BYU-I Faculty Comments on Student Evaluations
November 2010
According to faculty responses, the following are the
most beneficial student evaluation questions:
Satisfaction: Compared to other college courses you have
taken, would you say that your satisfaction is
I arrived at class on time.
Is there anything about this course and/or instructor that was
particularly good? If so, what?
When your classes are evaluated by students, how do
you handle the student evaluation process?
What could be done to improve this course to help you learn
more?
Comments from Pre-CFS Faculty:
1 I don't offer extra credit for completing student evaluations,
but students do get points 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 disgruntled students will evaluate on their own
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.
Comments from CFS Faculty:
Course objectives were clear.
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 end of 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 evaluations were higher. This is a university. I am
not willing to play the high school extra credit game.
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 to get 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 their evaluations.
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
1
BYU-I Faculty Comments on Student Evaluations
November 2010
20 What is the point of having an evaluation that is slanted
because of incentives? The evaluation is subjective and selfselecting already– that's enough bias and relative 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 while those 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 very act 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 long the evaluation process is active. If
they were done earlier in the semester, then I could help
encourage students more to do them with extra credit, etc.
Although that might taint the samples somewhat.
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 often disconnected, I often get
"excellent teacher";
"Fantastic", etc, coupled with ratings of high 4 or low 5...??
Comments from CFS Faculty:
How much do you review the numerical portion of your
student evaluation report?
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 students felt 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 do the 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 when questioned on the spot
they have no answer! This question is purely subjective.
Tests provide objective data; perception does not. There are a
number of questions like this. If you really want to know the
answers to these questions then objective data should be
collected!
8 The numbers are meaningless. How do I improve a course
based upon the fact that 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 overall instructor rating
10 Since the numbers are so varied from section to section, I
don't put much validity in this data.
11 Not immediately . . . may review during a subsequent
semester
Comments from Pre-CFS Faculty:
Comments from Professional 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"?
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 hold the line on deadlines and late work
you are going to be graded low you can count on it.
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 few responses, usually
from disgruntled students only. So, I have to offer extra
credit in 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.
2
BYU-I Faculty Comments on Student Evaluations
November 2010
Comments from Adjunct Faculty:
12 Though I have taught here for nearly 30 years, I am too
thin skinned. They are almost 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 student can 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.
1 I used to review them, but haven't been aware of where the
results are, the last few 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 really thinking 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 them infinitely 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 legitimate concerns
6 I read over the comments; they reveal that students aren't
really capable of making rational, informed evaluations of
their instructors.
7 I pay close attention to the comments that students make
on the improvement side. Sometimes they are not accurate
but often they give me ideas.
8 Many comments are useful, yet a fair number are irrelevant:
comparing work expectations and styles across widely
different disciplines, complaining about
book prices...
Comments from Professional Faculty:
1 Good students make good comments; unmotivated
students are critical. Slow students 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 take note 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 disgruntled students are vicious and even tell lies
in their comments. I have learned that it is better not to read
them.
8 Never seen this, either.
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 brokenhearted
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 the students.
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.
How much weight should student evaluations be given
in the Pre-CFS Process?
Comments from Pre-CFS Faculty:
1 There are many other factors which should be more
significant in the CFS evaluation, but the student evaluations
can often offer good insights. Individual
instructors should not be compared to campus averages,
though. The comparison should be within the department,
college, or most ideally the same course (i.e.
compare the instructors’ ratings in FDENG101 to other
instructor ratings in FDENG101)
2 It seems to me that the current pre-CFS process gives the
proper weight to student evaluations
3
BYU-I Faculty Comments on Student Evaluations
November 2010
3 While students are in a position to tell you about their
experience and perspective in 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 it comes 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 they evaluate the course and the instructor.
6 I think that they should have some weight in the Pre-CFS
process because it highlights any major problems with me as
a professor. But, I would hope that whoever is reviewing
them also considers the number of students taking the survey
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 believe student evaluations are vital and should be
used as a measuring stick, I don't believe 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 depended on 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 to determine 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 process is 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 in a subject and then we turn and ask
them to evaluate the expert. Who is the expert 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 students learn 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. This is not a
contract situation. Why would I give equal weight to what
each person says. 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 a bad 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 a student is unhappy, it doesn't mean the
instructor is wrong!
12 I see it as a measurement of faculty performance, although
the measurement is quite imperfect. An improved
measurement should be implemented.
13 Of course, I am biased due to my pre-CFS status, but
while evaluations are helpful, I don't feel that they are terribly
good indicators of quality teaching because 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 how effective the material and methods are. More
importantly, if they are given too much weight, then they
actually discourage trying new and innovative teaching for
fear of a negative response. But they definitely should receive
some weight.
14 I think there must be a balance. A teacher can "stack" the
evaluations easily, and the temptation would be large if the
entire CFS process is based on student evaluations alone. But
part of the job of teaching is connecting to the students, so
if we are not doing that, we need to know so we can improve.
I think my students in the past have been very helpful and
have been honest. The evaluations have made me a much
better instructor and I hope that they will continue to help
me improve.
15 Are they even statistically valid?
16 I get good reviews, but I feel that to get them I need to
make the class less rigorous than I would otherwise make it. I
fear students will complain if I drive them harder than they
are used to.
Comments from CFS Faculty:
1 But MUCH less than they are given now (especially as a
bludgeon by less wise dept. chairs).
2 Student Evaluations should only be a small aspect of CFS
determination. They should only be used to identify major
strengths or major problems.
3 little but not no weight. It currently has too much weight.
In spite of being told that scores were not a determining
factor inevitably if the score was not above 6.3 a 'talking to'
was received.
4 I think they catch significant issues: if someone has
extremely high or low evaluations, that usually indicates
something.
5 Sometimes I believe bad evaluations indicate a teacher's
willingness to hold students accountable.
6 During pre-CFS, I found that, to satisfy the powers in the
Kimball, I needed to make the inmates happy. I often gave
them what they wanted, rather than what they needed. It's
like a parent asking a teenager for their opinion on sex, drugs,
and staying out at night. We are the experts and should be
able to determine course content without concern about
backlash over students feelings.
7 perhaps a 50% weight for student evaluations; 40% weight
for
department/dean/administrative evaluations; 10% other
4
BYU-I Faculty Comments on Student Evaluations
November 2010
8 This should be considered, but should be a minor
component of the CFS process, since people in different
departments yield apples and oranges results from
students due to differences in academic expectations,
perceived course rigor by students, e.g., there are significant
differences between faculty scores from, say religion
compared to the sciences
9 Really, do we ever deny CFS to poor teachers? Really?
10 Students tend to "group think" a lot and this needs to be
taken into consideration
in all data. The Pre-CFS should rely more deeply on faculty
evaluations.
11 Keep in mind that some very difficult classes will probably
be given lower scores
12 It is possibly the best measure of teacher effectiveness.
13 Student evaluations should be given a minor weight
compared to committee observations and chair/dean
recommendations.
14 Basement scores of course mean something; but less than
perfect scores do not. In fact perfect scores are suspect and
more likely an evidence of faculty giving away "A's".
15 Comments are all over the place and ratings are not
reflective of the quality of the teaching so much as the
difficulty of the course and what is expected. Although
they should be considered, student evaluations need to show
clear and consistent
trends before they should be used to judge the quality of
teaching
16 Very little weight. After all, students aren't really qualified
to perform these evaluations.
17 There are only three questions on the student evaluation:
First, do I like the teacher (who cares if they are "liked")?;
second, did I like the course (ditto)?; and third, do I think I
know more than the teacher (ditto). This has no value in
determining whether or not a teacher should be retained. Indepth review by colleagues in far more valuable in making the
retention decision.
18 The evaluations should be used as a tool for instructors-not as a tool for administrators to judge instructors.
19 If they are consistently very low, that should suggest a
closer look.
20 With discretion and wisdom by each department
21 If we really believe that learning is a student activity, then
having student input is imperative.
22 I think they should only be used to show direction of
student opinion. The numbers are useless to me. These
measure student perception, not learning.
23 Students are the best consumers of our product/our
teaching. We should value what they have to say. But
evaluations should be considered over time, not just a
single semester.
24 If we want to use evaluations they should be designed for
courses/department not a generic, university-wide evaluation.
How can FDEng 101 compare to Book of
Mormon or Family/Marriage Prep? Having irrelevant
questions (e.g., asking about testing in a writing class) skews
the students' response to questions that actually
have relevance.
25 We know from a research standpoint that the evaluations
are not very reliable, hence, they are not very valid either. We
also know from a research standpoint that the grade that the
student expects is correlated with the scores on these
evaluations.
26 The idea that your popularity may govern whether or not
you keep your job at a university is scary. Extensive research
has shown both that student have a very
difficult time recognizing whether or not they know
something and correctly identifying the things they did to
learn them.
27 They should be considered as significant, but surely there
are other considerations as a new faculty member trains and
adjusts
28 There should not be fixed formula for the amount of
weight the evaluations should be given. Rather, they should
be considered along with all other factors in a holistic
manner.
On the current student evaluation form, there are too
few, too many, or just the right amount of questions.
Comments by all Faculty:
1 And often not germane questions at that.
2 They seem quite similar at times, too.
3 I don't know, I haven't looked at them
4 Simplify to a few questions that are truly significant and
response rate will increase. Make them meaningful.
5 I don't have issue with the amount of questions, but I don't
think that the right questions are being asked. Are students
qualified to make judgments as to whether the teacher is
knowledgeable in a certain subject?
6 Some of the questions don't seem to apply to my class
7 Who cares?
8 Questions of ambiguity and or irrelevance to the class
9 Someone really ought to ask the students this question,
even if it is only a small
proportion of the students.
