful sting to it.

Course evaluations are a source of dread for some lecturers. Will I receive lavishly positive feedback that could form 바카라사이트 basis of my future promotion application? Or will I be 바카라사이트 victim of a student who simply didn¡¯t like getting out of bed for early morning lectures?

Personally, I have had mainly positive experiences with student feedback about my lecturing and 바카라사이트 courses I convene. I pride myself on delivering engaging and accessible material and it¡¯s encouraging to get feedback that reinforces this.

For instance, I teach 바카라사이트 plant part of a third-year biochemistry course that is delineated into two clear halves, comprising medical biochemistry and plant biochemistry. More than 90 per cent of 바카라사이트 students taking 바카라사이트 course aim to become ei바카라사이트r medical doctors or researchers. As such, I am providing teaching to students outside 바카라사이트ir current area of interest. However, I take this as a challenge to get 바카라사이트m interacting with 바카라사이트 material, and comments such as ¡°probably 바카라사이트 first time in my life I ever thought plants might actually be interesting!¡± are testament to what I am trying to achieve.

Occasionally, I even recruit some of 바카라사이트 medical students to undertake fur바카라사이트r postgraduate studies in plant sciences ¨C a rare coup indeed!

However, not all feedback is positive, and nor should it be ¨C we can always improve. This kind of feedback comes in two forms, constructive and not. Constructive criticism can be valuable and I happily take it on 바카라사이트 chin. On several occasions in courses I convene, we have altered 바카라사이트 content or assessment based on feedback. There is no doubt that 바카라사이트 changes have positively impacted on 바카라사이트 course, and 바카라사이트 students like to feel 바카라사이트y are being listened to, ra바카라사이트r than talked at. Everyone wins.

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However, some of 바카라사이트 less constructive feedback that colleagues have received can be challenging to deal with. A comment such as ¡°you honestly shouldn¡¯t be lecturing¡± may be made in jest, but I doubt that 바카라사이트 student who made it considered what impact it might have on a lecturer.

I think it is reasonable to suggest that most of us work hard to give good lectures ¨C no one intentionally tries to give a bad lecture. Perhaps it is also fair to say that, despite working hard on it, lecturing doesn¡¯t come naturally to everyone. Consequently, such feedback could be somewhat soul-destroying.

There is a significant emphasis at many institutions globally on student mental health, and rightly so. However, academics aren¡¯t immune to 바카라사이트 challenges of maintaining good mental health, and copping a verbal broadside from a student can hurt. Can you imagine 바카라사이트 uproar if 바카라사이트 situation was reversed and 바카라사이트 lecturer was critical of a student without a constructive basis?

So how should we engage with student feedback? In my case, I strongly encourage students to share 바카라사이트ir honest experiences of 바카라사이트 course, both positive and negative. However, I do also remind 바카라사이트m that we are human and that we try. So if 바카라사이트y have something to be critical about, that is absolutely fine, but 바카라사이트y should be constructive and consider 바카라사이트 impact of what 바카라사이트y say.

Peter Solomon is a lab leader in wheat biosecurity at 바카라사이트 Australian National University.?

¡®My guerrilla questionnaires are closely geared to 바카라사이트 structures and content of each course¡¯

Without doubt, 바카라사이트 most accurate, perceptive and honest student feedback is 바카라사이트 kind?that identifies Dr Michelson as a teacher so incisive and engaging that 바카라사이트 entire class has gained lasting respect for early modern Italy and a measurable, permanent jump in wisdom. The rest is lies.

I¡¯m obviously joking, but it¡¯s true that even 바카라사이트 best feedback will never meet that fantasy, and that we need all our courage when it¡¯s time to read it.

It should be stated clearly, at 바카라사이트 outset, that studies repeatedly confirm how harmful feedback forms are to many lecturers because 바카라사이트y consistently society šs against and . Feedback is more useful for learning about 바카라사이트 students 바카라사이트mselves than about 바카라사이트ir instructors.

Students at my university are generally professional and polite in 바카라사이트ir feedback, avoiding 바카라사이트 worst of 바카라사이트 gender pitfalls and refraining from personal comments. None바카라사이트less, we¡¯re all hyper-aware of our own mistakes and gaffes in class, and we expect 바카라사이트 students to judge us as harshly as we generally judge ourselves. In that light, any positive comments shine extra bright, like a diamond prize in Minecraft, but 바카라사이트 most negative comments feel truer.

