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evaluating teaching

It is good practice to routinely monitor courses and modules. Evaluation and feedback can provide useful information on the quality of content and delivery, students’ perceptions of these, and suggestions from students on how they feel their learning experience can be enhanced.

Seeking and acting on feedback can lead to a more rewarding experience for staff and students, promote student engagement and serve as useful evidence for the purposes of promotion and quality review.

There are many ways of getting feedback and evaluation, and the best method will depend on the type of feedback you require and the resources available to you.

A short summary guide is available here: Evaluating Teaching Guide.

A couple of methods worth mentioning in more detail are Feedback surveys, Grouped Student/Mid-semester Evaluation, Partnerships for Learning & Teaching (PLT) – Peer Review and Observation and the Independent Student Feedback Scheme, below.

FEEDBACK SURVEY

CELT have developed a short questionnaire that can be used to obtain quick feedback on modules or courses. You may use the questionnaires in their present form or you are welcome to personalise them.  

Printable versions:
End of Module Questionnaire (in English) 
Ceistneoir ag Deireadh Modúil (as Gaeilge)

Word versions (editable):
End of Module Questionnaire (in English)
Ceistneoir ag Deireadh Modúil (as Gaeilge)

These feedback forms are also available for Blackboard. Further information is available on the Blackboard site.

Partnerships for learning & Teaching (PLT) – Peer review and observation

PLT partnerships are an effective and information method of receiving feedback on some aspect of your teaching practice, be it with respect to a lecture, practical session, or a review of materials or resources you provide.

Typically, an academic staff member will pair with a critical friend or peer who agrees to attend and review a teaching session of their choosing, and this is then reciprocated. 

The issues to be reviewed or observed are agreed in advance and then a final feedback discussion is held. Those who have previously used this approach have found it to be highly effective and a direct means of strengthening collegiality and a sense of mutual support in a non-threatening context.

Partners are often paired from separate disciplines as this can provide refreshing and alternative perspectives. However, it can also be advantageous to organise such within related cognate fields, particularly if the content of the teaching event under review is a major focus. The reported benefits are often focused on the value of observing another person’s approach to teaching, rather than simply having one’s own practice subject to scrutiny.

The protocol and associated forms are available for download here.

Grouped student/mid-semester evaluation

The Grouped Student/Mid-semester Evaluation scheme has proven particularly popular in recent years.  

An independent evaluator will attend the final 15 – 20 minutes of a class of your choosing.  They will, in your absence, group the students and ask them to agree on the answers to three questions: What’s good about this module?  What is not so good? What suggestions do you have for improvement? The results are collated and a report provided to you.  This scheme is completely confidential and feedback is provided only to the individual lecturer concerned.  A confidentiality agreement is signed by the evaluator.  Unfortunately, this scheme is expensive as an independent consultant is used, however a basic version could be facilitated internally. Trust and confidentiality would be necessary for success.  The protocol is detailed in the document below:

Protocol for Grouped Student Mid-Semester Evaluation Download:  pdf -129 KB|

Grouped Student Evaluation Download: |  pdf -130 KB|

Review of Teaching Evaluation Methods Download: |  pdf -225 KB|

the independent student feedback scheme

This scheme is available to all permanent members of academic staff, and is a simple process which surveys students in a number of the modules which you teach using a standard feedback form which focuses on your approach to teaching and learning.  

More information on the student feedback scheme is available here.

    

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