10 Number of questions is not a concern for me.
11 Might be best to focus on outcomes, activities, and results
12 Not all apply directly
13 Some questions are repetitive, and the ones that aren't are
worthless.
14 Again, let ask questions that really matter, eg., did this class
hold me accountable to being a responsible citizen at a
university? Did the instructor hold me accountable to act for
myself by enforcing deadlines and offering a quality
experience? etc,
15 I think the length deters some students from participating.
16 Some might be a little redundant.
17 I don't think the number of questions really matters that
much.
18 Many students do not realize the serious weight their
answers have and take the evaluation lightly.
5
BYU-I Faculty Comments on Student Evaluations
November 2010
19 Some questions, like preparation seem to be partially out
of the teacher's control. Sure I assign work, but I have no
control over whether they do the reading or work
20 I have no opinion on this question really.
21 I don't think that the questions are excessive in number,
but could be pared back a bit.
22 Research on multiple choice tests show that 35 questions
is a minimum required to achieve testing parity. Yet that is
not practical for a student evaluation. Multiple
choice is not the right venue for student evaluations.
23 I don't have a strong opinion on this.
24 Students have told me there were "way too many
question".
25 Not always the RIGHT questions!
26 Far too many questions--their value becomes diluted.
27 Too many and too similar. Students tend to have a hard
time identifying clearly what a written question is asking, even
in tests.
(or out) the numerical biases created by such factors as which
days the course was offered on, or at what time of the day?
The entire concept of a numerical valuation is absurd. We
should not be teaching the students that subjective
impressions have quantitative values.
16 I am reminded of Pres Monson's quote Performance
improves when performance is measured. Every dedicated
teacher should want to be evaluated every semester. How else
do you know if you are succeeding?
17 Seems that I worry too much about the numbers. When I
worry about something and press to make it better, I just
make things worse.
18 I tend to know my strengths and weaknesses before my
students complete evaluations. They sometimes just confirm
what I already know.
19 Some questions don't even apply to my class but students
still mark an number.
20 I find that the numbers are tainted by the fact that not all
students complete the
survey. The numbers are not reliable.
21 Numbers tell me how much I am better or worse than the
department, college, or university, but they give me no hints
on how to improve
22 Between somewhat and not
23 I don't get feedback.
24 SOmetimes I hesitate to try new things, fearing student
response.
25 I am usually quite frustrated with the evaluations, making
me feel that the students are unappreciative of my hard work
to help them learn. In result I want to revert to a traditional
"chalk and talk" classroom setting because I feel I will get the
same result with less effort.
26 If I didn't use the student's perspective to adjust my
teaching, then my teaching
must be teacher oriented.
27 There is no consistency students' level of agreement or
disagreement.
28 Comparing math classes to other classes on campus seems
to be comparing
apples to oranges to me.
29 Initially they helped a lot. After 3 years of reviews - they
are less helpful.
30 Numerical data is nothing but a "flog myself" tool. The
questions are not narrow
enough to offer valuable feedback. If a teacher's assignments
are rated poorly, there is no help in showing why they were
poor.
31 the few who loudly complain skew results, and others who
could offer valuable information seem complacent about
doing so.
32 When I see a consistent concern from students, I know I
need to adapt.
33 I realize that the numbers include opinions of students
that are not happy about their grades, so they seek revenge on
the evaluations.
34 I do not read the evaluations.
35 Evaluations have so many variables that are not taken into
account that can skew the results.
How beneficial for improving your teaching are the
numerical results from your student evaluation report?
Comments by all Faculty:
1 don't know
2 beneficial in a vaguely notional sense.
3 Too many variables for the numbers to be meaningful for
me.
4 They indicate possible weak areas.
5 Seeing numbers seems impersonal and somewhat stressful.
6 Now that I am CFS, I glance at them but pay very little
attention.
7 I don't view my teaching as related to my evaluations. I
strive to be the best
teacher I can and hope the evaluations reflect that. I do not
use the evaluations to
motivate or diagnose my teaching.
8 Patterns are revealed and the comments are most valuable
9 Some students will just quickly fill out the numbers to get it
over quickly.
10 I try as hard as I can--the evaluation doesn't change my
desire to do my best.
Sometimes I find some of the comments discouraging.
11 I try to ignore the 1 or 2 extremes and focus on the
majority
12 The Student Performance questions are not that beneficial
for me. Particularly – I feel that I made important
contributions to the learning and growth of fellow
classmates. - Shy students will honestly answer this low
despite my own and their best efforts.
13 There are always the disgruntled students that take out
their frustrations on these evaluations.
14 Teaching is too complex an activity for a single assessment
instrument to provide a majority of the needed feedback.
15 How does one improve a course the students liked "5.9"?
What does a numerical value mean as to a course taught over
a period of years? How does one factor in
6
BYU-I Faculty Comments on Student Evaluations
November 2010
36 Sometimes they have made me a more self-conscious
teacher as opposed to more conscientious
37 Again, I see lots of low numbers coupled with very
favorable comments.
projects in small groups. I had a number of students answer
that I cancelled class on numerous days because they didn't
understand what the question is asking
17 Sometimes I get frustrated here because some students
love some aspects of the class and others have the exact
opposite response. I end up doing what I think
achieves the teaching objectives best.
