BYU-I Faculty Comments on Student Evaluations
November 2010
According to faculty responses, the following are the most beneficial student evaluation questions:
Is there anything about this course and/or instructor that was particularly good? If so, what?
What could be done to improve this course to help you learn more?
The instructor effectively modeled problem-solving and application of subject matter.
The instructor made good use of class time.
When given, examples and explanations were clear.
The instructor gave helpful feedback of my work.
The instructor responded respectfully and constructively to student questions and viewpoints.
The instructor motivated me by his/her enthusiasm to want to learn about the subject.
Course objectives were clear.
Course was well-organized.
Student responsibilities and expectations were clearly defined.
Instructional resources – textbook(s), course guide(s), online material, etc – were useful and helped me to achieve
course objectives.
Assessment activities – exams, quizzes, papers, hands-on demonstrations, presentations, etc. – accurately
and fairly measured the knowledge and abilities I acquired from the course.
Class assignments contributed to my learning and growth
According to faculty responses, the following are the least beneficial student evaluation questions:
The instructor starts/dismisses class at scheduled times
Perceived Learning: Compared to other college courses you have taken, would you say that you have learned
Appropriately brings Gospel insights and values into secular subjects.
Inspires students to develop good character.
Helps students prepare to live effectively in society.
Is spiritually inspiring insofar as the subject matter permits
Satisfaction: Compared to other college courses you have taken, would you say that your satisfaction is
I arrived at class on time.
When your classes are evaluated by students, how do you handle the student evaluation process?
Commentsfrom Pre-CFS Faculty:
1 I don't offer extra credit for completing student evaluations, but students do getpoints for completing them.
2 More completion = higher ratings!
3 Reminding is critical - extra credit should NOT be given.
4 This is my second semester teaching here
5 I give scheduled points, not extra credit. I call it Participation.
6 I drop an extra quiz
7 I did not start offering extra credit until this year.
8 I hate offering Extra Credit, but as Scott says, it is in my interest. We didn't have to
do this when the evaluations were done by hand in class.
9 I want to encourage all students to evaluate fearing that only the disgruntledstudents will evaluate on their own
Comments from CFS Faculty:
1 It is, however, worth points. They are not "extra."
2 I don't do it purposely. Frankly, I just forget about them given how busy the endof the term may be.
3 unless the student signs the evaluation I have no faith in them
4 Figure it's up to the students to complete the evaluation
5 Bribery changes student responses.
6 I am careful to not make it appear I am "buying" a good evaluation
7 require completion of student evaluations (not extra credit)
8 Out of interest, I did offer extra credit one semester, and surprise, my evaluationswere higher. This is a university. I am not willing to play the high school extra creditgame.
9 I offer 5 points for completion
10 Offering extra credit is paying for a good review.
11 I feel that bribing students to complete the survey taints the results.
12 I didn't think we were supposed to make comments
13 Only because more student responses means more accurate results 14 I have felt like I need to give some incentive (although it is very small) in order toget a majority of students to complete the survey. Without the incentive,
participation would be below 50%.
15 extra credit is minimal, usually a 5 point bonus on a quiz.
16 I do not believe that students should be given free credit whether for evaluations
or for any other activity that does not relate to or develop learning of the discipline.
17 I'm not even aware when I am evaluated.
18 It's free points for completion, but not extra credit
19 Extra credit is the only thing I have found to motivate them to complete theirevaluations.
20 What is the point of having an evaluation that is slanted because of incentives?The evaluation is subjective and self-selecting already– that's enough bias andrelative value to make it near-worthless as it is.
21 Don't know under new system. Never experienced
22 I require they do the evaluations in class at the same time.
23 ?
24 Am I supposed to???
25 unless poor participation
26 I don’t care for the type of evaluations we get, so why promote them.
27 Not really extra, just fill in missed credit...
28 I value feedback from my students but recognize they may need an incentive.Students who are pleased with the course don't feel the need to respond whilethose who are grumpy will make the time to vent. I want to hear from all my
students not just the disgruntled.
29 If I remember, I give participation points as a regular assignment, not extra credit.
But generally I forget evaluations are even open.
30 I've given extra credit before, but didn't like the results.
31 Offering extra credit to students for doing evaluations doesn't seem right. The veryact of giving extra credit could skew the results.
32 It is a required assignment
33 I don't always know which sections of my classes will be evaluated, or how longthe evaluation process is active. If they were done earlier in the semester, then Icould help encourage students more to do them with extra credit, etc. Althoughthat might taint the samples somewhat.
