tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post202422350558777917..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: Early Thirsty: EvaluationsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-31530716311012583272010-11-24T18:23:21.901-05:002010-11-24T18:23:21.901-05:001. I hand out evaluations because it's mandat...1. I hand out evaluations because it's mandatory.<br /><br />2. I sometimes write up surveys and hand them out, with no student names on them, asking them about a variety of aspects from the course, and some questions about their own opinion of their own levels of understanding. They're really interesting to read.<br /><br />Admission: I sometimes keep the evals. in my bag and wait No Cookieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17722547269501795463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-74597422363583112262010-11-24T11:52:37.802-05:002010-11-24T11:52:37.802-05:001. Our evaluations are optional only to the extent...1. Our evaluations are optional only to the extent the students can choose not to come to class on evaluation day (and they never know for sure what day that will be) or they simply choose not to fill it out even if they are present.<br /><br />2. I've done my own evaluations, sometimes mid-term, sometimes at the end, most of the time both. As previously mentioned, midterm evals let you makePrissy Profhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06581053595119915513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-7519032323581086032010-11-24T11:42:32.976-05:002010-11-24T11:42:32.976-05:00I actually don't use anonymous evaluations. Ei...I actually don't use anonymous evaluations. Either as a genuine assignment or just as a "tack on" worth nothing, I ask my students to give me some feedback. I frame the questions variously. Sometimes, I ask them to describe what they feel is most important in the class. Sometimes I ask them to describe what they like most and least. Sometimes I ask them to propose an assignment Perfesser Slaughterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18121044187510013809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-78652766187539567482010-11-24T11:28:39.728-05:002010-11-24T11:28:39.728-05:00I do a very general eval (open-ended questions, su...I do a very general eval (open-ended questions, such as "how do you think the class is going so far?""was the first test too hard/too easy?") in the middle of the semester, and I review the feedback with the whole class. The eval is done on paper with me in the room so they feel compelled to say something. Such evals are always overwhelmingly positive, but now and then Hellish Harpyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14187940052450516822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-17647821146049439242010-11-24T09:04:30.283-05:002010-11-24T09:04:30.283-05:001) yes, I remind them regularly once the online sy...1) yes, I remind them regularly once the online system opens up, and as Ben suggested make sure to sound enthusiastic and positive about their comments.<br /><br />2) yes, usually mid-term so that I can actually make changes for THEM, not just for those who take the course next year (which then tends to improve my final evals as well). As Bella says, having mine plus official ones at the same Grumpy Academichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02896982515031823267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-20474289243179026892010-11-24T08:36:32.042-05:002010-11-24T08:36:32.042-05:001. Yes, and I give some small credit to encourage ...1. Yes, and I give some small credit to encourage people to do it in my service courses. Usually only those with strong feelings fill out the forms voluntarily, which means complainers and only a few keeners. Encouraging everyone balances out the statistics.<br /><br />2. Of course - but you're best doing it around mid-term. This allows you to make small changes to the class based on Three Sigmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10822893039310439770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-14736954687362252652010-11-24T08:03:25.202-05:002010-11-24T08:03:25.202-05:00We have electronic evaluations as well, and I am n...We have electronic evaluations as well, and I am not sure I like it. But that is a story for another day. What I do to avoid the very low response rate (sometimes from one of my fans, but when it is a hater....that really sucks because only the 'average' rating gets put in my promotion file!) is take the whole class down to the computer lab and stand there while they do it. Does this Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-53633448595073824262010-11-23T22:16:08.895-05:002010-11-23T22:16:08.895-05:00I've graded the last exam by the time that I c...I've graded the last exam by the time that I could hand out exams. I hand out the evaluations immediately afterwards if they did good or wait until the last day if they did bad. The bad students won't show up on the last day of class so that filters out some poor evals.<br /><br />It's all about caring - if you can fake that, then you're in good shape. Talk to them about how Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-82072305548601185242010-11-23T19:02:07.063-05:002010-11-23T19:02:07.063-05:00You know, the best feedback I've gotten is the...You know, the best feedback I've gotten is the stuff the University doesn't see. <br /><br />Any time I use a new tactic, I give my students a mid-semester surveymonkey survey to give me some feedback on how the new project/new rubric/new textbook is working out. Since they know it isn't official, only for my benefit, they are a lot more engaging. <br /><br />It's still anonymous Academic Monkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07086078244493768565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-81150321433076775332010-11-23T18:47:34.897-05:002010-11-23T18:47:34.897-05:001. Yes, if only because our evaluations *do* coun...1. Yes, if only because our evaluations *do* count for salary review and retention/promotion, and a larger number of responses can help dilute the effect of one or two very unhappy students who decide to give me straight 0s or 1s. This doesn't happen frequently, but the combination of a low response rate and one or two unhappy students giving me far lower "grades" than I gave themContingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-83667874627016227022010-11-23T18:30:03.957-05:002010-11-23T18:30:03.957-05:00Number 1: Fugno. I give them as much time at the ...Number 1: Fugno. I give them as much time at the end of a Friday class as I deem necessary for this horse hockey.<br /><br />Number 2: That's easy. I am great and wonderful, give me all the money and let me do everything I want.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-72805349408837656582010-11-23T18:18:18.648-05:002010-11-23T18:18:18.648-05:00Our crap-tastic instructional software allows us t...Our crap-tastic instructional software allows us to monitor the number of students who provide feedback. It doesn't tell us WHO the students are, just how many responses there have been.<br /><br />I tell students that they will receive (collectively) two extra-credit points on the final exam if 80% of the class participates.<br /><br />Then I make the exam two points harder than normal.<br cmthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03814447289455034068noreply@blogger.com