18 Generally, the written comments provide more insight
into the student's response.
19 Comments are often superficial.
20 Recurring themes are worth noting; neither great nor poor
comments hold much attention; I neither see myself as great
nor poor. Every time I have students complain about
something and another praise the same thing.
21 I usually have a discussion in class about the class. I get all
the feedback I need.
22 About one comment in every three or four thousand is
marginally helpful.
23 Usually the comments are scattered, I only change when
there is uniform
response.
24 I tend to know my strengths and weaknesses before my
students complete
evaluations. They sometimes just confirm what I already
know.
25 Some help a lot but others express personal problems the
student is projecting on the teacher.
26 Very few if any comments offer useful information. They
seem to be mostly a
emotional release to the end of the semester.
27 Most comments help me to know how to improve;
although students who admit
they are getting poor grades or not attending 50% of the time
shouldn't be allowed to evaluate because they often do so
merely for revenge purposes for the F they've earned.
28 I welcome input as we go
29 Few times the comments are beneficial, but only to tell
you a couple thing they
liked, for the most parts the evaluations are just complaints.
30 Teaching is helping students to learn. Learning is naturally
reinforcing. If students willing and able students- are not
enjoying learning, then I better listen to their suggestions.
31 On occasion, a helpful comment is made
32 Comments, while they can sting, at least offer insight into
what type of changes a teacher can make in his/her teaching.
33 These are nice because usually the student will suggest
things to improve the course.
34 same as above, particularly when someone is just venting.
35 If I get enough comments about the same thing, I will
change it.
36 When I used to read the comments, they were not helpful.
Student's rarely offered any kind of constructive feedback.
Either they were very happy about the course,
or they hated the course and me. Either way, I've stopped
reading the comments because I don't find them valuable at
all.
37 Evaluations have so many variables that are not taken into
account that can skew the results.
How beneficial for improving your teaching are the
student comments from your student evaluation report?
Comments from all Faculty:
1 The only students who comment seem to the students who
either love me or hate me. In either case, their responses
generally don't contain useful suggestions with respect to
teaching.
2 don't use them
3 Student comments tend to be contradictory. Inevitably
there are students that say something like "Wow! best thing
since sliced bread!" and an equal proportion that
say something like "Total waste of time and the instructor is a
jerk!" Usually these match up with the grade the student is
receiving.
4 they let me know if I'm being a jerk, to which I respond by
trying not to be.
5 Anytime I have changed something in the course to address
a student comment,
the next evaluation has unhappy students that didn't like what
I had changed.
6 Positive comments further justify my positions. Critical
comments tend to lead me to think about what the student
wasn't understanding about my desired results.
There are sometimes a couple of comments that have useful
suggestions about how a process could be improved and I
appreciate those and use them to my advantage.
7 They are very beneficial when the students are specific and
constructive in their feedback. Roughly 75% of the
comments have at least some level of useful
information. There's usually about 5% that are very beneficial.
8 Comments are helpful; numbers are not.
9 Sometimes students write very hurtful comments, and I
don't know how to take it
10 They are useful, but I pretty much have already had the
feedback before the semester ends.
11 The comments are only helpful in connection with other
ways of evaluating teaching.
12 When a trend appears, then I take a look at things, but I
generally ignore isolated criticisms
13 I have not been given student comments from recent
evaluations.
14 some student comments are done out of revenge or a
vindictive desire to punish the professor for a tough course.
Some student comments are rational and reasonable, and thus
useful.
15 I am an online adjunct, and so I have a little less control
over the structure of the course and activities in it. In that
sense, the student evaluations are a little less helpful than if I
were teaching on campus and could change my course at will.
16 Sometimes the students don't understand the question. My
class is set up as a workshop so some days we work on
7
BYU-I Faculty Comments on Student Evaluations
November 2010
38 Sometimes they have made me a more self-conscious
teacher as opposed to more conscientious
39 I've found the comments have changed little over the
years.
product, and do not post if their product is working as
expected. Likewise, I think students who had a bad
experience with a class or teacher are more likely to
express their views than those who had a positive experience,
skewing the results on "rating sites".
17 Most of them will just look to find who the "easiest"
instructor might be. This will lead to very unbalanced sections
in terms of enrollment.
18 It would only contribute to their consumer/entitlement
mentality
19 They already have former students opinions floating
around campus
20 Troubles will abound, however, that's a faculty-unity killer
for sure, but, still useful
to students and is in line with good disclosure
21 Why replace Rate my professor.com
22 I don't know what the pros and cons would be.
23 As a student I took teachers I knew were easy graders.
Now I regret that. At that
age, I didn't know what was best for my learning and growth.
