Student+Evaluation

=What's the Purpose of Student Evaluations?= = =
 * provide information that might help staff improve their teaching
 * provide students with a method to voice opinions on teaching performance
 * help create a high standard of teaching
 * create a method to make future staffing decisions based on feedback

Excerpt from the UOIT policy: //The main purposes of seeking student evaluation of teaching are to assist faculty members in __monitoring and developing their effectiveness as teachers__ and to assist Faculties in __monitoring the quality of their curricula__. Important additional purposes include identifying professional development needs, assisting in decisions regarding tenure and promotion, assisting in identifying exceptional teachers for teaching awards and documenting exceptional teaching. //

=Are Student Evaluation Surveys Meaningful?=

Rebecca Williams (2009) argues that student surveys are //**__not__**// useful tools for evaluation of teaching practice. She states:


 * Empirical research shows that student surveys are too heavily influenced by bias. According to Michael A. McPherson and R. Todd Jewell(2007), factors such as teacher race, age, and tenure status unduly influence students on these evaluations (879)
 * Research by James Pounder (2007) concludes that the worth of surveys is "questionable"
 * There is no significant basis for comparison considering that few students take the same course with two different professors
 * Are student reliable indicators of a teachers' abilities?

Lisa Chiplaskey (2008) conversely argues that student evaluations can be useful if they are:

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 * Fair if supported by sound, statistical methodologies for evaluating student progress
 * Teacher evaluation should be based on effective measurement instruments of validity, reliability and practicality.

=Key Concepts of Effective Student Evaluations of Faculty and Programs=
 * Student surveys must be anonymous
 * The institution must make efforts to communicate anonymity of surveys
 * Student surveys should be completed after final marks are completed
 * Purpose and follow up methods must be communicated to students as incentives to complete surveys (many universities offer rewards as incentives)

=Student Evaluation at UOIT= Surveys are administered by CCI Research [] To look at the questionnaire to better understand how the students access the survey you can go to the following link:

[] (You can log in using all zeros (0) for the student number.)

@http://tlc.apa.uoit.ca/programs/course-evaluation-surveys/policy-and-preview-student-feedback-on-courses-and-instruction/

The results are completely confidential. They will be sent directly to an outside data management service []. Once the survey is completed it becomes anonymous. A unique course identifier is associated with the submitted survey, but the student specific information such as ID is not tracked in the final data set. The information will be processed and returned to the university without identifying any individual student.

@http://tlc.apa.uoit.ca/programs/course-evaluation-surveys/

The complete policy can be found at the following link: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #006bad; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[]



=References=

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">James S. Pounder, (2007) "Is student evaluation of teaching worthwhile?: An analytical framework for answering the question", Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 15 Iss: 2, pp.178 - 191

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">McPherson, Michael A., and R. Todd Jewell. "Leveling the Playing Field: Should Student Evaluation Scores be Adjusted?." Social Science Quarterly 88.3 (Sept 2007): 868-881.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Smith, Mark K. (2001, 2006) ‘Evaluation’ in the encyclopaedia of informal education, [|www.infed.org/biblio/b-eval.htm].