As institutions adjust to new tools, technologies, and techniques, the volume of change is making it difficult to measure our current reality. While faculty are concerned about how evaluation results will impact their review, promotion, and tenure, administrators need to gather useful data to help students and instructors make the most of their online learning experience.
Learn how to:
In a Spring 2020 Watermark survey of 850 participants at 706 institutions, 87% place high priority on using student feedback to provide insight into the curriculum and student experience for the purposes of institutional improvement. However, COVID-19 impacted Spring 2020 course evaluation at 51% of the institutions surveyed, with many choosing to adjust their processes.
The difficult decision to adapt core processes during the pandemic reinforce the critical value of collecting student feedback that is valid, meaningful, and actionable.
concerned about context/use of responses
concerned about how COVID-19 may alter data
used paper-based or other method not feasible
didn’t have time/capacity due to restraints
Survey respondents indicated that they would be using Spring 2020 course evaluation results in a variety of ways.
46.0% indicated that their institutions were planning to increase feedback collection for Summer and Fall 2020
While most institutions continued collecting student feedback, less than half (44.8%) planned to use Spring 2020 course evaluation data in faculty review processes. Rather than using evaluation results gathered via standard surveys to measure the effectiveness of the emergency transition to online learning, use the results to gather student feedback on how to plan for future terms.
Response rates were impacted by COVID-19 disruption, as were the courses students were evaluating. Take special care with any longitudinal views that include Spring 2020 results, particularly if you are among the 59.5% of responding institutions planning to return to pre-COVID course evaluation plans for Fall 2020 and beyond.
Additional course evaluations and surveys offer important opportunities to learn how students are adapting, understand the challenges they face, determine the effectiveness of course delivery, and develop plans to improve learning experiences and outcomes going forward.
Course evaluation and surveying technology ensures that you are able to maintain communication with students whether they are on campus or learning remotely. Consider implementing technology that integrates with the LMS for easy access and allows students to provide feedback on their preferred device to ensure timely and accurate feedback.
“EvaluationKIT allows respondents to complete surveys quickly and easily with their preferred device, usually their mobile phone. Our analytics show that nearly 50% of students use this method to complete their survey. When you tie that in with the learning management system, you… get the responses because it’s all in the system where they’re already working.”
Pam Jones, Coordinator, Surveys & Credit Arrangements
Swinburne University of Technology (AU)
Staying connected and getting immediate, honest feedback from students is essential in times of disruption and ongoing change. Adjust your course evaluation and survey strategy to collect relevant, actionable feedback so that you can make real-time adjustments and align your plans with student needs for Fall 2020 and beyond.