24 I would sure hate to see this become a popularity contest.
25 This data may interpreted incorrectly by potential students
26 not sure
27 This is already done informally via Ratemyprofessor.com,
perhaps we should encourage more faculty to encourage
more students to post responses there...that's what I do
28 as long as data is filtered through rational sources and
weeds out any extreme or
vindictive comments by students
29 the group think issue is a problem with this approach.
30 I'm undecided on this one. I can see arguments for and
against. My general feeling is No, so that's what I've marked,
but I could be convinced to at least try it
for a while.
31 I am not sure about that. Students will realize that some
teachers are actually
better than others... But on the other hand we they would
have an official way of
learning about teachers, since they do it already on nonofficial parallel websites...
32 I don't know--depends on whether the students are fair in
their evaluation
33 then it would become just as "American Idol" as
ratemyprofessor.com
34 undecided
35 However the data needs to be filtered well before
publication
36 Any positive comments should be made available to offset
the ugly comments on
rate my professor
37 Particularly if they are positive bits of information
38 It already is (ratemyprofessor.com). This would probably
make disparities
increase as students self-select into "liked" professor courses.
I think it's a good
thing for students to sometimes have to deal with a
"challenging" instructor.
Should some of the course evaluation data be made
available to students to provide them with more
information about potential courses and instructors than
the views expressed on rating sites on the Web?
Comments from all Faculty:
1 But probably on a volunteer basis. Of course, this leads to
the type of teaching
that will only elicit good comments: easy grades, lots of "fun"
and little rigor.
2 Better than looking it up on Rate Your Professor
3 I think that places too much weight on them. Besides, they
have ratemyprofessor
4 not sure, some instructors might get branded as not being
too good because
certain students don't like them for whatever reason.
5 I have no opinion either way. Students that are insecure in
their preparation for a
class usually will believe negative comments and disregard
positive ones.
6 We should make public personal reflection / evaluation of
student and teacher.
The questions that we apply to ourselves.
7 Rate My Professor only includes ratings from too few
students, its not a
representative sample
8 Ratemyprofessor.com doesn't exactly get a proper sample
of students.
9 We may find that students using this data might prefer to
take classes from certain
instructors, and avoid others whose ratings were lower
(whether those ratings are
accurate reflections of the instructor or not).
10 I worry about this. If the instrument were improved, I'd be
for it.
11 I think it should remain personal.
12 They're looking on the web--let's give them something
more reliable.
13 Rate My Professor is a brutal format. Students should
have to identify themselves and there should be a feature that
allows teachers to rate-that-student in response. But alas, the
privacy laws...
14 At least this would give students a better overall picture of
how a professor has been evaluated.
15 I don't know how much, but it would prevent them from
going to
ratemyprofessors.com
16 In the interest of fairness, I think it would help with
providing a more complete picture regarding class experience.
I have found that, for instance, on manufacturer forums,
people typically only post when they have a problem with a
8
BYU-I Faculty Comments on Student Evaluations
November 2010
39 However, you should do this only with instructor consent.
I would love to let the
university put all mine online (currently I do it myself).
40 Time for out of class preparation.
41 I strongly support that idea! Students already use other
websites with feedback
from limited participants to decide which classes to take. Why
not give them
some more statistically sound information?
42 They can already go to rate my professor . . . and do. I
don't think it's our
purpose to help students shop for instructors.
43 I would need to consider this further before making a
Y/N decision.
44 Students are only looking at the immediate. I have a
greater love now for
teachers that I would not have taken classes from had I seen
various student
responses at the time. the class was too hard, too much work,
boring, etc.
45 Doing so would be kind of dicey.
46 Are we really thinking about creating another "rate your
professor" in house?! These evaluations have a whole host of
problems. Even many of the faculty seem not to understand
psychometrics adequately to interpret them; how are
students going to do any better?
47 The intent of the evaluations is to benefit instructors, not
to benefit students.
48 Absolutely not. This is a ludicrous suggestion. This is
already available to them online with "rate my professor", but
it damages the reputations of the teachers. Let each course
begin anew, and let the students learn to get used to teachers
they otherwise would never have liked. It is a great part of life
to learn how to get along with people or teachers who are not
like us, and who see things differently. There would be no
real growth if we contributed to this by allowing access to
evaluation data. In addition, it might cause students to avoid
teachers who would be very good for them. My experience in
college was that I loved teachers that other students hated.
We each march to the beat of a different drummer.
49 Makes me nervous, but may improve the information
available
50 This is a minefield, and exposes students, instructors, and
the University to
additional legal liability. If it is done, instructors ought to be
allowed to rebut student comments or explain unusual
circumstances.
51 They already have "Rate My Professors" online. That
serves the same function (as if it were needed at all)
52 Sure if you want to perpetuate the same mentality of
making the student the customer--the customer is always
right. I thought they were the product. I guess I
was mistaken.
53 Perhaps the results would balance the unkind one or two
vocal students who have
an ax to grind on other rating sites.
