This page provides an overview of Otterbein's new End of Course Evaluations process.
Following Otterbein's long history of taking student feedback into account to improve the quality of education that we offer and to revise our curricula, in May of 2012, the Subcommittee on Student Evaluation of Instructor Effectiveness issued a report that outlines changes to the overall process of collecting input from students in a new End of Course Evaluation process.
The instrument for collecting student evaluations incorporates research on student evaluations of teaching and input from Otterbein faculty. It is designed to gauge the effectiveness of a course and its instructor while also prompting students to reflect on their own involvement with learning.
This page provides information on the student evaluation instrument, the question alternatives available to faculty and departments, and the resources that support this process on campus.
Otterbein's New End of Course Evaluations - Overview:
The student evaluation survey (at right) can include a maximum of 16 questions in the following configuration:
Note: See below for the departmental and individual Question Banks and other feedback collection and interpretation resources.
The new SET instrument
Departmental Questions (4 maximum)
Departmental questions are optional; a maximum of 4 departmental questions are allowed. They must be submitted by February 26. Departments can select questions from the question bank (at right) or submit questions not included in the question bank.
Evaluations can be tied to course prefixes, so departments will need to indicate which questions apply to which departmentally-owned course prefixes. For example, History and Political Science could select four questions to be asked in HIST courses and four different questions to be asked in POLS courses; BAE could select different questions for MBA courses, etc.
Instructor Questions (4 maximum)
Faculty can use the opt-in custom question feature currently used during course evaluations to add up to four additional questions. These questions must be added after course information for the semester had been uploaded into Campus Labs and before the survey opens to students. Once the survey is opened to students, the opt-in feature cannot be used. This feature will continue to work in the same manner as in the current survey.
Note: opt-in questions will not be pulled into the quantitative and qualitative summary reports that are published to faculty. This means that results for opt-in questions will not be automatically included in reports that are submitted for faculty evaluations or the interim-tenure and tenure/promotion process. The opt-in questions do appear if the faculty member views the results for the course while logged into their Campus Labs account. However, this is at the discretion of the individual faculty member to do this and print a report that contains the opt-in questions and results.
Question Banks for Departments and Individual Instructors
Get Feedback on your Teaching
In addition to consultation, the CTL can also help you gather feedback on your teaching in a number of ways. For more information on any of these services, email ctl@otterbein.edu or call 614-823-1064.
The CTL can help faculty collect feedback from students in the middle of the semester rather than waiting for evaluations at the end. This can encourage students to reflect on their own learning and provide valuable evidence to document your teaching as part of the university's tenure and promotion process.
CTL consultants will visit and observe your class and give you feedback on any aspect of teaching and learning you choose to examine. Classroom observation consultations are intended to help with your development as an educator and are not meant to be used for purposes of tenure and promotion.
Faculty may contact the CTL to request feedback on course-related documents, such as syllabi, Web sites, or assignments. These reviews are aimed at helping you adjust or design the materials you use in your teaching and are not meant to be used for purposes of tenure and promotion, although you can use them as evidence for your teaching portfolio.
*Disclaimer: The CTL does not administer the SETs. For questions about the form, contact Academic Affairs. The categories in the question bank spreadsheet (provided below) are only an attempt to make it easier to sort through the questions and do not necessarily reflect the intentions of the report authors.
Additional Resources
For guidelines on using and interpreting student ratings, see the following: