web enhanced course evaluation at columbia university jack mcgourty columbia university
TRANSCRIPT
Web Enhanced Course Evaluation at Columbia University
Jack McGourtyColumbia University
Overview A little history How does course assessment fit
into the “big picture”? Why use web technology? How is it being done? Does it work?
History Columbia’s Fu Foundation School of
Engineering and Applied Science began using the web for course assessment about four years ago starting with a student administered web site for results
Designed and developed state-of-the-art system using student teams
Now building on current infrastructure to include on-line tutorials and increased flexibility for administration
Student Web Site
Search by course or faculty
Current and past results
No comments
The Big Picture Why are we assessing courses and programs?
Continuous improvement of the education process What are we doing right, and what can we do better?
Integral part of our ABET EC2000 Compliance Develop a process Collect and evaluate data Close the loop Document/Archive results
Course evaluation one of several outcome assessment measures such as senior exit surveys, enrolled student surveys, and alumni surveys
How WCES Fits in
SEAS Assessment Processes
1998 1999 2000 2001pre1997
Initiate Course Evaluation Process
Conduct First Alumni Survey (All Alumni)
Conduct Second Alumni Survey1989 & 1994 Grads.
Benchmarking Senior Surveys -Class of 2000
Start Academic Review Cycle
Create Web Based Course EvaluationProcess
Senior Surveys -Class of 2001Alumni - 1996
Initiate Freshman Pre-Attitude Survey
Using Technology Pro
Students have the time to consider their responses
Timely feedback Responses are easily
analyzed, archived and distributed
Less paper Lower cost/efficient
administration
Con You lose the “captive
audience” You can’t guarantee a
diversity of opinions Motivated/Non-
motivated Like course/Dislike
course Not necessarily less
effort
Course Assessment Details 10 Core Items
Course Quality Instructor Quality
Relevant ABET EC2000 Items Pre-selected by
faculty member Customized
questions for specific course objectives
Selecting EC2000 Questions
Monitoring Faculty Usage
One of our culture change metrics is the percentage of faculty who are capitalizing on the system and adding custom and EC2000 questions. Currently around 15%.
Course Evaluation Results Web page access
Current term’s assessment Limited time window Limited access Secure site
Previous terms results Open access to numerical results; not comments
Email Results Individual faculty Aggregate Data – Department Chairs
Reporting
Promoting Responses Student-driven
results website Multiple targeted
emails to students and faculty from Dean
Announcements in classes
Posters all over the school
Random prize drawing
Closing the Loop
Does it Work? Student response rates have steadily
increased over past two years from 72% to 85%
More detail in student written comments in course assessments
Data is available that we have never had before
Faculty use of ABET EC2000 and Customized question features increasing but still limited (15%)