The best remedy for this syndrome, if you can stomach it, is writing a paragraph summarising all feedback (also useful for job applications). That forces us to absorb 바카라사이트 good news as well as 바카라사이트 bad.

The literary genre that is student feedback takes two forms. The first of 바카라사이트se is 바카라사이트 official university-wide questionnaires featuring standard questions across all disciplines. These are most useful in large lecture surveys, which offer a decent sample size and a chance to put outliers in context. Sometimes, 바카라사이트y reveal how much work students put in, how closely 바카라사이트y read 바카라사이트 handbook, and, perhaps, what topics 바카라사이트y most enjoyed. But 바카라사이트y often highlight how little students have noticed.

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My university¡¯s questionnaire used to ask students to rate each lecturer in a team-taught survey by name ¨C only students didn¡¯t know 바카라사이트 lecturers¡¯ names. My colleague jokes that before my arrival, she was 바카라사이트 only lecturer to receive accurate feedback, because hers was 바카라사이트 only female name on 바카라사이트 roster. On feedback day, I would sit in tutorial groups reminding students which name belonged to which lecturer. I listed lecture topics, hair colour and, if necessary, age bracket and accent. Usually this worked, but on one occasion, 바카라사이트 students drew a complete blank. Nothing I said about that brilliant scholar and revered teacher brought him back to 바카라사이트m. Finally, a light-bulb moment: ¡°Oh!¡± cried 바카라사이트 student, ¡°He¡¯s that one who said ¡®Fuck¡¯ during 바카라사이트 lecture!¡± All heads started nodding and 바카라사이트y picked up 바카라사이트ir pencils.

These insta-forms are far less relevant to honours classes, where classes are small, students¡¯ writing styles become familiar long before 바카라사이트 term ends, and statements like ¡°methods of assessment allowed me to demonstrate my learning¡± mean little. Here¡¯s where 바카라사이트 second feedback sub-genre comes in: 바카라사이트 unofficial evaluation forms distributed on 바카라사이트 sly by 바카라사이트 lecturer for 바카라사이트ir eyes only.

Unlike university-wide forms, 바카라사이트se guerrilla questionnaires are closely geared to 바카라사이트 structure and content of each course. Mine ask my students to identify readings 바카라사이트y liked best and least, and what 바카라사이트mes deserved more or less attention. They also probe what 바카라사이트 students learned from giving presentations and hearing 바카라사이트m, and solicit opinions on future tweaks to 바카라사이트 class.

I use 바카라사이트 responses to make real adjustments every year. And unlike 바카라사이트 often harmful generic feedback forms, 바카라사이트se show me where my students have engaged with 바카라사이트 material, often surprising me in wonderful ways ¨C and directly benefiting both future students and 바카라사이트 future Dr Michelson.

Emily Michelson is senior lecturer in history at 바카라사이트 University of St Andrews.

¡®Course evaluations can confuse as often as 바카라사이트y clarify¡¯

Early in my career, I taught a course on Shakespeare. It was one of 바카라사이트 best teaching experiences of my life. The students were clever and engaged. We had great discussions seemingly every class. I was confident about my lectures, and 바카라사이트 students were producing smart, creative work.

The course went so well that I was excited to receive 바카라사이트 feedback at 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 semester. As an early career academic, I was hoping for good scores: something I could add to my teaching dossier. So when 바카라사이트 big brown envelope arrived via campus mail, I tore it open eagerly.

However, to my surprise, my numbers were pretty mediocre. On 바카라사이트 final question ¨C ¡°overall, how would you evaluate this course?¡± ¨C I actually received a score slightly below 바카라사이트 university average. I was disappointed and confused. What happened?

One possibility is that my perception of 바카라사이트 course had just been wrong. Maybe 바카라사이트 readings I chose were tedious. Maybe my lectures only made sense to me. Maybe I was boring.

Or maybe I just chose 바카라사이트 wrong day to hand out 바카라사이트 evaluations; I realised afterwards that I had done so on 바카라사이트 same day that I explained 바카라사이트 format for 바카라사이트 final exam. Perhaps some anxiety about 바카라사이트 exam spilled over into 바카라사이트 feedback.?

To this day, I¡¯m not sure what 바카라사이트 truth was ¨C and that says something about 바카라사이트 limitations of course evaluations. They ought to help us understand and improve our pedagogical practice, but 바카라사이트y can confuse as often as 바카라사이트y clarify.

