Introduction to UNC's Carolina Course Evaluation System
The Carolina CES system is a
comprehensive course evaluation system designed "to simultaneously
serve the purposes of: 1) evaluation of faculty members for renewal,
promotion and tenure;
2) provision of feedback to faculty members for the improvement of teaching;
and 3) provision of information to students to guide students’ course
selection." (The Report of the Task Force on Student Evaluation
of Teaching: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill April 5,
1999, http://www.unc.edu/faculty/faccoun/reports/1998-99/R99TFSET.htm)
An additional component facilitates assessment of initiatives that
are
of departmental, curricular or institutional concern (e.g. the first-year
seminar program, use of instructional technology).
The UNC Carolina Course Evaluation
System generates three unique reports for its different audiences
and requires the creation of a unique questionnaire for each
course to be evaluated. The UNC-CES system requires interaction between program
staff and
individual instructors as well as departmental personnel at several points
in the semester prior to administration of instruments in classes.
Separate reporting recognizes
the needs for different kinds of evaluative data on instructor effectiveness/course
quality for three constituencies: department administrators, the student
body and individual instructors.
• A department
chair's report is produced from a standardized set of questions for use
in teaching assignments and personnel decisions.
• The student body's report is based upon a different, shorter set
of standardized questions; it will be posted on a website to aid students
with making choices between courses and instructors during registration.
• An instructor's report contains both of the foregoing reports,
and the evaluation results on a teacher-selected set of questions from
a menu of approximately 900 items. The self-selected set is by far the largest,
most complex and most important developmental component of the system;
results will give instructors detailed, focused feedback on the success
of their course plans, their methods and the teaching styles they employ.
Student comments are included in the instructor's report.
The UNC-CES system was designed to have sufficient breadth so that
instruction across the curriculum and across styles of teaching may
be assessed.
From
an extensive set of course evaluation items organized into modules, an instructor
may select items that are appropriate to:
• the level of instruction
(graduate or professional as well as undergraduate courses)
• teaching style (lecture, discussion, group-based active learning);
• the instructional environment (traditional classroom, laboratory,
recitation, clinical placement, community-based learning, field research
and studio work, etc.)
• a number of instructional dimensions of interest (teacher and
student development, organization, presentation and communication skills,
assignments and grading, accessibility, use of technologies and the
Internet, attitudes and interests, interaction, etc.)
At present, a paper-based Carolina Course Evaluation survey is available for departmental use through Information Technology Services; this version primarily provides information for department administrators and instructors. Departments who wish to use this system can find contact information and procedures on the ITS website. The paper-based Carolina Course Evaluation survey will be replaced by the online UNC Course Evaluation System soon.
UNC-CES Course Evaluation Instrument
UNC-CES Modules: Menu of Diagnostic Items
Instructions for Use: Instructors & Program Personnel
Instructions for Use: Students
Help for Instructors & Program Personnel
Help for Students
Sample Instructor's Report (.pdf format)
Sample Chair's Report (.pdf format)
Guide
to Report for the Instructor
Guide
to Report for the Departmental Chair
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