Student evaluations of teaching are an important part of the feedback that faculty members receive. The Kansas Board of Regents requires that student evaluations include questions about students' perception of delivery of instruction, assessment of learning, availability of faculty members to students, and whether course goals and objectives were met. At KU, departments use various forms to obtain this feedback. Check with your unit chair for a copy of the form used in your department.

It's crucial that we learn to read student feedback. KU is moving away from asking students to give an overall rating of a teacher, and is moving instead to asking students to answer questions about specific features of a teacher's performance. Whether or not they're learning will be examined by looking at their work, not their impressions. Students are a good audience to tell us if we're clear, accessible, respectful or timely. They may also be able to tell us if the activities we give them are well aligned with the ways we evaluate their learning. These and similar questions can help us see ourselves through the eyes of others, and these are important others. We're asking them to do a lot of work, and it's useful to have a cooperative relationship with our students.

KU's policy on student evaluation forms is currently evolving, and we can't yet give you a definitive look at the next generation of forms to be used. CTE will make this information widely available as it resolves into policy during the 2007-08 academic year.