Saturday, September 27, 2014

Improving Student Performance Before the Course is Finished



Guest Blogger: Brenda Snider



I have just finished a class on analysis and design, which has sparked my interest. As a professor, you are evaluating each student’s performance. I think it would be beneficial if the students learned to evaluate their own performance in addition to the professor’s evaluation.

After each of my classes, we have to complete an evaluation form. In my opinion, there should be two class evaluations, one in the middle of the course and one at the end.  If you complete an evaluation in the middle (or a few weeks in) of the course, you may gain an understanding of how the students are feeling about the course.  You could include questions such as “Do you think you are gaining a complete understanding of the material?”  “Do you need assistance/tutoring in any area?” “Are the class presentations interesting enough to keep your attention?”

The survey can be developed and completed online at Survey Monkey (www.surveymonkey.com). The results will be tabulated for you without much effort on your part.

Are professors here at Lincoln doing class evaluations in the middle of the course? Do you think this would be beneficial?  What other questions would you include in an evaluation to pique student interest in the class?




4 comments:

  1. Good suggestion!

    Q: Are professors here at Lincoln doing class evaluations in the middle of the course?
    A: I used to. I stopped, partly because of all of the other things I had to do including Middle States assessment.

    Q: Do you think this would be beneficial?
    A: Yes, if students take it seriously.

    Q: What other questions would you include in an evaluation to pique student interest in the class?
    A: Extra-credit.

    Unfortunately, I usually can predict student responses to these questions with about 90% accuracy and the answers are usually these (often without regard to what is done or their awareness of it):

    Q: Do you think you are gaining a complete understanding of the material?
    A: No.

    Q: Do you need assistance/tutoring in any area?
    A: Yes.

    Q: Are the class presentations interesting enough to keep your attention?
    A: No.

    Safro Kwame

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  2. I agree that periodic assessments of student learning should be done throughout the semester. Doing them only at the end is pretty much a waste of time (except for the potential benefit to future students). It's the difference in spending time throughout the semester providing feedback on student drafts, when the student is motivated to read and learn from the comments, vs.spending lots of time giving detailed feedback on a student term paper turned in on the last day of class-- all the student does is glance at the grade and move on because that assignment is no longer relevant.

    Of course knowing it would work and actually doing it are two different matters; that's where all those extra responsibilities get in the way. Maybe the assessment committee could come up with a standardized easy-to--administer learning evaluation form and ask everyone to administer it on a certain date midway through. It would be quite interesting to compare the data both across the university and with final evaluations.

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  3. Moodle offers a survey tool. The survey tool is pre-populated with questions.
    “The survey activity module provides a number of verified survey instruments that have been found useful in assessing and stimulating learning in online environments. A teacher can use these to gather data from their students that will help them learn about their class and reflect on their own teaching.
    Note that these survey tools are pre-populated with questions. Teachers who wish to create their own survey should use the feedback activity module.”

    The Attitudes Towards Thinking and Learning survey in Moodle includes questions such as:

    In discussion ...
    1 In evaluating what someone says, I focus on the quality of their argument, not on the person who's presenting it.
    Not yet answered Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree
    2 I like playing devil's advocate - arguing the opposite of what someone is saying. Not yet answered Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree
    3 I like to understand where other people are 'coming from', what experiences have led them to feel the way they do. Not yet answered Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree
    4 The most important part of my education has been learning to understand people who are very different to me. Not yet answered Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree
    5 I feel that the best way for me to achieve my own identity is to interact with a variety of other people. Not yet answered Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree
    6 I enjoy hearing the opinions of people who come from backgrounds different to mine - it helps me to understand how the same things can be seen in such different ways. Not yet answered Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree

    20 I spend time figuring out what's 'wrong' with things. For example, I'll look for something in a literary interpretation that isn't argued well enough.

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    Replies
    1. Wow--that's a totally new part of Moodle to me. Thank you so much! We should have a workshop just about this tool and how it could be used.

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