As the end of this semester nears, the student body will soon be receiving course evaluation forms. Contrary to popular belief, these are course evaluations, not teacher evaluations. The comments on the surveys will eventually return to the teacher, who will probably adjust the course accordingly, making the teacher more effective. In a roundabout way, these are teacher evaluations through the courses.
These forms, for those who do not know, are Scantron-type forms where the evaluator fills in the appropriate bubble in response to a question. Instructors are supposed to give time in class for the students to fill out these questionnaires. However, there is a growing concern from the administration that the students are not taking these questionnaires seriously.
By Andrea Perkins,
Staff Writer
As the end of this semester nears, the student body will soon be receiving course evaluation forms. Contrary to popular belief, these are course evaluations, not teacher evaluations. The comments on the surveys will eventually return to the teacher, who will probably adjust the course accordingly, making the teacher more effective. In a roundabout way, these are teacher evaluations through the courses.
These forms, for those who do not know, are Scantron-type forms where the evaluator fills in the appropriate bubble in response to a question. Instructors are supposed to give time in class for the students to fill out these questionnaires. However, there is a growing concern from the administration that the students are not taking these questionnaires seriously.
The course evaluations are a nationally researched system that comes from Kansas State University, according to Mary Ann Gawelek, vice president of academic affairs at Seton Hill University (SHU). The evaluations go out to the students, are completed and returned, and then SHU sends them back out.
When evalutations come back, Gawelek gets the raw data so she can see what the students say, then the division chair of that teacher sees them, as well as the instructor who taught the course.
�It allows the faculty members to see if they have provided adequate instruction,� Gawelek said.
The questionnaire is admitted for all adjuncts, all full- and part-time faculty, and for all pre-tenure courses. Once a faculty member is tenured, they only have to give out the evaluations one semester per year.
For full-time faculty, the evaluations are used for reviews and for promotions, and for review for tenure, as well as impacting hiring and firing decisions. These course evaluations are one aspect of how the faculty gets evaluated.
The administration also looks at advising, scholarship and how they follow the curriculum to evaluate the faculty. If a faculty member has a low score, they have to see Gawelek in the Office of Academic Affairs.
�They come in and talk with me and we find solutions. As they move up, you see a series of these courses evaluated and what you hope you�ll see is improvement,� she said.
The Office of Academic Affairs can tell when the students are simply not giving enough attention to the evaluations.
�Increasingly, students do not give written comments. I�ve reviewed classes where literally everyone in the class gives the exact same rating. Statistically, that shouldn’thappen,� Gawelek said.
The work study students in the office can also tell when students just do not seem to care. They go through every evaluation and prepare them to be mailed.
�You can tell people don’tcare when people will draw a line down through instead of filling in the circles,� said one of the work study students, who did not want their names released.
A junior, Bay Zapola agrees with the thoughts of the Academic Affairs Office about students not taking the evaluations seriously.
�I think they�re absolutely right. I think that they should say, if you�re not going to take them seriously, then get out, and let the people who are going to take it stay,� Zapola said.
Gawelek believes there are a number of reasons why students are apathetic about these evaluations.
�It comes at the end of the semester – they�re busy, and it’s another form and they do it in every class, so maybe they think it’s repetitive. I quite honestly believe it’s a lack of responsibility,� she said.
One student, a sophomore Krista Lawson, said that sometimes three or four in one day contributes to why some students don’tcare.
�The first couple I take seriously, but if I have three in a day, the third one’s not getting my attention,� Lawson said.
Holly Kistler, a sophomore, said, �I think it gets old because it’s the same questions on every one,� as a possible reason why students might be apathetic.
When reviewing the results of the evaluations, if Gawelek sees surveys which are clearly questionable of the effort put in by the students, she takes this into compensation when evaluating the teacher.
In the event that the student’s opinions can’tbe relied upon because they did not fill out the survey properly or did not take it seriously, there are ways for Gawelek to evaluate the course and the teacher.
�I�m going in to see them teach, their peers are going in to see them teach, their syllabi are reviewed – it’s one instrument out of the many we have,� said Gawelek.
However, she admitted that the student feedback is critically important. If a student is learning the material, only the student can say whether they are really learning it or if nothing is being absorbed because it is poorly taught or conveyed.
If students did take these evaluations more seriously, the faculty would understand the places in their courses where there is a �miss.�
Once they are all rated, Gawelek asks, �What could have happened to make the students respond this way? They were either disengaged or aggravated.�
What really benefits the faculty is the part of the evaluation where students can write their opinions, Gawelek said.
Maureen Vissat, professor of art history, said, �I really like to read the student comments. I pay a lot of attention (to the students). I ask them to take it seriously because I pay attention.�
The Office of Academic Affairs would like the comments to be constructive.
�If they don’ttake it seriously and they�re harsh or sarcastic, not only is it not useful, it’s disrespectful.
The purpose of evaluating a course is to improve instruction, not to smack somebody around,� said Gawelek.
Amanda Gallagher, a junior, likes the course evaluations, and never misses an opportunity to write something about her courses and her teachers.
�I always write a comment, because if I like the class, I would like them to know and if I think something should be changed, I would like them to know that as well,� Gallagher said.
�The teachers should show more interest in them by telling the students that they do read them and appreciate the comments because it helps them improve,� she added.
Katie Manni, a junior, takes them seriously, particularly when she doesn’tenjoy the courses.
�Because that, in my opinion, means that the teacher is missing the connection when teaching the class or they�re not teaching it effectively,� Manni said.
Zapola thinks that students don’tcare because they just want to get out of class. They just want to hurry up and get out of the classroom.
Some students become frustrated with them because they are the same evaluations for every class.
�I think the course evaluations are a complete waste of time – because it’s the same thing for every course, not every course has hands-on stuff,� said Zapola.
The Office of Academic Affairs is trying to come up with new ways to administer the evaluations. A few students also offered suggestions.
�They should make them specific to each course,� Lawson said.
Gawelek and the Academic Affairs office want to put the evaluations online, or, if the evaluations are not the right way to go, start a forum where students can provide feedback.
View this writer’s profile.