Final Update on the New Faculty Course Evaluation & Online System November, 2003

Agenda Motivation for New Instrument Quick History of the Process Demonstration of “Report Back” Features Access for Various Audiences Template for Reporting to Promotion Committees Initial Implementation Period Issue of Response Rate Endorsements

Motivation for a New Instrument

Why are we doing this? Faculty complaints about the current FCE over the years Current FCE not reflective of what they do in class Questions too general & global to be informative Concern that the two overall questions are the only data used for promotion decisions

Quick History of Process

Process Fall 2001 Committee of Faculty & Eberly staff developed instrument (Akin, Ambrose, Fay, Fischhoff, Kadane, Larkey, Nair) Protocol Study with 20 students - revised instrument accordingly Pilot study in 23 courses (n = 635 student respondents) Half on-line, half on paper in class In one large class, half on-line, half on paper On-line response rate = 42% (Spring 2000 in class response rate = 52%) Respondents from all colleges Freshmen through graduate students Wide range of class types (e.g. small seminars,labs, studios, lectures, project courses) Spring 2002 Analyzed data, interviewed pilot faculty and students - revised accordingly Eberly & OTE continued development and testing of online survey instrument

Process (cont) Fall 2002 Met with former and current members of the university RPT committee members (to discuss summative use of data) Continued development of on-line system Spring 2003 Pilot Study: 46 courses (n = 490 student responses) On-line response rate = 46% Respondents from all colleges Freshmen through graduate students Wide range of class types (e.g. small seminars,labs, studios, lectures, project courses) Analyzed data, secured feedback from pilot faculty and students -revised accordingly Met with Executive Committee of Faculty Senate - revised accordingly

Process (cont) Fall 2003 Met with Executive Committee of Faculty Senate Further review and revision of instrument and on-line system Analysis of pilot data to examine relationships among items (regressions, factor analysis, etc)

Our Concerns about Overall Questions Past & current promotion committees’ emphasis on two overall questions Large body of evidence shows that overall questions have no relationship to questions targeting specific instructor behaviors, learning outcomes or course activities Our analyses from pilot tests are consistent with these findings

Concerns about overall questions (cont) Research indicates that overall questions are prone to influence by a variety of factors Course content (e.g., quantitative vs non- quantitative) Anticipated grades Class size Physical attractiveness of the instructor Difficulty of the course Workload

Our Recommendation Based on the large body of data supporting bias with these measures, we initially excluded the overall questions. HOWEVER, Response by faculty and department heads was overwhelmingly negative Hence, under duress and against our better judgment, we re-inserted the overall questions :(

Our recommendations regarding use of FCEs FCEs should be used in conjunction with other sources of data in a portfolio Reflective statement from faculty member Course syllabi Examples of assessments (exams, projects, homework, etc) Samples of student work with feedback (essays, creative work, lab reports, etc) Alumni letters/ratings Colleague letters (e.g., instructors in follow-up courses commenting on preparedness of students)

Our recommendations (cont) If overall questions are used for promotion purposes, minimally the section average ratings should also be included (Learning Outcomes, Instructor Behaviors, Course Activities)

Advantages of New Instrument More specific feedback on a broader array of relevant issues Student Effort Learning Outcomes Instructor Behavior Course Activities Students in pilot studies indicated that the instrument was more likely to lead them to change their behavior it forced them to reflect on their learning, which they believe is a positive experience

Advantages of On-line System Provides as little or as much data as faculty members want, including relationships among questions, responses by sub-categories, etc. Results will be available as soon as grades are turned in Won’t take class time Provides extended time (may increase response rate) Reduce current data entry errors

Demonstration of “Report” Back Features

Access

Faculty Members Department Heads Deans Students Promotion Committees

Faculty, Department Heads, Deans To date all three groups have had full access to all information. This current practice will be maintained. Access will include Course enrollment and response rate Average ratings for each section (learning outcomes, instructor behaviors, course activities and resources) * Average ratings for overall questions (instructor and course)* Average ratings for individual items* Comparative statistics for department and college on above five items Relationships between items Filtering responses by subgroup (e.g.by major, year, etc) Student comments * Also included are response distribution, standard deviation and median.

Students To date students have had access to average ratings for all questions; they were not privy to comments. This current practice will be maintained. Access will include: Average ratings for each section (learning outcomes, instructor behaviors, course activities and resources) Average ratings for overall questions (instructor and course) Average ratings for individual items

Promotion Committees To date promotion committees utilized, among other data, averages of all questions and/or of the two overall questions. The Provost and Deans agreed to pilot the following template, that includes Course enrollment and response rate Average ratings for each section (learning outcomes, instructor behaviors, course activities and resources) Average ratings for overall questions (instructor and course) Comparative statistics for department and college on above five items

Example of Additional Information Department heads could include, for courses with low [explainable] FCEs Comparison to course ratings over time Comparison for faculty member over time (to show improvement) Ratings by sub-groups (e.g. majors vs.non-majors) Departmental Comparisons to similar courses (e.g. large lecture, major-only, upper division, etc)

Initial Implementation Period The initial four semester period (from Fall 2004 to Spring 2006) will be used for: Analysis of data for recalibration of university, college and department means Analysis of data from the instrument to investigate the relationships between ratings and irrelevant factors (anticipated grades, class size, workload, etc) Analysis of data from the instrument and from students, faculty, department heads, deans and promotion committees to revise guidelines and policies, if necessary

Response Rate Issue Response Rate Student Senate will promote the new instrument with a media blitz We will utilize Blackboard, Portal, and to prompt completion of instrument each semester, including reminders for non-respondents We will expand length of time for completion of course evaluations We will prompt faculty to remind students within courses

Endorsements to Date Student Senate Executive Committee of Faculty Senate Department Heads Deans Provost and President University Education Council Graduate Student Organization Faculty Senate?