Event

What Do Your Students Really Think of Your Classes? Achieving More Effective Course Evaluations

Sunday, July 27th, 2008, 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Speaker: Christine Winskowski, Morioka Junior College and Susan Duggan, Iwate Prefectural University

Do you know what your students really think of your classes? Can you know this from conventional course evaluation forms? Are the course evaluation forms, which many colleges and universities make their students fill out, giving teachers accurate and meaningful feedback? If not, what can we do about it?

This workshop has two parts. In the first part, the presenters will bring up problems of standardized course evaluation forms with evidence from interviews with students. As students filled out a course evaluation form, they were asked, "What does this item mean?" and "Why did you choose that number for your answer?" We invite participants to comment on and discuss the surprising results.

In the second part of the workshop, participants will consider how to improve course evaluation forms and how to attain more efficient feedback from students about classes. The presenters will offer models and aids for meaningful course evaluation. Participants may use these to improve on course evaluation forms or think of alternative methods of evaluation. If you have a course evaluation form which you would like to discuss or work on, please bring it!

By the end of the workshop, participants should be able to think more critically about course evaluation, and determine more confidently the best way to elicit their own students' opinions and observations on their learning.

Organization: Iwate-Aomori Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (Iwate-Aomori JALT)

Cost: JALT Members: free
Non-members: 1000 yen

Venue: Aiina, 8th floor, Room 817

Location: Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture, Japan

Contact Iwate-Aomori JALT

Mary Burkitt

Work phone: 019-663-3132

Jason Hill