Re: Are student evaluations useful?

["Rauber, Joel Phys" <RAUBERJ@mg.sdstate.edu>]

For those interested, I'll answer the same questions Phil answered with the 
situation at my institution

> > > Before, but almost at the end of the semester.  Thus most students are
> > > all but certain as to their course grade.
> > >    If required by the administration, these "evaluations" are useless.
> > > (The quotes indicate the misuse of the quoted word.)
> > >
> > > ---------------------------------------------
> > > Phil Parker        pparker@twsuvm.uc.twsu.edu
> > Why not give them in the middle of the semester?

> Because it's not allowed.  Only the evaluating authority (yes, we have
> one -- part of a social science research lab) is allowed to create,
> schedule, and administer them.

We too have an evaluating authority and our official evaluations must be 
given in the last two weeks of the semester, prior to the final exam week. 
 However, I think we are allowed to give an evaluation that we make up at 
mid-term if we so desire; but it will carry no weight with the 
administration in evaluating our teaching.  It would be purely for our own 
diagnostic purposes.  (I won't swear that doing so doesn't break some rule 
at our institution; but if so I doubt its policed very well).

> > Students know how well
> > they are doing by then.  You can survey student concerns at the middle of
> > the semester in time to make changes before the course is over.

> No, because we're not allowed to see the results until after we assign
> final grades, to avoid retribution by us and encourage honesty by the
> students. (I'd think that cuts both ways, but so what?)

Ditto, both to our rules and the parenthetical comment.

> > You can
> > decide which student concerns are justified and which ones are not.

> No, it's only the overall rating that counts, and yours better be above
> average in your "group" and college.  Today we were told about a case
> for promotion to full where there was great concern that the candidate
> was only above average 6 out of 8 years.

We're not entirely certain how it gets treated for us, as I mentioned in the 
past, some administrators have made distinctions between faculty with 
different overall average scores; where the difference was probably well 
within error bars. Having tenure helps of course; but getting tenure and 
obtaining promotions are affected by these numbers, but not in any clear 
way.

Phil, it sounds as though in ten years your institution could move to Lake 
Wobegon as all the instructors will be above average!   :-)

Joel