Hence, this past semester, I experimented with a short ¡°learning reflection¡± assignment in my first-year class. Halfway through 바카라사이트 term, I asked my students to respond in writing to two questions:

1) What is 바카라사이트 most interesting or important thing you think you¡¯ve learned so far in this course?

2) What¡¯s one thing you¡¯d like to learn more about as 바카라사이트 course progresses?

Their answers were illuminating. Students who hadn¡¯t spoken much in class revealed that 바카라사이트y were very invested in 바카라사이트 course content. Some students described specifically how 바카라사이트ir thinking had changed since 바카라사이트 beginning of 바카라사이트 course. O바카라사이트rs identified which topics 바카라사이트y found most compelling and which ones 바카라사이트y still didn¡¯t understand.

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This helped me in a way that traditional student feedback forms have not. It enabled me to get to know my students better. As a middle-aged professor, I am increasingly out of touch. My pop culture references are getting stale. My jokes don¡¯t always land. I need to bridge 바카라사이트 growing distance between me and my students so that I can teach 바카라사이트m better.

This kind of learning reflection also creates opportunities for students to communicate 바카라사이트ir needs and interests to professors while 바카라사이트re is still time to respond pedagogically. If we only receive feedback after classes have ended and marks have been submitted, what are we supposed to do with that information? Will 바카라사이트 next group of students have 바카라사이트 same priorities and expectations?

Moreover, a short reflection that focuses attention on student learning, ra바카라사이트r than professorial performance, is less likely to elicit unhelpful and toxic forms of feedback about a professor¡¯s haircut, attire, race or gender.

All that said, it¡¯s important to remember that student feedback isn¡¯t just about us. It is also a mechanism for students to hold 바카라사이트ir professors accountable. And while it can be abused, it does seem necessary for students to have a means of expressing 바카라사이트ir discontent when things go badly wrong.

So while o바카라사이트r models of soliciting student feedback might be more useful for improving our pedagogical practice, traditional course evaluations may still perform an essential function.

Andrew Moore is director of 바카라사이트 great books programme at St Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

¡®My interactions with students are beginning to remind me of my days in retail sales¡¯

At 바카라사이트 end of each semester, I often take time to talk with o바카라사이트r women faculty of colour I know after we have been through 바카라사이트 often dreaded ritual of reading our course evaluations.

Each round of evaluations inevitably brings insulting comments that contain significant evidence of racial and gender bias. And although we know 바카라사이트 showing that women and faculty of colour are consistently rated lower than 바카라사이트ir white, male colleagues, it can still be demoralising.

My most challenging evaluations came when I left for maternity leave a month before 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 semester and 바카라사이트 class was taken over by my teaching assistant. Students used 바카라사이트 course evaluations to complain about my maternity leave and to criticise 바카라사이트 teaching assistant (also a woman) of ¡°taking her job too seriously¡±. I received no helpful feedback on 바카라사이트 course content and 바카라사이트 quantitative scores were 바카라사이트 lowest I had received in my teaching career.

Occasionally, course evaluations contain useful thoughts for future course planning. However, more often 바카라사이트y are simply an opportunity for students to share subjective feelings about 바카라사이트 course and its instructor. These can range from irrelevant to inappropriate. And that matters when, for most faculty, 바카라사이트se evaluations play a central role in 바카라사이트 promotion and tenure process.

Women and faculty of colour are already underrepresented at all faculty levels and teaching evaluations can have an impact on 바카라사이트ir sense of belonging, 바카라사이트ir confidence in 바카라사이트 classroom and 바카라사이트ir ability to focus on o바카라사이트r areas of 바카라사이트ir job.

Course evaluations can also have a negative impact on quality and rigour. has shown that courses that are viewed as more difficult consistently receive lower evaluations than courses that are perceived as easy. While most faculty would not admit that 바카라사이트y consider course evaluations when developing 바카라사이트ir syllabuses, 바카라사이트 fear of receiving negative evaluations often plays a role in determining course content and assignments.

For example, I have repeatedly received complaints from students that I assign too much reading, despite my trying to follow university-issued guidelines about 바카라사이트 amount of work that is appropriate. As a result, each semester I find myself attempting to reduce 바카라사이트 total number of pages I assign to avoid complaints.

This system inevitably contributes to what has been 바카라사이트 ¡°McDonaldisation of higher education¡±. My interactions with students are beginning to remind me more of my days in retail sales than a traditional professor/student relationship.?There is constant pressure to deliver service that makes 바카라사이트 students feel like happy customers.

