Online Student Evaluations Paper or Plastic? Archie George Kathy Dean Jason Mayer* University of Idaho *now with Information Technology Services

Outline Brief history of course evaluations at the University of Idaho The new evaluation form The student portion The faculty portion The report portion Problems/Solutions Future Design

History of Course Evaluations at the University of Idaho Same paper form for 12 years Over 32,000 forms scanned every term Hardware/software support Five weeks of time to sort, scan, compile and distribute reports Accuracy issues Open-ended responses not recorded Confidentiality issues Off-campus courses not consistently surveyed

Why Change New dynamic form No data entry Online accessibility Larger time frame to complete evaluation Demographics gathering capability Instant online access to reports Student confidentiality Save time and $$$

Student Component Process notices to students – links to system included Login to system using standard student access procedure Choose course/instructor to evaluate Fill out online form Click submit button Repeat process for each course/instructor evaluation

Student Component Advantages Student has time to think about responses Can complete evaluations at student’s convenience Systematic method of measurement – same for all Accurate data collection

Student Component Disadvantages Perception that students are not a “captive” audience as in classroom Some students have difficulty using the technology

Instructor Component Process Automated at beginning of semester Instructors customize their own forms Automated during evaluation period Instructors encourage students to use the system

Instructor Component Advantages Standard questions for comparison purposes Instructors get to choose their own items Delete/view form capability Can revise form multiple times before first evaluation is done

Instructor Component Disadvantages Some faculty not comfortable with the technology Delete/view form capability is inflexible; Need edit and save capability Difficult to deal with “special cases” System does not allow for “department items” to be added

Reporting Component Process Reports for current semester are made available after grades are submitted Available online to instructors and administrators No instructor level reporting for courses with less than 5 students enrolled

Reporting Component Components Detailed report (reports each student’s response) Summary report (reports aggregated summary – for Likert-type items only) Department Summaries College Summaries University Summaries

Reporting Component Multiple levels of access Administrator access Course instructors access Student access (not a part of online system)

Problems and Solutions Response rates Abnormal course begin/end dates Faculty buy-in Student log-in/PIN Washington State University students Technology ( i.e. Internet access, browser type/version)

Future Design Standard, customizable report templates Form “save” option Form edit feature Downloadable spreadsheet for results

Comments/Questions? Kathy Dean University of Idaho