54 This is not a popularity contest.
55 Not as long as student evaluations are determining factors
in CFS.
56 I think such a practice would come across as legitimizing
the current trend of shopping for courses that will result in
easy "A's"
57 I can't think of many things that could be more damaging
to what is supposed to happen in classes than to make course
evaluations available to students.
58 ratemyprofessor.com is a joke (the sample is miniscule and
highly skewed)
59 To make this information available would probably imply
that it has more validity than it really does.
60 Since not all the students respond to the surveys, the data
is incomplete and may be quite slanted.
61 Not as the data is now presented.
62 Wow, that could be a can of worms.
63 No because I have at least 1-3 students every semester
who score my evaluations low on purpose to get revenge for
the "F" they earned.
64 It depends on the purpose of the course evaluations. I
don't believe that serves the purpose.
65 when there are multiple teachers teaching the same course,
but when only one does than not so important
66 Do we really want to create a hierarchy of teachers on this
campus. Do we want
students to be able to avoid more rigorous courses?
67 They have enough other sources of info, including wordof-mouth
68 I don't know. 69 Posting data will only put more weight
on the ratings when chair and dean observations should be
included in assessing a teacher's performance
70 This depends on the data you provide. 71 This is a great
question that should be discussed by faculty at length. Many
students are using ratemyprofessor.com as a way to decide
and these evaluations would trump that. I think we open a
can of worms making the information available. It was my
understanding the evaluation process was so 1.
faculty could receive feedback on how they are doing from
students 2. Administration (dept. chairs etc) can evaluate how
well faculty are teaching students; not to help students decide
which professor to take a course from.
72 I think some of the information would be helpful--perhaps
throwing out the top and bottom review as outliers.
73 The data is not reliable for faculty. How could we expect
students to use this data effectively?
74 They already have a word-of-mouth system among
themselves.
75 I really would not mind this, with provision. Not all
evaluations translate into easy yes/no decisions. A professor
who is great for upper division classes may not be as good for
Foundations classes. There would have to be more than a
good/bad evaluation posted.
76 You mean like have our own ratemyprofessor.com? Why?
What would the purpose be to put up our own unreliable and
non-valid data?
77 not in the present format
9
BYU-I Faculty Comments on Student Evaluations
November 2010
78 Too much of a popularity contest. Most students rate
according to how well they did in the class and the easy
teachers get the better evaluations(generally)
79 Isn't this somewhat common at other Universities?
80 This would only provide a further validation of their
emotional responses to a course or professor. Have you seen
"Rate my professor.com"? What a joke. They
talk enough in the halls.
81 It would be more accurate than the web.
82 I do not know what the ramifications of this would be.
83 I don't think the info from these evaluations should be
used in any way to determine whether or not to take a course
or choose a specific instructor.
84 Hmmm...both interesting and scary!!
85 YEs and no- some of the students provide false
information if they receive a bad
grade or have been reprimanded
86 I would normally have said no but if they have access to
non-scientific, nonrefereed
ratings on the web, then they should also have access to
ratings compiled with greater wisdom and for a greater
purpose.
87 Fine by me.
88 Show them the "what did you like" comments. They can
go elsewhere for the parts that students dislike.
9 Simplify, but these items make them reflect on their
contribution to the class.
10 I don't have a problem with the questions. The evaluation
is just too long.
11 As an instructor, I don't feel I should be responsible for an
18 year old student who
can't get their life together enough to be successful in my
class.
12 Students should consider their own preparation and effort
before evaluating the course/ instructor.
13 Hold students more accountable for their lack of work.
14 Again, let's consolidate/add/delete questions that truly
correlates with the objectives inherent in the Learning Model.
15 If students are in the process of considering their own
performance while also evaluating the course and instructor,
it might help them to be more fair in their
evaluations of the course, rather than taking out a vindictive
revenge against the professor for behaviors that were really
the students' own fault.
16 If we are determined to use this, how about setting it up to
attach the students
grade to see a true picture of student performance
17 As long as we are pulling this information from elsewhere
and connecting it up with each student's evaluation, I think
this is a good idea. I do find it helpful to see
the correlation between student performance and student
evaluations.
18 Possibly less questions, i.e. expected grade earned.
19 I think it's good if it helps students realize that they are
partially responsible for the effectiveness of the course. If
they don't like some aspect of the course, it might
not be the teacher's fault.
20 I am sorry but I just don't know
21 This section helps the student connect how their
performance directly relates to the course.
22 I thought the evaluations process was for the instructors,
not the students performance?!
23 This portion not only holds students accountable, but lets
me have a view of how students perceive their own
performance in class. However, this information is
not very useful because it is probably not very accurate.
24 No opinion at this time, would need to consider further.
25 What is the point of these questions? I have students in
my office on a regular basis who make these claims who
aren't attending, fail to turn in assignments, etc.
26 Unless student performance responses can be correlated
with student perception responses, they're not particularly
helpful. E.g., if it could be found that "Students
who rated their performance high rated the course highly,"
etc., then that is helpful.
