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Mid-term Evaluation Survey

What is the Mid-term Evaluation Survey?

Student evaluations of instruction were originally intended as an assessment tool ; their primary purpose was as a feedback mechanism by which students could inform instructors about their experiences in a course. Over the years this function has been largely superseded by the accountability function of student evaluations, as they are now primarily used as evidence of an instructor's teaching ability.

Western is committed to the use of multiple assessment tools for continually improving teaching and learning. As part of that commitment, a Midterm Teaching and Learning Survey has been created and made available for all instructors who use Blackboard in their courses.

The survey is designed to be easily administered online by the individual instructor. The survey contains fifteen questions about student learning, plus an area for student comments. In addition, a pool of many additional questions covering a wide range of topics is also included. Instructors may easily add questions to the survey from the pool, or write their own assessment questions. Immediate and ongoing feedback allows instructors to make timely adjustments to course organization, to experiment with pedagogical innovation, and to get concrete feedback about student learning experiences.

Unlike “official” student evaluations of instruction administered by the Testing Center, the Midterm Assessment survey is designed to be a completely automated, confidential exchange between students and their instructor. Responses are processed within the boundaries of each course's Blackboard domain, and are only accessible to the individual instructor. All faculty are encouraged to experiment with this tool and to provide feedback to the Office of Institutional Assessment, Testing, and Research about their experiences with the Midterm Assessment Survey tool.

How do I get the survey into my Blackboard course?

Every new Blackboard course is created with the mid-term evaluation survey included. If you are copying a Blackboard course, that course's mid-term evaluation survey will also be included. If the course you are copying does not have a survey, please contact Web Help to have the survey copied to your new course (once it has been created).

How do I deliver the survey?

The survey material is included in your Blackboard course as two separate pieces. The first piece is a standard survey, containing a pre-established set of questions that is ready to be deployed. The second piece is a pool of survey questions that can be added to the pre-established survey. As the instructor of the course, you have the ability to modify the survey to meet the particular evaluation needs of your course.

How do I deploy the survey?

Before the survey can be delivered to students, it must be deployed into one of the content areas of your course. This may be course documents, assignments, or another content area that you specify. To deploy the survey:

  1. Select the content area on the left navigation menu that you want to deploy the survey into.
  2. Select Edit View in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
  3. In the right hand corner of the screen click on the dropdown menu and select Survey and then click the button labeled GO.
  4. You will be prompted to select a survey to deploy. Select the survey named Mid-term Assessment of Teaching and Learning and then select submit.
  5. You will then be prompted to either modify the survey itself or modify the survey options. If you'd like to make this survey available immediately so that students can begin taking it click on the link labeled Modify Survey Options. Set the survey availability information accordingly. In addition you are given a set of options for survey feedback and presentation modes. Adjust these settings according to your own preference.

How do I add survey questions?

The mid-term assessment of teaching and learning survey allows you to add additional questions as desired from the pool of additional survey questions that is included. In order to add additional survey questions from the pool:

  1. Go to the control panel
  2. Select Survey Manager.
  3. Select modify next to the Mid-term Assessment of Teaching and Learning Survey
  4. If you see a warning screen, hit continue (make sure you modify the survey before you allow students to take it.
  5. From the add question drop down menu at the top of the screen, select From a Question Pool or Assessment and the select Go.
  6. Select Optional Questions: Mid-Term Assessment of Teaching and Learning.
  7. At the bottom of the page, place a check mark next to All under question types and then select search.
  8. Place a check mark next to the questions that you would like to add to the survey. You can preview the questions by selecting the preview button on the right hand side of the screen.
  9. When you are finished selecting additional questions from the pool, select submit.
  10. The additional questions have now been added to the survey and it is ready to be deployed and then administered to the students.

How do I view the survey results?

The results of the Mid-Term Assessment of Teaching and Learning Survey will display the aggregate responses for all of the respondents. You will be able to determine if an individual student has completed the survey, but you will not be able to see an individual student's responses. To review the results of the survey:

  1. Go to the Control Panel and select Gradebook from the menu.
  2. Find the gradebook item labeled Mid-term Assessment of Teaching and Learning and select on the column heading.
  3. On the next screen, select Assessment Attempt Details.
  4. You will then be able to view the results of each question and the percentage of students that chose each answer.