What do I need to do?
Couple of things:
Why are the course evaluations being done online?
Evaluations are being done online to reduce costs and to make results available to the faculty sooner.
What are the advantages of online vs paper based evaluations?
Conducting course evaluations online simplifies the process and offers advantages to everyone involved
Benefits for Faculty:
Benefits for Chairs/Deans/Administrators:
Last but not least:
Can I still do paper based evaluations?
This decision is up to your department chair or dean. However, your department or your school will have to pay for the associated costs. You can contact Survey and Evaluation Research Lab for more information.
Will all my courses be evaluated using this system?
Almost all the courses will be evaluated using the online system. There are some exceptions - for example, courses with less than five students do not have an evaluation. Courses which are classified as Independent Study, Research, Master's Thesis, Dissertation, Private Lessons, Recitals etc do not have evaluations either. The best way to verify this is to check on the List of Courses which courses have online evaluation available this semester.
What questionnaire will be used for my courses?
Following questionnaires are used by different schools and departments:
Who decides which set of questions will be used for course evaluation?
We use the questionnaire provided to us by your school or department. It is the same questionnaire that have been used for paper based evaluations in the past.
I need to add some course related questions to the form. Can I add more questions?
Sorry, at this time you cannot add your own questions to the form.
How do the students complete the course evaluations?
Students log in Blue website and go to the Student section to complete the course evaluation.
When do the students complete the course evaluations?
For Fall and Spring courses, the evaluations are available last two weeks of classes. For Summer courses, the evaluations are available for last 7 days of class. If you are teaching a short course, the start and end date of evaluation will be adjusted accordingly. You can check the exact start and end date in List of Courses
How do the students know when to do the course evaluations?
We send students an email when the evaluations start. After that, students who have not completed the evaluations get regular reminders.
How do I know when the evaluations are available?
We send faculty an email few days before the evaluations start to let you know in advance.
Can students see their grades before they complete evaluations?
Evaluations are open before the final exam week. In most cases students would have completed the evaluations before they take their final exam or get their final grade.
If you are concerned about the grades affecting your course evaluations, please post the grades after evaluations for the course are closed.
How do I know how many students have completed course evaluations?
Visit the Blue website to see number of students who have completed the evaluations.
What can I do to improve response rate?
Can I give extra credit or some other incentive to students who complete the evaluations?
Course evaluations are anonymous. The course evaluation software has been designed to conceal the identity of the students from their instructor. Students may not be comfortable revealing that they have completed the evaluations. Instead, you can use some of the tips mentioned above to improve the response rate.
How do I see the reports?
How do I save my report to my computer?
If you have Office 2007/Office 2010/OpenOffice:
If you have Adobe Acrobat, PrimoPDF or any other PDF converter:
How do I print my reports (Windows)?
How do I print my reports (Mac)?
Please use Mozilla Firefox to print reports on Mac
(for Humanities and Sciences faculty only) I need the mean and median for Course, Instructor and Student Learning questions for my annual report. Where do I get those?
This applies only to Fall 2009 course evaluations reports for College of Humanities and Sciences.
Step 1: Find the three questions
Step 2: Calculate the mean and median using our spreadsheet
When can I see the reports?
Reports are made available in 2-3 weeks after the semester ends.
When I log in eServices to see my reports, I see a sign saying Reporting Disabled. What does it mean?
Reporting Disabled means you cannot see the results yet. Normally, the results are made available four weeks after the semester ends.
What is Included in The Report?
The report includes aggregate results for each question in the form. You can view them by numbers or as percentages. The reports will also include any comments for open ended questions that students have responded to.
What is Not Included in the Report?
Who else has access to my reports?
Only your department chair and your dean can see the reports. Nobody else has access to the reports.
Can I compare my data to other faculty in my department?
The software has this capability but it is currently turned off because of technical reasons. You cannot compare your results to an individual faculty, but you can compare to the aggregates for the whole department. Currently only the department chair can see comparative data for the whole department.
Where can I get more help?
If you need help with the online course evaluations, the quickest way to contact us is via email to courseeval@vcu.edu. Please include your name, phone number, eID, and the course and section number for the evaluation you are having trouble with.
I am teaching a short course. When do the students evaluate this course?
The start and end date for short courses are adjusted based on Course End Date listed in eServices. You can check the evaluation start and end date in List of Courses.
I am teaching a team-taught course. Can students evaluate each instructor separately?
For team taught courses, students see course questions which are asked once and instructor questions which are asked separately for each instructor. The instructors can see only the responses to course questions their own instructor questions.
My course is cross-listed with other departments. How will this affect the evaluations for this course?
If a course is cross-listed, each section of the course is treated as separate course. The students see the evaluations just like they normally would, but the instructors will be two or more separate reports.