Using Student Evaluations to Improve Teaching (Stanford University suggestions)

Although student evaluations can show instructors what they are doing right and suggest areas for improvement, faculty are frequently not familiar with research on student ratings of teachers that might help them go about making significant changes. They do not always know how to revise their teaching methods when students request, say, more clarity in their lectures, more connection between homework assignments and examinations, or more closure in class discussions. Faculty also indicate that they often do not know how to reconcile contradictory statements found among the written comments, and how to weigh the comments in relation to scaled items.

By all accounts, the best way to use student forms to improve instruction is to consult with a colleague or teaching specialist regarding the meaning of the student data. In particular, faculty members need guidance on how to interpret open-ended comments and use them to make changes so that students learn more.

For suggestions to improve from student written comments, refer to Web site below.

• Extracted from Using Student Evaluations to Improve Teaching. Speaking of Teaching (1997, Fall), 9(1).

  <http://ctl.stanford.edu/teach/speak/student_evaluations.pdf>.