Overview | Online evaluations | Fall 2008 evaluation period | Fall 2008 data |  Fall 2008 raffle | Where to go if you have questions

 

Overview

Queens College routinely conducts course evaluations, using a questionnaire that was designed by the Committee on Teaching Excellence and Evaluation of the Academic Senate. Data from these evaluations serve a number of important functions:

• They can be used by instructors to assess the impact of their teaching and course materials on their students. The prose comments provided  by students are particularly helpful in this respect.
• They can be used by students to make decisions about what courses to take in an upcoming semester.
• They can be part of the supporting materials put together by faculty for purposes of reappointment, tenure, and promotion.

 

Online evaluations

On November 13, 2008, the Queens College Academic Senate approved an amended proposal from the Committee on Teaching Excellence and Evaluation to conduct course/faculty evaluations online during the fall 2008 semester.

The information page for faculty on encouraging student participation during the fall 2008 semester is archived here.

The instrument in use at Queens, from 2000 onward, is a paper questionnaire consisting of 18 scalar response questions about various aspects of the course and the instructor, 4 scalar response questions about background information about the course and the student, and 3 written response questions for prose comments. This questionnaire was converted into an online form that students access from the Course and Faculty Evaluation website. To see what the questionnaire looks like online, click here for a sample electronic print-out.

The online system has many advantages, including the following:

• Evaluations can be administered at a substantial reduction cost and administrative time.
• Responses can be submitted 24/7 during the evaluation period, from any Internet-connected computer.
• Data can be published faster and more efficiently.
• Multiple instructors assigned to the same class or lab will have separate evaluation forms in the system. This ensures accuracy of evaluations for team-taught courses.
• The online system makes it possible to incorporate course-specific questions, responses to which would be available only to the instructor. This is a feature for future implementation.

The Teaching Excellence and Evaluation Committee is currently closely examining data from previous semesters, to see how they compare to data collected using the online system.

Stay tuned to the CTL News blog for updates regarding the evaluation period for Spring 2009.

 

Fall 2008 evaluation period

The evaluation website was accessible between November 24 and December 16, by means of announcements sent by email, posted on the College web and in the Blackboard course management system, and appearing on plasma boards and kiosks around campus.

Fall 2008 data

Scalar Response Questions. Summary data for this semester's completed evaluations can be accessed from two places:

• the Queens College Course Information System, at http://courses.qc.cuny.edu
• https://apps.qc.cuny.edu/courseevaluation/view_response.aspx

Written Response Questions. Faculty are able to view student comments, at:

• the Course and Faculty Evaluation website, http://www.qc.cuny.edu/coursevaluations

To log in, use your Active Directory user ID and password and be sure to select "Faculty" from the pull-down menu.  (This user ID is the one you use to submit grades and to login to computers on campus; if you don't have an Active Directory account, you can set one up at the Queens College Account Management Systema> website,  https://cams.qc.cuny.edu.)

In the past, faculty have incorporated the bundle of completed paper forms in the teaching section of the supporting materials included in "The Box". With the online system, comments can be printed or saved electronically.

Fall 2008 raffle

A total of 87 students won prizes in a raffle that included:

• 1 iPod Touch, 1 iPod Nano, and 3 iPod Shuffles
• 2 spring semester parking decals (value $90 each);
• 25 bookstore vouchers (value $75 each);
• 50 $5 food coupons, redeemable at any of the campus food services;
• 5 pairs of AMC Loews Theatre movie tickets.

Congratulations to the raffle winners, and many thanks to all students who completed evaluations.

 

Where to go if you have questions

For technical support with the online reporting websites, please contact the Help Desk.

The Committee on Teaching Excellence and Evaluation and the Center for Teaching and Learning are available for other queries related to course/faculty evaluations.