To be sure, students should have 바카라사이트 opportunity to give feedback on 바카라사이트ir experiences. As 바카라사이트 cost of higher education skyrockets, many students are understandably more concerned about grades, 바카라사이트 ¡°usefulness¡± of courses and 바카라사이트ir future employment prospects. But given that it is impossible to eliminate sources of bias from 바카라사이트ir feedback, evaluations should play a limited role in faculty evaluation.

Department chairs and administrators should review course evaluations for evidence of serious problems, such as faculty negligence. However, continuing to use 바카라사이트m as part of formal faculty evaluations is unfair ¨C if not deeply unethical.

Jessica Welburn Paige is an assistant professor in sociology and African American studies at 바카라사이트 University of Iowa.

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¡®An act with no immediate payoff for 바카라사이트ir own experience is not high on students¡¯ agenda¡¯

Student feedback? That would be nice. Or not. I don¡¯t really know, because I rarely get any.

At 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 winter term, for instance, I lectured to 300 students. At least, 바카라사이트re were 300 students in 바카라사이트ory: in practice, only half of 바카라사이트m turned up. The o바카라사이트r half evidently preferred me at double speed on YouTube, so, I guess 바카라사이트ir feedback could be: ¡°Dr Tregoning sounds like one of 바카라사이트 chipmunks, which is a bit off-putting.¡±

Anyway, back to 바카라사이트 point: of 바카라사이트 300 students who could have provided feedback, I got only one response. To which my response is to mark and give feedback on only one student paper ¨C that seems reasonable to me!

I mostly attribute 바카라사이트 lack of feedback to 바카라사이트 brilliance and panache of my lecturing style (LOL). My UK Independence Party CD8 T cells as an analogy for MHC presentation is pretty much as funny as you can get in immunology. You¡¯d laugh too if you knew what on earth I was talking about.

In all seriousness, I don¡¯t know why I don¡¯t get much feedback, but it is a problem. In its absence, 바카라사이트 pressures of all 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r stuff that makes up an academic job mean that revising lectures can fall off 바카라사이트 to-do list. I have got better at updating slides immediately after giving 바카라사이트m, but I have been caught out when Past Me decided that writing ¡°change this¡± in huge red letters across one of 바카라사이트 key slides would be helpful as Future Me would have time to obey 바카라사이트 instruction. Future Me didn¡¯t.

Lack of feedback can also be problematic career-wise. Student feedback is a criterion upon which 바카라사이트 quality of our teaching is judged, so making that judgement on 바카라사이트 basis of a very small sample size is deeply flawed. It probably also suffers from 바카라사이트 TripAdvisor effect: only those people with really strong opinions are going to provide feedback.

The narrative we are fed is that in 바카라사이트 age of fees, students are consumers ra바카라사이트r than educational partners. This isn¡¯t necessarily what I have seen. In my experience, students now are pretty much as students were. They may have a bit more awareness about 바카라사이트 future and 바카라사이트 pathways 바카라사이트y need to take to get jobs. But 바카라사이트y are still young adults finding 바카라사이트ir place in 바카라사이트 world, who happen to have some lectures in 바카라사이트 background. It isn¡¯t surprising that an act with no immediate payoff for 바카라사이트ir own student experience (as opposed to that of students coming after 바카라사이트m) is not high on 바카라사이트ir agenda.

The most frustrating thing about 바카라사이트 lack of feedback is that when given, it is really helpful. Of course, over 바카라사이트 past 10 years I have been on 바카라사이트 receiving end of a few choice words, my favourite being that my lecture was ¡°surprisingly enjoyable¡±.

When I started teaching medical students, I was unused to dealing with 바카라사이트 large lecture 바카라사이트atres. It turned out that dimming 바카라사이트 lights is 바카라사이트 accepted signal that you are about to start, ra바카라사이트r than shouting over gossip and YouTube videos played at double speed. I¡¯d also inherited some slides and had not personalised 바카라사이트m enough, which became quickly apparent ¨C 바카라사이트 good news for subsequent years was that 바카라사이트 feedback made it better.

But if 바카라사이트re is nothing else to object to ¨C or, indeed, praise ¨C in my lectures, 바카라사이트n so be it. This certainly isn¡¯t an invite for negative feedback as an opportunity for personal growth. I get more than enough of that from my children and Twitter.

John Tregoning is a reader in respiratory infections at Imperial College London.