27 Not sure--time there may detract from focus later, but it's
a nice way to remind them of who is really responsible to
learn.
28 Even though students' view of their own performance is
typically terribly unrealistic, having them think about their
own performance before evaluating the
instructor's helps temper extreme opinions, which hopefully
leads to more valid results.
The University should remove the "Items about Student
Performance" section from the instructor/course
evaluation form.
Comments from all Faculty:
1 What do they use them for?
2 not sure what that means
3 Self evaluation for students is just as ineffective as self
evaluation for instructors
or any other human. All this section measures is how out of
tune the students are with their actual behavior. It is
interesting to see what students think is 'hard
work'.
4 If my students are not indicating a satisfactory level of
performance, it identifies an area where I might be able to
help them.
5 #8 in this category is especially useful
6 I think this is an inspired section. It is important for
students to reflect on how their own performance in the
course has positively or negatively affected their learning.
7 I want to know how my students perceived their
performance in relation to my class. By separating this from
the course evaluation, how would we know how
they feel about their preparation for a specific class? Some
students may have different feelings based on the subject
matter, time of day of class, their status
[fresh, soph, jr, sr], etc.
8 I think it's helpful to have this section to remind students of
their responsibilities in
the learning process.
10
BYU-I Faculty Comments on Student Evaluations
November 2010
29 Don't know what those are.
30 The students should rate themselves, for their own
benefit, only.
31 I think this helps students see that they have some
responsibility in learning and that it's not entirely dependent
upon the instructor.
32 I don't pay attention to that section
33 Students should realize that their own preparation will
color how they view the course and how successful the
course is for them.
34 Mostly because faculty has little control over the students'
performance once they leave the classroom
35 Are the student responses accurate???
36 It may bias the teacher evaluation
37 Starting off with this section helps students see their
responsibility for making the course successful.
38 Students should evaluate their own performance as they
evaluate their teachers' performances.
39 This section could be useful if you could view individual
student evaluations. If a student reports they expect to
receive a low grade and they also give the worst
marks across the board it says something. Current evaluation
reporting doesn't allow you to see if that is what is occurring.
40 I think that this can help gauge whether positive or
negative responses correlate with how students think they are
performing in the class.
41 This gives the professor a calibration on the rest of the
student comments and responses.
42 We are just asking students their opinions about their
performance; if we want to
really know, then let's get the psychometricians involved.
43 At least this gives you some measure of control over why
the student hated the course.
44 Though I think that student performance is a little distant
from what should go on an instructor evaluation. I think that
to leave off the report of the impact that our
teaching has on the growth of the student would be
detrimental to our improving
as teaching. We need to know how our instruction and
activities are influencing
the growth of the student if we are to improve.
45 That is the best section in the survey to determine
students' performance
46 It holds the student accountable
1 Genius. This learning model is poorly understood, even
more poorly applied by people largely unable to adjudicate or
execute good teaching, anyway. Why
2 I'm not sure what this means. Is it still tied to the class?
What's the purpose of this?
3 While I agree that the Learning Model is principally a model
for students in their learning activities, it would be
disingenuous to think that what I do in class doesn't
have an impact on how well students implement good
learning practices.
4 I think a self evaluation for the students is a good idea, but
I would still like to have this data on the report that I get.
5 The Learning Model should NOT be a part of the student
evaluations. The Learning Model lacks substance and is
nothing more than sloganeering,
Therefore, an objective assessment of its application or
success is completely subjective and valueless.
6 This section is currently very weak.
7 A separate evaluation asking about the Learning Model
would seem more general in nature, allowing students to
assess their entire learning situation rather than tie
it to a specific course.
8 I like the questions about student preparation, but I dislike
the questions about "students teaching students." This
reinforces a misunderstanding about the
Learning Model. While teaching is an ideal way to learn and
master concepts, we should be careful to not reinforce the
notion that significant class time should be
devoted to this endeavor.
9 The "Learning Model" is a fad that will pass. Other schools
call it "Peer Teaching." It's really not as revolutionary as we
want to pretend it to be.
10 Nice. I love this.
11 If we separate them from the Teacher Eval, then they
won't see their own part in the construction of their class
experience. It is critical they be together. BTW,
wish there were some way to correlate the individual student's
evaluations with the teacher evals. It would be really
insightful to see how a student evaluates globally
as opposed to only the one class.
12 This should be a natural part of learning. When we make it
into a model, we are emphasizing a model of learning rather
than learning itself. Often these two things
are similar, but one could easily convince the students that
the process is learning when, in fact, the process is the means
to learning and not learning's end!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
13 In my experience, students to do understand the learning
model and how it applies to teaching and learning. Are we
evaluating the class and instructor, or are we evaluating the
students understanding of the learning model?
14 I would agree to have students take part in ongoing selfevaluations, but I would still like such questions to be
maintained as part of the current student
evaluations. I find it very helpful to get a sense of students
taking responsibility for their own learning together with their
perceptions about their instructor and the
course.
