Course evaluation is the process of determining whether your course is effective. This can be done in a variety of ways, both formative (during the semester) and summative (at the conclusion of the course).
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Assessment data review
A good place to start is by analyzing student work. Does it meet your course’s objectives? Are students showing that they understand the material? Are there gaps in their knowledge or common patterns of strengths and weaknesses? Are students well-prepared for the next courses they will take?
End-of-semester course evaluations
Your end-of-semester evaluations are typically given online in AEFIS. These go out by default two weeks before the end of semester. To increase response rates, you could give students a few minutes during a class period to complete them. Telling students that you value their feedback and explaining how you will use it also increases response rates.
Informal feedback
You can ask students what is or isn’t working well for them. You could ask this as a question on an assignment, an individual post-it or index card gathered at the end of class, an anonymous Piazza forum question, or an anonymous Canvas survey or embedded Google form.
We can gather feedback for you
At CEETE we offer a service called Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID). We attend your course without you present for about 20 minutes to gather and summarize anonymous feedback from your students. Contact us to schedule, usually for mid-semester.
Peer observation and feedback
There are known limitations of student evaluations of teaching. Asking a colleague or a few colleagues to review your course and/or observe your teaching can be invaluable. It’s best to meet with your colleague beforehand to talk about the course and identify how best to focus their observations.
Mid-semester course evaluations
There’s no requirement to do an evaluation mid-semester, but it may be an option to set one up in AEFIS. To inquire, contact your AEFIS Academic Contact, listed in emails you receive from AEFIS.
Evaluate course materials
How effective are the textbook and other course materials? Are they arranged in the most useful way? Are students clicking on your content pages and watching your videos? Consider using a combination of Canvas analytics, Kaltura analytics, and student feedback to answer these questions. For more information about what’s possible, contact us at CEETE.