Comments from Professional Faculty:
1 didn't know I could
2 Sometimes
3 When I didn't give frequent reminders, the completion rate was only 25%.
4 I do not like offering extra credit for students to do this assignment, but if I don't,then they are not motivated to take the survey. And I'm left with just a fewresponses, usually from disgruntled students only. So, I have to offer extra creditin order to get as many responses as possible.
5 Because I am adjunct- I only see my students in the hospital
6 At times I've offered extra credit, but I dislike extra credit.
How much do you review the numerical portion of your student evaluation report?
Commentsfrom Pre-CFS Faculty:
1 I review them, but do not put much stock in what they indicate.
2 I take this very seriously and change my course based on feedback given.
3 There are too many, the information is too diluted
4 I have not yet done this
5 What is the "numerical portion"?
6 I review the numbers, but I'm not really sure how I should understand them or use
them to improve or change my teaching.
7 I go through every score in the full report
8 I look at the numbers enough to know that they are rather meaningless.
9 Numbers and comments are oftendisconnected, I often get "excellent teacher";
"Fantastic", etc, coupled with ratings of high 4 or low 5...??
Comments from CFS Faculty:
1 How can we not, when so much is determined by them?
2 The numbers are meaningless to me.
3 I give my own evaluations in class, which I thoroughly analyze.
4 don't look at them
5 Despite insistence to the contrary, it is a popularity contest. After a semester of
low scores following my hiring, I played the game the next, and my scores soared
for the same courses. My curiosity having been satisfied, I returned to teaching
how I, not the students, think it should be done.
6 While not every number means a lot to me, I like to get a feel for what studentsfelt went well and what some were frustrated with. I often make changes to the
course based on this feedback.
7 Though, I don't know why since the numbers are affected by who did/did not dothe evaluation and some of the questions themselves are suspect. For example, the
question re assessment fairly measured knowledge and abilities is absurd.Students frequently tell me they know more than the tests assess. Yet whenquestioned on the spot they have no answer! This question is purely subjective.
Tests provide objective data; perception does not. There are a number ofquestions like this. If you really want to know the answers to these questions thenobjective data should be collected!
8 The numbers are meaningless. How do I improve a course based upon the factthat the students in the PAST semester liked the course "5.7"?
9 Used to just glance, but then I found out the only thing looked at for CFS is overallinstructor rating
10 Since the numbers are so varied from section to section, I don't put much validityin this data.
11 Not immediately . . . may review during a subsequent semester
Comments from Professional Faculty:
1 Why empower students who already have an attitude of entitlement?
2 I am not interested in an entitled student's response to my instruction. If you holdthe line on deadlines and late work you are going to be graded low you can counton it.
Comments from Adjunct Faculty:
1 I used to review them, but haven't been aware of where the results are, the lastfew semesters.
2 I don't really see how they help me improve
3 I am not sure how to interpret the numbers given.
4 I think most students just mark one column all the way through, without reallythinking about the questions. I have stopped looking at the evaluations.
5 I've never seen it.
How much do you review the comments provided by students on your student evaluation report?
Comments from Pre-CFS Faculty
1 I always encourage my students to provide written comments, as I find theminfinitely more valuable than numbers.
2 This is very good feedback.
3 I have not yet done this
4 Some comments are helpful, but the majority isn’t.
5 I read every comment and often adjust my course to accommodate legitimateconcerns
6 I read over the comments; they reveal that students aren't really capable ofmaking rational, informed evaluations of their instructors.
7 I pay close attention to the comments that students make on the improvementside. Sometimes they are not accurate but often they give me ideas.
8 Many comments are useful, yet a fair number are irrelevant: comparing workexpectations and styles across widely different disciplines, complaining about
book prices...
Comments from CFS Faculty:
1 The only nuggets of utility are found here.
2 Comments identify strengths and weaknesses of the course.
3 I give my own evaluations in class, which I thoroughly analyze.
4 don't look at them
5 It only takes 1 student's bad comment and I'm broken-hearted
6 Occasionally students provide feedback that helps me make improvements.
Often, though, students use the opportunity to complain about having to work.
7 Sometimes I can't bear to even open them. Other times I review carefully.
8 The comments are useful to identify what works and what does not for thestudents.
9 I cry.
10 I have to sort through a lot to find the meaningful comments, but it is worth it.
11 I find comments much more useful than the numerical data.
12 Though I have taught here for nearly 30 years, I am too thin skinned. They arealmost invariably positive, but the one in twenty that shows a student insensitivity
or cruelty makes it too difficult for me. Don't laugh at my taking criticism too hard.
