What
should the process of gathering student opinions support?
Suggested response: The achievement of your discipline's learning
outcomes within the context of the instructional methodologies appropriate
to that field of study.
Should there be more student course evaluations than only student
satisfaction?
Suggested response: Yes. But what that should be raises important
pedagogical questions.
The
Question of Focus
The Question of Validity
The Question of Expected
Outcomes, Context and Pedagogy
On-Line Evaluation Forms
Question of Focus: Learning Outcomes or Teacher
Behaviors Traditionally student course evaluation forms invite
"agree-disagree" responses to items focusing on teacher
behaviors, such as being an organized presenter of information or
being fair-minded in grading. Or these instruments have solicited
students' impressions regarding decisions the teacher may have made,
such what the students think about the choice of text book or the
course assignments. While this may all be helpful information to
acquire for purposes of teacher development, questions with these
foci offer little that addresses student learning, per se. And,
therefore, little is learned about actual teacher effectiveness.
Contemporary thinking about curriculum development and effective
classroom instruction, however, has shifted attention to what the
students are actually taking from the course in terms of advancing
their knowledge, skills, sensitivities, and dispositions. Using
course evaluation tools to gather data regarding student learning
offers two advantages: these data more directly relate to the central
question in teacher evaluation, namely effectiveness in promoting
learning, and second, these data contribute directly to the process
of program evaluation and accreditation.
Sample
The
Question of Validity: Differing Pedagogy and Subject Fields. Traditionally
institutions use only a single course evaluation form for all instructors
and all students in all courses. This practice, which grew primarily
out of the limitations of large mainframe data processing approaches
to campus computing. Unfortunately, the "one size fits all"
approach is not responsive to the differences in pedagogy, subject
matter, learning outcomes, student demographics, and course level
that characterize education today. To evaluate validly a large lecture
course in general education course in history in terms of effectiveness
of the instructor relative to the learning outcomes intended for
that course one should be asking different questions that none might
be asking with regard to a chemistry lab course, a freshman writing
course, a junior level theater arts course, or a senior level business
capstone course for working professionals. Some learning outcomes,
like critical thinking, may be advanced by many courses, or some,
like professional judgment and ethical practice, may be the outcomes
intended to result from the completion of the program in its entirety.
Some might be the responsibility of a single course, for example
learning a specific element of content or a specific set of performance
skills, and some might be the responsibility of the faculty as a
whole, such as achieving and integrated understanding of the discipline
and its relationship to other fields of study. To address validly
the learning outcomes of your program, and the courses that comprise
it, you will not want to begin the conversation with the traditional
"one size fits all" approach.
IA's
Answers: Course Evaluation Forms that Match Your Program/Course
Outcomes and Instructional Context Insight Assessment approaches
the design and implementation of a system of course evaluation forms
with your specific program outcomes in mind. Course evaluation forms
suited to pedagogy, subject matter, learning outcomes, student demographics,
and course level of your specific field. The course evaluation system
IA creates in consultation with you includes the
· identification of course and program outcomes,
· identification of the contextual elements, such as pedagogy,
course levels, and demographics
· the selection of items specifically addressing those outcomes
in the context of those elements
· the design, formatting, and production of course evaluation
forms for your use
· the scanning, scoring, and analysis of the data derived
from the use of those forms
Going
On-Line is the next step in student course evaluation. Your
IA custom designed evaluation forms can be offered to students to
complete without using valuable class time and in ways that are
compatible with on-line instructional technologies. On-line testing
/ course evaluation provides every greater versatility, for items
can easily be substituted and questions adjusted as changing circumstances
dictate. On-line service saves time, since data from the students'
responses are gathered and processed immediately. Consider
the advantages of working with IA to custom design outcome assessment
tools for your program..
On-line
student course evaluation is a service of IA's On-Line
Testing Center
Our prototype learning outcome focused student course evaluation
form was the "Teaching for Thinking Course Evaluation From"
first introduced in 1994. To download a copy of the click click
on the PDF file. Workshops and courses can be evaluated relative
to their espoused learning goals using IA's new the "Participant
Course Evaluation and Learning Outcomes Assessment Form" Form.
Teaching
for Thinking Course Evaluation From