student evaluations of teaching - university of...
TRANSCRIPT
Student evaluations of teaching
Laura McGarrity
LING TA Orientation, Sep. 20, 2019
Outline
Basics (what, who, when, why)
‘Before’: Getting the most out of your evals
‘After’: Using evals to improve your teaching
(Appendices)
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Basics
WHAT: Forms filled out by students to evaluate
your teaching (from the Office of Educational
Assessment OEA)
Paper vs. Electronic
Quantitative vs. Qualitative questions
(see appendices)
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Basics
WHO:
TAs teaching sections
TAs teaching stand-alones
NOT graders, RAs
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Basics
WHY:
You have to. (Every section, every quarter; Copy is sent to chair)
Can factor into TA appointment decisions, honors, awards, jobs
Provide feedback on what needs improvement in your teaching
(A summary of your) evaluations are visible online to anyone with
UW NetID! (Course Evaluation Catalog)
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Basics
WHEN:
Order evals mid-quarter (email sent out by the dept.)
Administered (usually) in last week of instruction
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Strategies for getting the most out of your
evaluations
Think about them before last day of quarter
Look at the forms/questions before quarter begins (OEA website), keep them in mind throughout quarter
Consider pros/cons of paper vs. electronic forms
Paper: pros – captive audiencecons – bad if low attendance; need pencils
Electronic: pros – accessible longer, no need for students to be presentcons – more easily ignored, yield notoriously low response rates
Make sure students understand why they’re important
(Let students know of changes made based on previous evals that they have benefitted from)
Make clear what you do (and don’t do) for the class
Give students examples of what is/is not constructive feedback
Consider giving your own mid-term evals to catch problems early (can ask CTL to conduct)
When all else fails: bribery
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Using evaluations to improve your teaching
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Your 1st time teaching a class will be imperfect; use that experience to
help improve your 2nd/3rd/4th …
When reading your evals…
Focus on the positives first
‘What aspects of this class contributed most to your learning?’
Choose one or two things to focus on for improvement
Remind yourself that there are things that are beyond your control
Implicit biases, unpopular class time/room/size, elective vs. required course, upper
vs. lower division, expected grade, etc.
Relevant links
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Office of Educational Assessment > Course Evaluations
https://www.washington.edu/assessment/course-evaluations/
Course Evaluation Catalog
https://www.washington.edu/assessment/course-evaluations/cec/
Center for Teaching and Learning > Student evaluations
https://www.washington.edu/teaching/topics/assessing-and-improving-
teaching/evaluation/student-evaluations/
Appendix 1: Small lecture/discussion form
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Appendix 2: Quiz section form
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Appendix 3: Comment form questions
Was this class intellectually stimulating? Did it stretch your thinking?
Why or why not?
What aspects of this class contributed most to your learning?
What aspects of this class detracted from your learning?
What suggestions do you have for improving the class?
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