MACHINE FOR FACILITATION OF EVALUATION OF TEACHING BY STUDENTS

 Edith Florence Muwanga  Assistant Registrar &  PA to DVCAA  13 th May, 2010

Evaluation of Teaching  Evaluation of teaching is a core activity in ensuring quality in teaching and learning by students  Importance of evaluation of teaching: to assess the performance of lecturers analyze students learning needs investigate students’ experiences assess the learning environment, etc

 In 2007, Senate made a decision that evaluation of teaching by students should be carried out each semester for all University courses

 The Office of the DVCAA embarked on the exercise in May 2007, but realised that it is an enormous task.  The work requires to engage a big team to enter the data, proof reading and analysis.  Faculty of Social Sciences alone would generate 6,000 completed forms. ( 400 students each year of study x a minimum of 5 courses each x 3 yrs of study)

 We have been struggling to implement the Senate decision with limited resources and we have experienced a lot of challenges.  The Office of the DVCAA submitted a proposal for support of quality assurance activities at Makerere University to EDULINK

The Project Objective:  The proposal was approved and we are partnering with other Universities in East Africa, AAU, IUCEA and University of Alicante to implement the objectives of the project.  The main objective of the project is to build a sustainable quality culture within the University.

Lactro Dara Machine  One of the benefits of the project is the acquisition of the Lactro Dara Machine.

Uniqueness of the Lactro Dara Machine  The machine can read 100 forms (A4 size )in 5 minutes and it is error free, so there is no need for proof reading.  The uploaded data from the forms is then exported to another format i.e. EXCEL, SPSS, for analysis.  Other functions which the University can take advantage of include;

Functions Cont’d..  Marking of objective examination questions.  Processing of applications for admission to the University  Compiling and analysis of population data  It can also be used to read the National election data.

 The Dara Machine will be used to read information provided by students from the evaluation forms  Benefit: Timely feedback to stakeholders  Timely action on findings

Pilot the new tool  The Evaluation tool has been revised to adopt recommendations from previous evaluation reports and also to correspond to the design of the machine.  The new form is being piloted in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the data from the evaluation will be compiled and analyzed by the Dara Machine.

 We hope to provide feed back to students and staff next semester.  The office of the DVCAA will work with the Faculty to make improvement on the basis of the evaluation exercise.

Appreciation  We are very grateful to EDULINK which provided the funds to purchase the machine.  We are also grateful to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine for accepting to be part of the pilot.

Other Mechnisms  The University is trying other methods of evaluation  On-line evaluation of teaching by students is being piloted in FCIT.  Micheal to provide details  Demonstration by Dr. Kisaka & Peter Kayonde

Launch of the DARA  I thank you