Student evaluations
My student evaluations came in for the summer session. The student evaluation form consists of fifteen questions. Students respond on a Likert scale:
SC 130 Physical Science had a sample size of 16 students. SC 130 was built off of existing curriculum from the summer 2010 run of the course.
The following table includes the fifteen questions and the average response of the students. Although the average is not usually valid for discrete data, the average provides more information than the median due to the binary nature of the student responses: students effectively chose between four and five only.
The instrument has been a subject of discussion at the college. Some of the questions are confusing, and the Likert results rarely lead to specific improvements made by instructors in a course.
The unusually low average for question eight in MS 101 is primarily due to a single answer of "1" by one student on that item. As I do not have access to the original sheets, there is no way to tell whether this lone outlier is a real data point or a data entry error. The other averages in MS 101 are high enough that an expectation of improvement is not wholly realistic.
SC 130 there simply is no where to go but down. The raw data, included at the end of this post, is almost all fives.
Ultimately the evaluation process ought to be reviewed. There should be an option for "instructor's choice" questions to be added. Written qualitative answers might be likely to produce richer data for course improvement than a Likert scale response. Open ended questions might draw out more complex views of a course. The data load, however, could be enormous. Another option might be survey only a small sample of students in a course, possibly in a focus group session led by a trained peer interviewer.
The Likert survey form included a generic "Comments:" at the bottom of the page. The following are all of the comments reported.
Student comments for MS 101:
Very interesting class. It makes me interested in math!
Nice work, really nice keep it up its really interesting
He is the best!!!
Great work!
He is a very well dedicated instructor. Hoping to have the same instructor so dedicated as Dana Lee Ling.
Student comments for SC 130. All comments as transcribed:
Best teacher I ever know.
Dana is a great teacher. He makes this course so much fun and easy to understand.
Dana is a very well attentive teacher. He seeks out help to his student especially those who needed help the most. Dana gives his time to his students well respectedly.
The best teacher ever.
A very good one!!
I really love this class because the teacher makes it really interesting causing me to really love it. He explains everything really clear and easy to understand so I can say that I learn a lot from this class.
This ssemester I have fun and learn so many things from this. I encourage all students whoes major is teacher prep to take this class. This class will be very helpful to teachers who will teach elementary students and secondary students.
Best teacher I ever had.
Excellent and best teacher I ever had.
The raw data, included below, shows that students only select fours and fives (except for the single "1" on question eight by student three). The uniformity of the responses leaves little room for drawing meaningful conclusions on what might specifically be improved in the course.
Raw data for MS 101
S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
2 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
7 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
8 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
9 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
10 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 5 4 4 5 4 4 4 5
11 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
12 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
13 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
14 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
15 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
16 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
17 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
18 5 5 5 4 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 5
19 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
20 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
21 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
22 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
23 5 5 5 4 5 4 4 5 4 5 4 4 5 5 4
24 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 4
Raw data for SC 130:
S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
2 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
6 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
7 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
8 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
9 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
10 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
11 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
12 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
13 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
14 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
15 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
16 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
My thanks to the director of academic programs for the work done getting this data turned around. This process remains manual tabulation at the college!
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Usually
- Always
SC 130 Physical Science had a sample size of 16 students. SC 130 was built off of existing curriculum from the summer 2010 run of the course.
The following table includes the fifteen questions and the average response of the students. Although the average is not usually valid for discrete data, the average provides more information than the median due to the binary nature of the student responses: students effectively chose between four and five only.
| qn | Question | MS 101 | SC 130 |
| 1 | Keeps regular schedule every class day | 4.92 | 4.94 |
| 2 | Shows interest in the subject | 4.96 | 5 |
| 3 | Gives individual help as needed | 5.00 | 5 |
| 4 | Available for student conference | 4.92 | 5 |
| 5 | Welcomes questions, suggestions, and discussions from students | 5.00 | 5 |
| 6 | Shows interest and respect for students | 4.88 | 5 |
| 7 | Helps the students in meeting individual learning needs | 4.88 | 5 |
| 8 | Uses classroom/lab time fully | 4.75 | 5 |
| 9 | Provides clear directions for assignment and instruction | 4.92 | 5 |
| 10 | Grades fairly and frequently | 4.96 | 5 |
| 11 | Makes the purpose of the course clear | 4.96 | 5 |
| 12 | Talks clearly and at an easy to follow pace | 4.92 | 5 |
| 13 | Lessons are well paced with activity as well as lecture | 4.92 | 5 |
| 14 | Makes the course interesting | 4.96 | 5 |
| 15 | Textbook was appropriate and helpful | 4.92 | 5 |
The instrument has been a subject of discussion at the college. Some of the questions are confusing, and the Likert results rarely lead to specific improvements made by instructors in a course.
The unusually low average for question eight in MS 101 is primarily due to a single answer of "1" by one student on that item. As I do not have access to the original sheets, there is no way to tell whether this lone outlier is a real data point or a data entry error. The other averages in MS 101 are high enough that an expectation of improvement is not wholly realistic.
SC 130 there simply is no where to go but down. The raw data, included at the end of this post, is almost all fives.
Ultimately the evaluation process ought to be reviewed. There should be an option for "instructor's choice" questions to be added. Written qualitative answers might be likely to produce richer data for course improvement than a Likert scale response. Open ended questions might draw out more complex views of a course. The data load, however, could be enormous. Another option might be survey only a small sample of students in a course, possibly in a focus group session led by a trained peer interviewer.
The Likert survey form included a generic "Comments:" at the bottom of the page. The following are all of the comments reported.
Student comments for MS 101:
Very interesting class. It makes me interested in math!
Nice work, really nice keep it up its really interesting
He is the best!!!
Great work!
He is a very well dedicated instructor. Hoping to have the same instructor so dedicated as Dana Lee Ling.
Student comments for SC 130. All comments as transcribed:
Best teacher I ever know.
Dana is a great teacher. He makes this course so much fun and easy to understand.
Dana is a very well attentive teacher. He seeks out help to his student especially those who needed help the most. Dana gives his time to his students well respectedly.
The best teacher ever.
A very good one!!
I really love this class because the teacher makes it really interesting causing me to really love it. He explains everything really clear and easy to understand so I can say that I learn a lot from this class.
This ssemester I have fun and learn so many things from this. I encourage all students whoes major is teacher prep to take this class. This class will be very helpful to teachers who will teach elementary students and secondary students.
Best teacher I ever had.
Excellent and best teacher I ever had.
The raw data, included below, shows that students only select fours and fives (except for the single "1" on question eight by student three). The uniformity of the responses leaves little room for drawing meaningful conclusions on what might specifically be improved in the course.
Raw data for MS 101
S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
2 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
7 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
8 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
9 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
10 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 5 4 4 5 4 4 4 5
11 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
12 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
13 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
14 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
15 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
16 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
17 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
18 5 5 5 4 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 5
19 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
20 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
21 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
22 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
23 5 5 5 4 5 4 4 5 4 5 4 4 5 5 4
24 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 4
Raw data for SC 130:
S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
2 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
6 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
7 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
8 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
9 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
10 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
11 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
12 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
13 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
14 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
15 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
16 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
My thanks to the director of academic programs for the work done getting this data turned around. This process remains manual tabulation at the college!
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