Written and designed by the staff of the Center for Teaching and Learning. Reproduce with permission only.
To increase the effectiveness of any mid-term evaluation, the students must understand (1) that their responses will remain anonymous, and (2) that you have asked them to fill out the questionnaire to improve your own teaching rather than to judge the class in any way. To help show the students that you are serious about getting honest answers, it's a good idea to leave the room while they answer the questionnaire. You might choose one responsible volunteer from the class to collect the completed forms and put them in an envelope to give you at the end of class. When administering an evaluation, it is also important to give the students enough time to respond thoughtfully to the questions, even if that means that you must stay out in the hall or in your office longer than you would like during class time.
Finally, taking the suggestions for improvement on the evaluations seriously is the best way to improve both your teaching and your relationship with your students. Students will respect any teacher who is serious enough about teaching to take their ideas into account. One way to engender a useful discussion of the evaluation is to tabulate the results and hand them back out to the students within a few days. Then you can use part of one class period to discuss their suggestions and to explain which ones you will incorporate, how and why. Students usually react well to a professor or TA who is willing to change and admit that they may still have something to learn as well.
Mid-term Evaluation Form I (see next page) is geared for any class which often uses discussion and/or group work to cover material in class. Such an evaluation is useful in classes of literature, social sciences, health sciences, law classes etc. Each question will, of course, have to be re-written to reflect the concerns and topics of your particular class.
Mid-term Evaluation Form II
is an example of an evaluation for a more "technical" class, in this
case, foreign language grammar. The questions in the second evaluation can easily
be modified for such classes as math or statistics.
1. The intellectual level of full class discussion is:
_____ too high (I am lost or confused a lot.)
_____ sometimes too high (I am lost sometimes.)
_____ just right (I understand
what we are talking about and feel
that I am learning from discussion.)
_____ too low (Everything seems obvious to me.)
2. I find group work:
____ almost always valuable and enjoyable
____ sometimes valuable and enjoyable
____ not very valuable or enjoyable
____ a waste of time.
3. I would probably get more out of working in groups if:
4. Please describe a particular moment in class where you felt you really learned something (whether a specific idea you found interesting or a general way to approach literature). You might mention literary terms like satire, issues about why we read books, how to determine the narrator's tone, etc.
5. Think back on the first day of class when we looked at the two music videos. Did you understand at the time why they were being shown? Do you see how they are relevant now?
6. Look at your goals sheet you received the first day of class. Which goals (if any) do you feel you are on your way to reaching? Which goals remain unclear or unmet?
7. List three things you like about the class:
1.
2.
3.
8. List three things you would change about the class:
1.
2.
3.
Any ideas for a class activity
that would be both fun and meaningful? (something you liked from another class,
for example).
1. How would you describe the level of this course?
too difficult _______
difficult, but challenging as it should be _______
sometimes difficult, but on the whole not very challenging _______
too easy _______
2. Do you feel you are learning new grammar?
yes, lots ______ sort of ______ it's all review ______
3. What kind of exercises do you find the most useful in learning the various grammar points? What kind are least useful?
4. To prepare for quizzes, do you test yourself on the answers we did in class?
always ______ sometimes ______ never ______
5. How helpful are the answers to exercises I hand out in class?
very helpful ____ somewhat helpful ____ not helpful ____
6. What else could I do to help you learn grammar?
7. Which of the following ideas about writing did you find useful and why: brainstorming, dictionary exercises, choosing better vocabulary, descriptive writing, linking words.
8. Do you find the writing topics interesting and useful for improving your skills? If not, what kind of writing would you prefer to do?
9. How often do you use the Petit Robert or other French-only dictionary when you write?
often ______ sometimes ______ never ______
10. Please name three things about the class that you like and three things you dislike. Please be as specific as possible and, if you have a suggestion, please offer it. For example, if you do not like the grading, say what aspect in particular you don't like and how it could be changed.
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Last Updated: January 30, 2001