Dr. Fu-Sen,
Great! I think of the instruction I provide as a journey, and course evaluation is like a map that helps guide students where they may getting off-course, and also how to get back on track to reach the destination.
Barry Westling
Evaluating students is important so that students will know where he stands in terms of his learning process. This will help students to set goals for future learning and what he wants to achieve in the course overall.
Nicole,
Yeah, there's nothing more frustrating than a student who is is struggling or is not understanding material in class. We have an excellent opportunity to be teachers by reaching out to students who need extra help, and convey where they can improve, give assistance, and offer our support.
Barry Westling
Evaluating students is important to ensure they are understanding the content you are teaching to them. Similar to a pretest, evaluating students on a regular basis enables you to customize your lesson plan to maximize student learning since you can determine where students are struggling.
Richard,
I believe the ealier an instructor begins to conduct some form of evaluation the better it will be for students, especially the ones that may be struggling or performing lower than desired. With a conscientious effort early on, there is time to offer suggestions, and for the student to begin making changes to their study. I also think there should be frequent evaluations throughout the course (unless the course is only a couple of weeks) so that progress from prior discussions can be measured.
Barry Westling
The instructor should evaluate students to see how much of the material they have learned. By using a variety of evaluation methods an instructor can make sure students fully understand the material and can apply it.
Tracy,
I think evaluation of performance is nearly as equally important as presenting the content. It is essetial that students get frequent and regular feedback if they are to make methodic changes or adjustments in their planning, study, and focus for prepartion class.
Barry Westling
Some reasons for evaluating students are so that you as the instructor know how they're doing, and so that they as the students know how they're doing.
Travis,
Yes, and I've found students appreciate the time and effort given to discussing individual grades and class performance status.
Barry Westling
To inform them on where they stand with the material and training. It give the instructor more one-on-one time with the students. The instuctor can show and discuss his or her concerns for each individuals students success and failures.
Candace,
Students waqnt and need order and direction. Evaluations are one way to convey needed changes in study or recognition for aoutstanding work. Either extreme is helped by the instructor feedback to the student through evaluations and discussion.
Barry Westling
Evaluating students at regular intervlals gives them a change to know where they need to focus extra study time, and it provides the instructor with a means of evaluating the effectiveness of the material presentation method
Jennifer,
Yes, students need direction, and without it, they be floundering or headed in a less effective path that some clarity, suggestions or advice could clear up. And as far as grades go, that information helps bring reality into view, and serious students will use that information for their benefit.
Barry Westling
One I think it works as a rewarding system and two it helps to know what direction to go with presentation of the information.
Ricardo,
Yes, evaluations do provide a lot of valuable information, as you say, to both student and instructor. And both can use the information or not. Usually, the results will not as hoped if information gained from an evaluation is not used or applied in a productive way.
Barry Westling
This works both ways, it is important for the Instructor to know how well the student is doing and also it helps the student to know how they are doing.
Through the evaulation process the instructor can see where they are successful in getting the neccessary information to the student but also it shows the students weaknesses and where they need to focus in order to complete the course. If the instructor sees that many students have failed the same part of the test then it is clear that he or she did not convey the information clearly and will need to re assess the way the information is taught or shown.
The student will also be rewarded for working hard with good grades and test results, but also if they do not do well in a certain area of the evaulation they can focus on this to improve their understanding and success on the course.
Kurtis,
I always think of evaluations as a measure of learning compared to some standard, usually course objectives or class topics. Assessments can test a students knowledge, and evaluations can complement the assessment by considering more subjective areas of learning. Together, assessments and evaluations should provide the student with a good understanding of their progress in the course.
Barry Westling
Evaluating students at the beginning of the course provides you with an understanding of their background knowledge so you may plan your courses to best suit their needs. Evaluating students throughout the semester provides feedback to both the instructor and the students. The students know how they are performing in the course and what material they have mastered. The instructor will evaluate these formative assessments and decide if the students need further instruction on the topic or if they are ready to move on. The instructor will tailor his or her teaching accordingly. Evaluations given at the end of the semester inform the students of their overall performance in the course and the instructor can assess the grades to reflect on his or her teachings, thinking about techniques that were or were not effective. This helps the instructor prepare for the next semester.
John,
Good point about finals. Some instructors will develop their classes where assessment of learning does rely on a single final examination. Rather quizzes, and multiple smaller exams are given throughout the course so that course end, all graded work is already computed and the student knows their grade.
Barry Westling
It is interesting to read the comments about the evaluation and feedback process of "exams." The final exam I have found to be of questionable value. The other assessments are "timely" in the sense that they allow the student/instructor to make course (both in direction and material) corrections. The "Final" is just that -- any "corrections" will have to wait (either when the course is repeated or the next sequential course is taken.)