Questions used in the current evaluation process
concerning elements of the Learning Model (e.g.,
student preparation, students teaching students,
pondering and proving) should be made part of a new
student self-evaluation, thereby encouraging students to
"take responsibility for their own learning" as mandated
by the Learning Model.
Comments from all Faculty:
11
BYU-I Faculty Comments on Student Evaluations
November 2010
15 see above comment, but I can see some benefits of
students having a separate self-evaluation
16 As everyone has a different interpretation of the Learning
Model on this campus, I believe it would actually be best if
no questions about the learning model existed
on any surveys.
17 This will not affect their accountability. Students respond
to questions but do not link personal accountability to the
items.
18 Haven't we been silly enough already?
19 They could be provided with this at the beginning of the
semester
20 We need to make certain that the students understand that
this is a learning model, not a teaching model. Many of the
applications of reflecting on their learning, teaching one
another, preparation, etc. should be instigated on the part
of the student.
21 There are WAY too many questions dealing with group
work, learning from each other, teaching each other, etc.!!!
22 Great idea.
23 Most of those elements are already there.
24 Precluded with a couple of statements to "define" the
learning model as intended by the survey
25 Students don't really understand what the learning model
is.
26 I don't think the questions are useless, but if this refers to
a collective score for LM use, weighting may be an issue
27 Such questions should remain on the course/instructor
evaluation, even if used in a student self-evaluation.
28 The Learning Model is about student learning, not faculty
instruction. Have the students evaluate themselves. The best
question any student can ask (and the
best ones ask it frequently) is: "Am I a good student?", not,
"Is this a good teacher." By the way, thanks for having the
surveys off-campus server, and anonymous. Please keep it up!
29 I think you've already got that with the section 2 questions
30 The learning model is an insignificant standard for
evaluating teaching. It is not a viable pedagogy and is an
insult to my years of experience and perpetual self
evaluation.
31 Faculty get enough reminders about the LM without
student input--the LM is a means, not an end.
32 We didn't get this chance--but why not ask the faculty
about whether or not the administration should also have
"student/ faculty evaluations" as often as faculty
do? Fenton once read such a question from a faculty Q & A-but then brushed off the question with something like: "I feel
like I receive evaluations every time I come to one of these Q
& As." Okay, well, faculty receive such evaluations every
time they stand in front of a classroom, also. Let's make it
clear to administration that EVERY SINGLE REASON
THEY GIVE FOR FACULTY RECEIVING
EVALUATIONS WOULD WITHOUT QUESTION
APPLY TO ADMINISTRATORS RECEIVING
EVALUATIONS. On a separate note: they have, essentially
TRIPLED the faculty evaluations by requiring them each of
three semesters. Who knows where they'll go next: every
other year? I think if the administrators were
likewise receiving evaluations, they would better appreciate
the faculty experience--and also, THEIR PERFORMANCE
MIGHT WELL IMPROVE! Funny concept, eh? But let's
finally hold their feet to the fire--THEY COULD NOT
GIVE A SINGLE REASON FOR FACULTY
BENEFITTING FROM EVALUATIONS THAT
WOULD NOT APPLY TO ADNINISTRATORS (from the
faculty they serve).
33 Many students and some faculty have some strange ideas
what the learning models is.
34 Some students have negative attitude toward model
35 I agree, but what would that look like?
36 The questions should definitely be kept and included with
the current evaluation form.
37 Students may think it is the sole responsibility of the
faculty to provide these opportunities in class. The learning
model needs to be adjusted to the curriculum
and should not be used to the same extent as other
curriculum, thus students may compare the approaches to the
learning model across curriculums and rate the
class based on what they've seen before and not necessarily
on what was appropriate for the class being evaluated.
38 If the questions about learning model are kept in regard to
the teacher, then questions in regard to learning model for
students would be nice.
39 But I would not want them to be removed from the
faculty evaluation
40 As long as this is not part of the teaching evaluations; also,
let's get psychometricians involved so that we are really able
to develop an evaluation
process that will produce more reliable and valid results.
41 Confusing the learning model for a teaching model is
encouraged by the current format. This is detrimental to both
students and faculty, I think. I understand and
agree with a 'student-centered' university, but unless we
consider what is happening to the faculty, we're going to kill
the goose and have no more eggs, golden or otherwise.
42 When students don't do well, their first recourse is to
blame the teacher. I also think that the evaluations should be
taken closer to mid-terms than finals. I think they would be
more accurate.
43 Apparently this question is trying to lead us to a particular
answer. However, I strongly disagree. Encouraging students
to take responsibility for their own learning is not the same as
simply expecting it to happen. Teachers have quite an
influence in teaching and training students in their
responsibilities. If those items were left off of the evaluation,
how would I be able to tell whether or not the activities that I
am preparing for my students are helping them. That
feedback is crucial to my improvement as a teacher.
44 If written correctly, it may be of value
12