Suggestions for Processing Course Evaluations
Found in Teaching & Advising > Grading & Assessment of Students
•Pick a good time to do so, when you will have enough time to digest at least some of the information, have privacy, and can give yourself some mental ‘space’ to analyze the information.•Track quantitative results. Consider how the summary rating received for each item fits with your own teaching goals and your department’s expectations for teaching.
•Look for patterns in students’ comments—identify trends, note what you have done well and what needs improvement.
•Take your experience into account. If you are new to teaching, the school, or even the course, you may still be learning about various aspects of being a professor, such as course design, teaching skills, student interaction, and departmental expectations.
•Take the context and characteristics of your course into account. Research shows that student evaluations often are more positive in courses that are smaller rather than larger, and elective rather than required. Also, evaluations are usually more positive in courses in which students tend to do well.
•Know that almost all faculty members receive negative feedback at some point in their careers, including those who are senior and highly successful.
•Allow yourself to acknowledge that negative feedback can feel hurtful or make you angry, but also provides a pointer toward important areas for your continued development.
(Adapted from “Some Guidelines and Principles to Consider In Making Sense of Evaluation Feedback” by Kathleen Hoover-Dempsey, Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, Vanderbilt University.)
Questions to consider:
•What are the perceived strengths as identified by students?
•What are the perceived challenges as identified by students?
•How are student perceptions similar or different from your own?
•What are possible changes to make to the course?