We are considering going "online" with evaluations (something we've been negotiating at our unionized campus---I'm the negotiator-- since Jan or so._
I am interested in incentives to students to respond (thanks Rosemary, Carol). Any others???
re: how we try to minimize the reliance on Student evaluations
We also consider:
peer observations and letters (required)
a teaching portfolio (might include, e.g., syllabi, statement of teaching philosophy, samples of student work, pedagogical-pubs,.) (optional but highly recommended)
Most of the faculty on review committees treat the teaching philosophy and statement very seriously--it's hard to ignore someone who is throughtful aobut his/her teaching, and explains why s/he does what s/he does even if students don't like it.
Elaine D. Ingulli
Professor of Business Law,
Richard Stockton College of NJ
________________________________________
From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Rosemary Hartigan [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 4:06 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: How to Boost Your Student Evaluations but are they ethical.
We lock students out of the online classrooms if they don’t complete the evaluation.
This sometimes irritates students and they take it out on the faculty. I often see comments complaining about this on the faculty evaluations, although faculty have nothing to do with it and have no control over it. Faculty often take the hit for all kinds of students discontent unrelated to the course.
That said, we do get excellent participation, which increases fairness a little.
Rosemary Hartigan, J.D., M.A.
Professor and Director
Business and Executive Programs
Graduate School of Management and Technology
University of Maryland University College
On 4/16/10 2:24 PM, "Ginger, Laura" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Here is an item from The Chronicle reinforcing the fact that online student evaluations have very low return rates.
Laura
April 7, 2010, 02:43 PM ET
As Colleges Switch to Online Course Evaluations, Students Stop Filling Them Out
Colleges thought they were enhancing efficiency when they moved their course evaluations online, but an unintended consequence of the shift to evaluations not filled out in class is that students started skipping them altogether, The Boston Globe <http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/04/07/colleges_see_decline_in_evaluations_after_going_online/> reported today. According to the Globe, some institutions concerned about the dropoff in participation are offering incentives to students, such as lotteries for iPods or meal vouchers at Northeastern University and pizza for the class with the highest return rate in some MIT departments. The Globe says other institutions are considering withholding students' grades until they submit the evaluations.
From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Miller, Carol J
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 2:11 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: How to Boost Your Student Evaluations but are they ethical.
In addition to the college-wide paper evaluations, our university experimented with online voluntary evaluations campus wide (the results of which were available on line to students. The return rate was very low. If filling out the online evaluation is not conditioned on the registrar's release of the student's grade, the sample that fills out the online evaluation may not be at all representative.
Carol
Missouri State University
From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Zupanc, Thomas
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 10:39 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: How to Boost Your Student Evaluations but are they ethical.
James
Sorry about your experience at St. Cloud State. I hope we are more enlightened now. I give my evaluations after the final too, and teachers who do give evaluations (this is a union campus and teachers are not required to give evaluations) are not allowed to be in the room, much less touch the evals. That said, if teachers do not give evaluations, or who do give evaluations but don’t share them, invite speculation and conclusions based on that speculation.
Some folks more tech savvy than me are experimenting with an online evaluation which will be open to students all semester, can be edited by them all semester, and are anonymous. There may even be a “hold” on the grade until the eval is submitted. I like that idea.
TZ
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