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Institutional Research
Macalester College
1600 Grand Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55105
651-696-6411

Page maintained by
brownec at macalester dot edu

Course Evaluations

Course evaluation forms are once again available through the Institutional Research Office. As in the past, use of this form is completely voluntary. You’ll notice, however, that we are now using two new forms developed by the IDEA Center in Kansas. The adoption of these new forms was recommended by the Educational Policy and Governance Committee, based on the work of last year’s Working Group on Course Evaluations.

• Highlights of these new forms are described below. Workshops on using the IDEA forms will be hosted by the CST. Watch your email for information.

• In order to speed up the time it takes to get reports back from these course evaluations, forms received by the Registrar by the last day of class (Tuesday, May 6th) will have reports available on or about May 27th. The IDEA center requires 2 weeks of processing time to generate reports, in addition to the time required at Macalester for sorting and shipping.

• If you’d like to use these forms, please notify Cheryl Browne (x6411; brownec@macalester.edu) by Wednesday, April 9th.

How are the IDEA evaluation forms different from the “standard” Macalester form?

The IDEA forms allow for more sophisticated and helpful feedback for instructors. Rather than emphasizing the instructor's teaching techniques or personality, the IDEA system focuses on student learning. Before students receive the survey, the instructor completes a short questionnaire on learning objectives that were emphasized in the course. Students indicate their perceived progress on the same set of learning objectives. Teaching effectiveness is then gauged by student progress on the objectives chosen by the instructor. The forms also ask students to provide information about the course (amount of work, level of difficulty) and about their own investment (motivation, effort, attitude). The IDEA survey forms are the product of years of research and have been extensively tested for reliability and validity.  

What forms are available?

The “long” version of the IDEA form provides detailed feedback about instructional practices, while the “short” form is more streamlined and provides more room for student comments. The IDEA Center recommends that faculty use the long form initially and at regular intervals to help provide benchmarks about their instructional skills. The short form can be used at all other times, but provides less detailed information about instructional methods in the classroom.

The form allows for additional questions tailored to an instructor’s individual practices. These might address course specifics (such as a new approach or assignment type) or broader departmental goals.

How can students provide written comments about my course?

There is some space on both IDEA forms for written comments, but there are no specific questions that solicit written responses. You can write your own questions and have students provide written responses on a separate piece of paper. Any student written comments submitted on separate pages will be returned to you after final grades have been submitted.

I would like to use the forms. How do I get them?

Please contact Cheryl Browne (x6411; brownec@macalester.edu) by Wednesday, April 9th to specify which of the two IDEA forms you’d like to use for each of your courses. She will order the forms from the IDEA Center in time for you to evaluate your classes in the last few weeks of the semester.

How can I learn more about the IDEA forms?

Stay tuned to your email for information sessions about using the IDEA forms towards the end of the semester. You can also contact Karl Wirth (x6449; wirth@macalester.edu) or Jaine Strauss (x6114; strauss@macalester.edu) for additional information.

24 March 2008