It's a difficult personal burden I bear. Do others?
13 I find the comments more valuable than the numbers.
14 I scan the comments to see if there is an exceptionally rare insight that a studentcan offer, which I can reasonably incorporate into a course improvement. In over
20 years of teaching here, that has happened perhaps three times.
15 This is the only part of the evaluation I find helpful and even half of this is trash.
16 This seems to be the most helpful area of the evaluation
17 The comments are more revealing than the numbers as they identify patterns in
both strengths and areas in which to improve.
18 The comments are the most helpful component of a very un-helpful report.
Comments from Professional Faculty:
1 Good students make good comments; unmotivated students are critical. Slowstudents who get help and succeed are grateful and make wonderful comments.
2 These are particularly helpful with course suggestions.
3 The comments are generally more useful than the numbers.
4 I don't spend a lot of time reviewing them, but as valid criticisms arise I do takenote and try to make adjustments.
5 This is a very painful process because some students write the nastiest, rudest,most un-Christian comments simply because they can do it anonymously
6 The comments are very useful.
7 For the most part, student comments are not helpful. And sometimes disgruntledstudents are vicious and even tell lies in their comments. I have learned that it isbetter not to read them.
8 Never seen this, either.
How much weight should student evaluations be given in the Pre-CFS Process?
Commentsfrom Pre-CFS Faculty:
1 There are many other factors which should be more significant in the CFSevaluation, but the student evaluations can often offer good insights. Individual
instructors should not be compared to campus averages, though. The comparisonshould be within the department, college, or most ideally the same course (i.e.
compare the instructors’ ratings in FDENG101 to other instructor ratings inFDENG101)
2 It seems to me that the current pre-CFS process gives the proper weight tostudent evaluations
3 While students are in a position to tell you about their experience and perspectivein a class, they are not qualified to tell you how effective the class or teacher was.
4 I have a hard time believing that students know what is best for them when itcomes to academics. Consequently, I think that students’ evaluations should have
little weight when it comes to CFS.
5 The student is the customer. Much more weight should be given to how theyevaluate the course and the instructor.
6 I think that they should have some weight in the Pre-CFS process because ithighlights any major problems with me as a professor. But, I would hope thatwhoever is reviewing them also considers the number of students taking thesurvey and the percentage of good things versus bad things.
7 They should be given weight - but the weight should come from MORE that"overall instructor rating"
8 This item is the primary concern I have with the status quo. While I believestudent evaluations are vital and should be used as a measuring stick, I don'tbelieve students should have as much power as I perceive them having. When I
was hired as a one-year faculty I was told that my future employment dependedon the scores of my evaluations. I don't know how much weight they actually
carry, but it would appear from that source that they carry a lot. The questions are:How qualified are students to judge the overall worth of a course and instructor,
and, based on those qualifications, how much power should students hold todetermine faculty positions, or how much weight should their evaluations hold in
the determination process?
9 All teaching will gravitate to one low common standard, if the evaluation processis the means of evaluating. Good teachers will never have the courage to create
and try new or different methods. Students come here to learn from the expert ina subject and then we turn and ask them to evaluate the expert. Who is theexpert then? If rigor is required to teach students a skill or some knowledge,some students will mark the teacher down that uses rigor. As soon as studentslearn that our promotion in our jobs is dependent upon the student evaluations,they know that they have the power and the bad students abuse that power. Thisis not a contract situation. Why would I give equal weight to what each personsays. Some people, as we learn from experience, are not to be trusted, believed,
or listened to. But we should give greater weight to those who are good, honest,and wise. But with the evaluations we are giving equal weight to each student.This is not right. Nor is it fair that two or three disgruntled students have the
power to take down an otherwise good score to a very poor score. It is patently abad system and needs to be changed.
10 My scores are all quite good -- I would just love to see evidence of other areas,like consistent peer evaluation and professional development, become important
areas also.
11 A child's unhappiness doesn't mean that the parent was wrong. Similarly, if astudent is unhappy, it doesn't mean the instructor is wrong!
12 I see it as a measurement of faculty performance, although the measurement isquite imperfect. An improved measurement should be implemented.
13 Of course, I am biased due to my pre-CFS status, but while evaluations arehelpful, I don't feel that they are terribly good indicators of quality teachingbecause they rely so much on how students perceive they are doing in the class
and whether or not they like the material and methods rather than on howeffective the material and methods are. More importantly, if they are given toomuch weight, then they actually discourage trying new and innovative teaching for