Feedback and Evaluation in Education: Purposes, Methods and Best Practices, Schemes and Mind Maps of Design

Download Feedback and Evaluation in Education: Purposes, Methods and Best Practices and more Schemes and Mind Maps Design in PDF only on Docsity!     CELT,  last  reviewed  January  2013   Purposes  of  Feedback  and  Evaluation   Feedback  and  evaluation  can  serve  different  purposes,  and   so,   it   is   useful   to   think   about   what   exactly   you   want   to   evaluate  before  choosing  a  suitable  method.       Are  you  evaluating:   § yourself  as  a  lecturer  or  facilitator;   § course/module;   § programme;   § students;   § the  school.   It   is   good   practice   to   routinely   monitor   the   quality   of   courses/modules.     You   can   obtain   useful   information   to   help   modify   or   re-­‐design   courses   and   obtain   insights   into   the   students’  perspectives  on   the  module,  how   it   fits  with   other  parts  of  the  course,  how  much  effort  they  are  putting   in   and   the   perceived   level   of   difficulty   or   interest   in   the   topic.       Feedback   can   also   help   to   address   potential   issues   in   the   delivery   or   organisation   of   the   course   and   discover   and   resolve  potential  problems  that  arise  with  particular  groups   of   students   or   individuals   (e.g.   non-­‐native   language,   anxieties,  etc)  .       Feedback   records   can   also   serve   useful   as   evidence   for   probation,  promotion,  awards  or  other  purposes.     It   is   important   to  emphasise   that   student   feedback   is  only   one  possible  source  of  information  and  therefore  provides  a   particular   perspective.   To   fully   evaluate   the   effectiveness   and   the   operation   of   a   course   or   teaching   team   a   wider   range   of   inputs   is   necessary,   some   of   which   are   detailed   below.   Evaluations   can  be   carried  out   formatively  or   summatively   and   generally,   it   is   advisable   to   have   a   mix   of   both   formative  and  summative  evaluation  types,  allowing  you  to   make   changes   while   they   are   still   of   value   to   the   current   student   cohort   and   then   assess   the   impact   of   those   changes.   Feedback  and  Evaluation  methods   Feedback  questionnaires     Probably  the  most  prevalent  method  of  getting  feedback  is   through  the  use  of  feedback  questionnaires.     Paper-­‐based   questionnaires,   if   administered   in   class,  may   yield   quite   a   high   response   rate.   The   downside   of   such   is   the   amount   of   time   and   effort   required   in   processing   the   data,  whether  via  scanner  or  by  hand.       Online  questionnaires,  because  of  their  overuse  (not  just  in   the  students'  university  experience)  can  mean   low  rates  of   return.   Some   techniques   (even   just   stressing   the   importance)  to  promote  completion  should  be  considered.     Pre-­‐built,  standard  questionnaires  in  Blackboard  format  are   available  for  download  from  the  Blackboard  help  pages  and   can  be  readily  embedded  in  any  module.  These  can  also  be   customised   to   include   staff   or   schools’   own   preferred   questions   or   queries.   The   system   allows   anonymous   submissions,   simple   analysis,   and   offers   data   in   downloadable,  spreadsheet  format.     A  key  aspect  to  bear  in  mind  is  that  of  evaluation  overload,   or  survey  fatigue.    Some  consideration  therefore  should  be   made  to  this   issue  and  simple,  quick  surveys  may  be  more   suited  to  routine  feedback   Simple  in-­‐class  methods   Rich   feedback   can   be   obtained   by   asking   open   questions   (paper-­‐based  or  online  via  Blackboard)  of  students  such  as   the  classic  three  examples:     § What’s  good  about  this  module?     § What’s  not  so  good?     § What  suggestions  do  you  have  for  improvement?     Processing  data  from  such  feedback  (written  submissions  or   online),   can   take   time.   However,   in   practice,   common   themes   are   often   quickly   identified   and   because   the   questions   are   open,   issues   which   the   lecturer/course   coordinator   may   not   have   anticipated   but   which   are   important  to  the  students  can  be  revealed.       Asking  these  questions  mid-­‐semester  when  it  is  still  possible   to  make  adjustments  to  the  module  is  a  valuable  approach,   particularly   if   the   issues   raised   are   readily   rectifiable.   Indeed,  these  questions  form  the  basis  of  the  existing  mid-­‐ semester   feedback   scheme   (see   next),   but   there   is   no   reason   why   such   feedback   cannot   be   sought   routinely   rather   than   having   to   depend   on   the   presence   of   an   external  facilitator,  etc.   Mid-­‐Semester   Evaluation   or   Grouped   Student   Feedback   Scheme   In   NUI   Galway,   it   is   possible   to   arrange   an   independent   external   facilitator   to   take   15-­‐20  minutes   at   the   end   of   a   lecture  to  arrange  students  into  small  groups  and  complete   the  response  to  the  three  basic  questions  referred  to  in  the   previous  section.     As  a  small  group  activity,  students  need  to  reach  agreement   on   the   feedback   they   submit   and   after   some   small   discussion,   this   usually   leads   to   a   more   considered   set   of   responses.  Also,   students  may  be  more   forthcoming  about   issues  with  an  independent  facilitator  than  with  the  lecturer   concerned.   The   entire   process   is   confidential   which   is   reassuring  for  both  students  and  the  lecturer  concerned.       Feedback  and  Evaluation  of  Teaching     It  is  good  practice  to  routinely  monitor  the  quality  and  effectiveness  of  courses  and  modules.    There  are  a  number  of   ways  of  doing  this  through  feedback  from  students  or  colleagues.